Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[15littlem]

THanks Jum and BOb. A lot to think about while I feed this morning.

Eye candy--yes, I am drawn to specific breeds for the eye candy. Buff ORpingtons. SS and a few others. I pass by a black astralorp and don't give her a second look. But pretty is as pretty does. Yes, for generall layers, hatchery is fine and I get the eye candy there.

RIR--DH is a fan of them, something about his grandmother in NY.


I'm starting to realize to make reasonable progress, a few breeds is better rather than many.

Much to think about.

What do you think about wyandottes?

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

Did not catch that you were in New England. There is another option. We have a few White Chantecler, pure Canadian line. The male is solid muscle. These were developed for the the cold Canadian climate as a dual purpose breed. Some of the best stock in the USA is in Vermont at http://www.facebook.com/fayrehalechanteclers. He is also on BYC but I can not locate his username. Here are a few photos of the White Chantecler from our flock and several others.

 

[Maggiesdad]

Do you know anyone in Tennessee who raises good heritage breed chickens? If you do, can you give me their websites? I'm a teen who is thinking about breeding some for meat and show? Which are the best for meat? excluding cornish.

Try James at Skyline. He's in Old Fort, might can get you pointed in the right direction. And keep reading everything you can.

 

[Fayrehale]

Hello All,

Jim Hall posted our link and mentioned that we have "Some of the best stock in the USA is in Vermont at http://www.facebook.com/fayrehalechanteclers."

we have a few chicks left but they are too old to mail now.....

Thanks

 

[3riverschick]

Try James at Skyline. He's in Old Fort, might can get you pointed in the right direction. And keep reading everything you can.

Euskal Oilia's are intriguing birds. But don't choose them to start off. Pick an APA recognized breed you can have fun showing. James has some lovely stock!
Best,
Karen

 

[ronott1]

Quote: I thought you could show non recognized breeds and that is one of the things you need to do to get them recognized?

Ron

 

[ronott1]

Hello All,

Jim Hall posted our link and mentioned that we have "Some of the best stock in the USA is in Vermont at http://www.facebook.com/fayrehalechanteclers."

we have a few chicks left but they are too old to mail now.....

Thanks

I am so glad you have joined us here!

Ron

 

[ronott1]

Quote: James has more than Basque. He has awesome Orpingtons too!

Also,

 

[fowlman01]

I thought you could show non recognized breeds and that is one of the things you need to do to get them recognized?

Ron

You can show them. And if it is a breed/variety that sometime may be included in the SOP they have to be shown first. They can only go as high as best of variety of a breed and cannot compete for higher awards.

Walt

 

[ronott1]

I have a basic question, that is complicated . Perhaps those of you that have put your hands on a lot of different breeds and lines can chime in, and any one else of course. All input welcome.

I am looking for a heritage breed that is meatie. For all the effort to clean a bird I would like a reasonable reward. ANd I don't want to spend 15 years making a good meatie. I'd rather start with a bird that already is partway there. I do like the SS, but I am opened minded. ANd if anyone can comment on the carcass of the SS, that would be icing on the cake.

I've dressed out a only few birds and I am always surprised at the lack of muscling. Egg layers by design are lightly muscled and put all their effort into eggs. Geese while big are not heavily muscled.

Or am I asking for Perdue and heritage lines cannot meet that level of muscling.

This question goes along with a recent discussion on the Heritage RIR thread about losing Utility to show ability. You may have trouble if you are trying to get current show quality heritage lines up to good meat production. What you should get is Cockerels that are a lot bigger than the pullets. If you want to move onto some that people have been working on for Dual Purpose but are not old heritage lines, one option is the
Konza Prairie Rangers

Konza Prairie Rangers- These are a dual-purpose project I've been working on to produce an exceptional foraging bird for meat production as well as great hens. The birds are often HUGE. I've had males dressing out at 6.5# at 14 weeks, and the pullets lay almost daily at 17+ weeks. These are created to have a minimal or flat comb for cold winter temps. They deal very well with heat and humidity, as well. There isn't a consistent coloration as of yet. This is a friendly, docile, broad-breasted bird. The project consists of Partridge Chantecler, Australian Coronation/Light Sussex, Plymouth Rock, Orpington and Cornish lines. My goal is not yet reached, but I'm continuing to work on it continuously. I am getting an egg 5 days out of 7 from pullets, and I only hatch eggs from the cushion-combed pullets. Older hens are still laying very well, however I have several 2nd year hens who have gone broody. I have sold several sets of eggs, clarifying that the offspring are still occasionally showing a single comb here and there. Coloration is inconsistent and most appear to have a black and white appearance, either like the Delaware, a Columbian or like an incomplete Lakenvelder pattern. Sometimes the partridge comes out and they have a lovely Silver Lacing on the breast. I'm looking for rapid growth coupled with good laying ability and a good foraging behavior for lower feed costs when pastured. This is still a project, so I can't promise anything about the outcome yet. I know they have not had motility issues or any early deaths like the Cornish crosses have, but they aren't ready to process that early, either. I don't intend to move into that class, but want something faster-growing than dual purposes currently available without a large single comb.

These are a project worked on by ChooksChicks.

Another one would be the New Heritage Delawares that kathyinmo is working on.

Ron