Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[gjensen]

I have a question for those of you following this thread: do most of you breed the birds you do for show, or for providing meat and/or eggs for your family.

Trying to get an idea of the audience on this thread. Thanks!

I keep birds because I enjoy keeping them. No noble ambitions. For the enjoyment of it alone. I still get a kick out of a box of healthy chicks.
I enjoy collecting a basket of eggs. I appreciate the compost for the garden(s). I enjoy the rich flavor of real chicken and dumplings. I enjoy watching them and studying them. I enjoy the challenge of improving them. I enjoy watching them range. I like to hear the cock's crow. I even like cleaning out the houses.
I can't imagine keeping them for any reason other than the fact that I enjoy keeping them.

 

[Fred's Hens]

I keep birds because I enjoy keeping them. No noble ambitions. For the enjoyment of it alone. I still get a kick out of a box of healthy chicks.
I enjoy collecting a basket of eggs. I appreciate the compost for the garden(s). I enjoy the rich flavor of real chicken and dumplings. I enjoy watching them and studying them. I enjoy the challenge of improving them. I enjoy watching them range. I like to hear the cock's crow. I even like cleaning out the houses.
I can't imagine keeping them for any reason other than the fact that I enjoy keeping them.

Good post, George.

 

[armorfirelady]

I am only a lurker here with hens & chicks that are hatchery stock. But that being said I lurk here to see what my birds should be so that in the future if I find myself with more room to have chickens I would like to have them and raise them to SOP & preserve them.

And like gjensen said I just plain enjoy having them. Nothing beats spending some time just sitting in their run watching them & their antics. I also like to see improvements in my older pens by using the advice the OTs have graciously shared. And I am raising my new chicks that way from the start & can already see the difference in them from last years pullets.

 

[cluck-cluck]

I keep birds because I enjoy keeping them. No noble ambitions. For the enjoyment of it alone. I still get a kick out of a box of healthy chicks.
I enjoy collecting a basket of eggs. I appreciate the compost for the garden(s). I enjoy the rich flavor of real chicken and dumplings. I enjoy watching them and studying them. I enjoy the challenge of improving them. I enjoy watching them range. I like to hear the cock's crow. I even like cleaning out the houses.
I can't imagine keeping them for any reason other than the fact that I enjoy keeping them.

Yes, that's true of me too. I'm flaky too, 'cause I chose a top hat 'cause I think they're adorable, LOL. The only two top hats that can be dual purpose are Houdans and Crevecoeurs, and I just love the solid iridescent black of the Crevecoeurs and clean legs too. Anyway, if it weren't fun, I wouldn't be doing this. I took care of animals as a child, so I knew the commitment, but I actually never thought I'd find these birds so charming and sweet. I really have grown to love chickens! I never felt that way about any type of bird before! I wanted to raise chickens for the animal husbandry part, now I've got some "pets" too! (I am NOT naming any more of them, LOL)

 

[3riverschick]

Quote: Hi,
We would be doing the same. Our local shows ( 1 or 2 day commitment ) would be Columbus, OH, Southern Ohio, Lucasville, OH and Uniontown, OH. If we were showing, it won't be at County fairs or the PA Farm Show. They have changed the rules so the birds need to be vaccinated with a live vaccine to compete. Don't remember the name of the vaccine, but not happening here. After years of learning better in the dog world, I don't do live vaccines for fear of the virus shedding amongst the other animals of that species on my property.
Best,
Karen

 

[catdaddyfro]

I have them simply because I like them, it is work, it does cost money, but everything worth a hoot in this old world does.

I have raised up multiple thousand head at a time when I was younger on the family owned broiler operation and one would think after having all that to do for a job it would seem as a person would want something different to do as a hobby. LOL Well, not me. it is my choice and too my other favorite is even more expensive(hot rods/race cars) and the gas they take/use is $9 bucks a gallon and they use a lot of it.

So to sum it up the reason I have these "H" type birds and to quote and old poulterer on here (Mr. Blosl) "it cost just as much to keep/raise up a bad chicken as it does a good one"

Jeff

 

[BGMatt]

I have a question for those of you following this thread: do most of you breed the birds you do for show, or for providing meat and/or eggs for your family. 


Trying to get an idea of the audience on this thread. Thanks!

All three. Although I care less about meat than show or eggs, simply because as a small business owner who is on his own I don't have time to prepare a lot of whole carcass birds, opting for quicker, simpler meals. If you're truly breeding to standard a dual purpose breed or a meat breed is goin to have those traits anyway.

