Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[Robert Blosl]

Here is a book I once had when you get into this open Library type in the subject likes Plymouth Rocks or Rhode Island Reds and old books will pop up. Many of the authors or company wrote other books on the subjects at large that you can learn from. bob

http://openlibrary.org/books/OL7016852M/Poultry_houses_and_fixtures.

 

[gjensen]

that is a nice looking hen. so basically i am wasting my time keeping the old line delawares? is that what you are saying?

If we all go the same way, we all go the wrong way. Who could say that you would not make great progress with your birds? Your birds may end up superior in a particular trait(s). If we are a fan of a particular breed, then I would guess that we would want to see more than one person succesful with more than one strain. There is a lot that makes a Delaware a Delaware, both seen and unseen.
Seeing what Kathy has done in the short period of time that she has been doing it has been great to see. If anyone could be succesful with them long term, I would guess her to be that person. I don't think that anyone is saying that is the only way though. I just think that it is hard not to commend her progress, and not recognize the potential her birds have.

 

[ashandvine]

One of you said modern Houdans weren't ... as 'good' as their predecessors. I have tried looking at old prints and paintings to get an idea of why. I am too knew to see more than that the tails are a bit different and today's seem thinner/less full in the body. Could one of you make some suggestions for reading, or better, pictures? I'm pretty visual.

 

[fowlman01]

One of you said modern Houdans weren't ... as 'good' as their predecessors. I have tried looking at old prints and paintings to get an idea of why. I am too knew to see more than that the tails are a bit different and today's seem thinner/less full in the body. Could one of you make some suggestions for reading, or better, pictures? I'm pretty visual.

This is what they should look like and I haven't seen one like this for 20 years. I get to a lot of shows all over the US so it's not that I'm not seeing what is around now. I am sure that there may be an obscure breeder that does not sell his birds that may have some good ones, but most of what is being sold out there is from hatcheries and they don't look like this. Barbara Piper up in the great lakes area is the last good breeder of Houdans that know of and she hasn't raised them for years. BTW: they need to have five toes or they are really not the real thing....five toes does not make them correct either, they have to look something like this.
Note the full neck and rounded underline. A grown male should be 8lbs.
Walt

 

[capayvalleychick]

I plan on keeping two separate breeding flocks and working to get the best bird I can from each flock. Don't loose hope Stan, just consider it a challenge.

I agree. I have some Braden Dels that I had high hopes for and was totally disappointed. Part of me gets discouraged- but I'm so stubborn, I won't give up. I'll keep trying & see what I can do. At least these birds taste really good!

I'm hoping in the future to build more pens, so I can have both strains and keep them separate.

Kim

 

[Robert Blosl]

http://images.search.yahoo.com/sear...=xpl&p=new+hampshire+red+chickens&fr=chr-tyc8

I was looking for pictures of Delawares on google and found these pictures. I think one or two of these pictures may be the ones that Schilling might have done. Thought I would post the page and let you look at the different shades of N H. Got to go out side and water the ducks and chickens. Have a great night. bob

 

[3riverschick]

Yikes! Forgot to check in on the site for a couple of days, and the thread grew! My, my. I'll have to remember to check every day.


I'm glad that Delawares are so likeable. That's really what attracts me to them, especially with not-so-aggressive cocks. Gotta have chickens with personality, though!


LOL I can see myself getting into trouble with "chicken math".


I'll look into those places, though I don't plan on immediately becoming a hardcore chicken breeder. I recently moved back with my parents, so I need to keep my chicken numbers pretty low. It's good to start learning on what it takes to breed these chickens, though. I didn't know it was so intense!! It could be a very interesting hobby, though.

There's a trio of partridge chanteclers which just showed up on our local Craigslist here in the Pittsburgh area. Owner says they came from a flock of a guy with a name starting with B. Something like Bleums.
Best,
Karen.

 

[fowlman01]

http://images.search.yahoo.com/sear...=xpl&p=new+hampshire+red+chickens&fr=chr-tyc8

I was looking for pictures of Delawares on google and found these pictures. I think one or two of these pictures may be the ones that Schilling might have done. Thought I would post the page and let you look at the different shades of N H. Got to go out side and water the ducks and chickens. Have a great night. bob

The Schilling New Hamps look very accurate.

Walt

 

[3riverschick]

Barbara Piper up in the great lakes area is the last good breeder of Houdans that know of and she hasn't raised them for years. Walt

That's how I tracked down breeders of Golden Salmon Marans. Follow the grapevine. Ms. Piper may remember to whom she sold birds. Maybe she had repeat customers. See if you can contact her and get some names. then follow all of them and eventually, down the line, you may find that obscure backyard flock of birds descended from hers. It can take weeks or months of searching, but will save you years of work if you find them. Plus a treasure for the breed's gene pool. I found several of the Marans breeders had stopped communicating with the poultry world because other poultry people had not dealt equitably with them. Have a plan in mind and quality knowledge of the breed before you contact them. Be able to describe your set-up and your plans for the birds...but not unless you are asked. The biggest mistake novices make( I am one of the worst offenders) is to go wading in all excited and blow the breeder away with your enthusiasum. Then suddenly realize the breeder thinks you sound just like one of the money grubbers who might not appreciate her birds and effort. It's a novice mistake. It's much more important to be quiet, listen and have a ready answer when asked...than to get all your info out first.
Best,
Karen

 

[cubalaya]

If we all go the same way, we all go the wrong way. Who could say that you would not make great progress with your birds? Your birds may end up superior in a particular trait(s). If we are a fan of a particular breed, then I would guess that we would want to see more than one person succesful with more than one strain. There is a lot that makes a Delaware a Delaware, both seen and unseen.
Seeing what Kathy has done in the short period of time that she has been doing it has been great to see. If anyone could be succesful with them long term, I would guess her to be that person. I don't think that anyone is saying that is the only way though. I just think that it is hard not to commend her progress, and not recognize the potential her birds have.

thanks gjenson and capayvalley. i appreciate your opinions and will keep what i have and continue to work with them. in 7 or eight years maybe i can post a pic that will make y'all drool. good luck and best wishes to kathy and maybe she will actually recreate the delaware and become the next george ellis of indian river fame. or maybe , just maybe we will preserve something important and useful.