My absolute favorite thing is improving the breeds, composing breeding pens and raising young, egg production is obviously super important there as if they're not laying very much you're not hatching very many, and of course showing is at least equally as important because if your birds don't match the standard for their breed they ain't nothin but mutts.

 

[colburg]

We got our hatchery chickens to go along with the farm. Manure, bug-eating allow us to use less chemicals. Plus, we have two little girls and we never read anything good about store bought meat: hormones, GMO feed, vaccines, antibiotics. We decided that we all need something better to eat.

At Bob's recommendation, we ordered the SOP and got a Poultry Press subscription to start scouting H birds. After reading this thread and CSU, and 3rivers postings and asking some great questions, we've learned that the SOP helps with more than looks and frame. Such as the fineness of the comb relating to the fineness of the meat.

Now whenever we talk chicken and she asks why can't we just throw more eggs from our hatchery stock in the incubator I have excellent answers that make sense and she is 100% on board, if we can ever pick a breed.

Oops, I got off track. In order of importance to us, we got chickens for eggs, meat, bugs, manure, preservation, enjoyment. This list is subject to change order, and one day showing may make its way onto the list.

Cheers,
colburg

 

[capayvalleychick]

We breed to preserve, but perhaps it is better said to keep alive not only the historic physical appearance of the birds, but the heritage of their temperament and agricultural purpose for which they were developed. Both the breeds were aimed at agriculture.

Yes, we eat them, yes we collect for table eggs. To ignore these aspects would be to ignore the original intention of the creators of these breeds. We believe the SOP captures and reflects the originators intentions.

Well said and that would describe my primary intentions, also. That said, the more I breed, the more that I am gaining an interest in showing. I'm never going to win, but during this journey to restore the breeds, it would be nice to see if they are getting closer to Standard.

In regard to whether standard bred birds of today are still meeting the original intention of the creators of these breeds .... I would like to see that as true. On this thread and on this forum, the majority seem to feel that breeding (utility) breeds to the SOP does mean breeding them for better production. There is another forum for exhibition poultry fanciers, where the posters appear to be judges and long time breeders. On that forum, the idea that breeding to the SOP means breeding for utility is met with ridicule. Nearly all of those people, who look to be experts in the show world, absolutely scoff at the thought that an exhibition quality bird can also be of use for meat and/or eggs.

Joseph, you know what I'm talking about, because you were arguing the losing side of a discussion on this subject on that thread. Yet, you were championed for the same opinion on this forum. I know that Walt says that breeding to the standard is breeding for better production, in breeds created for that purpose. I do respect Walt more than any other person in the Fancy. But I can't understand how such a large group of his peers can have such an opposing viewpoint.

 

[BGMatt]

Well said and that would describe my primary intentions, also. That said, the more I breed, the more that I am gaining an interest in showing. I'm never going to win, but during this journey to restore the breeds, it would be nice to see if they are getting closer to Standard.

In regard to whether standard bred birds of today are still meeting the original intention of the creators of these breeds .... I would like to see that as true. On this thread and on this forum, the majority seem to feel that breeding (utility) breeds to the SOP does mean breeding them for better production. There is another forum for exhibition poultry fanciers, where the posters appear to be judges and long time breeders. On that forum, the idea that breeding to the SOP means breeding for utility is met with ridicule. Nearly all of those people, who look to be experts in the show world, absolutely scoff at the thought that an exhibition quality bird can also be of use for meat and/or eggs.

Joseph, you know what I'm talking about, because you were arguing the losing side of a discussion on this subject on that thread. Yet, you were championed for the same opinion on this forum. I know that Walt says that breeding to the standard is breeding for better production, in breeds created for that purpose. I do respect Walt more than any other person in the Fancy. But I can't understand how such a large group of his peers can have such an opposing viewpoint.

It's to distance themselves from backyard "breeders". Can't blame them really. The main thing is people both expect too much out of their breed and do a poor job selecting their breed.

150 eggs is only 3 eggs a week, which is low for today's hatchery birds, but was really good production for a dual purpose bird when these breeds were developed. Some breeds were not bred for eggs at all, indeed their types are counter productive to egg laying traits. Yet backyard "breeders" want them because they're "pretty" and yet want them to lay like leghorns.

The fact of the matter is a breeder, even one who breeds exclusively for show can't ignore egg production, less eggs means less chicks, which means less to cull from, which means less chance of that "perfect" bird. However if one is breeding Cornish, or Call Ducks 60-70 eggs a year is great! 150 eggs from a Wyandotte or Rock? That's plenty.