Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[fowlman01]

Ralph Brazelton is the only one that comes to mind. He was great in Orpingtons, but don't think he was a master in the Buff color genetics. Dan Honour has assumed that role in our generation with Tom Roebuck a close second. At 6:30 am with the kids' first day of school, no name comes to mind.

Call Ralph whatever you want, but he was a master of Buff Orps. No one is making him like he did yet.

Walt

 

[fowlman01]

Marcus Davidson ? or Alex Duffy ?

http://gator541.hostgator.com/~bant...buff-color-by-tom-roebuck&catid=1:latest-news


Kim

Duffy was the Master of Buff Cochins.

Walt

 

[ashandvine]

Does anyone have Black Spanish?

There is a woman raising them here in Maine who has them for show. They are smaller than I expected and the white in the face does not extend quite so far as in the illustration you posted but the ones she had for sale this summer were young. She also has those Aussie Spotted ducks.

I am being a pest about these Redcaps

If you aren't a pest about them you wont' get your questions answered and other thinking about Redcaps, which clearly is a need. KEEP asking. I ask about two other breeds from time to time and get humored a little. Actually, the Spanish I saw were about the size of your Redcaps.

 

[15littlem]

What is the best thing to use to make plumage really good on show chickens?

 

[fowlman01]

No one has been discussing Redcaps but they are a Heritage breed. I wanted to share pictures of my oldest cock from this year's hatch. He's leading the pack so far in weight but I wondered if anyone is familiar enough with the breed to comment on him. He's 5 months old. I haven't found any serious defects (but may have missed something). I'm not sure if his comb is "bumpy" enough for SOP standards. His weight alone will make him a keeper, probably. I have a few other cocks 2-3 months younger but they are behind him on weight at their age.
Any opinions on his type, etc are very welcome.

Not many people know anything about Redcaps. The comb looks fine except the the notch in the front of it right by the beak. It should be straight across the front with no indents. To tell you more I would need more pics. In particular one from the side and one from the top of the bird, so I can see it's back from the top.....that might be hard to do. In the pic it appears that the comb should be bigger, but it is a young bird. One of the features of this breed is the large wide comb.

Walt

 

[fowlman01]

What is the best thing to use to make plumage really good on show chickens?

Good breeding is all you need, but if you want to add to that, there are feed supplements and silk rags etc, etc. I don't do any of that so I can't help you with the supplements.

Walt

 

[fowlman01]

There is a woman raising them here in Maine who has them for show. They are smaller than I expected and the white in the face does not extend quite so far as in the illustration you posted but the ones she had for sale this summer were young. She also has those Aussie Spotted ducks.


If you aren't a pest about them you wont' get your questions answered and other thinking about Redcaps, which clearly is a need. KEEP asking. I ask about two other breeds from time to time and get humored a little. Actually, the Spanish I saw were about the size of your Redcaps.

The Spanish you are talking about sound like hatchery Spanish.

Walt

 

[NYREDS]

Duffy was the Master of Buff Cochins.

Walt

That's why we called him Fluffy Duffy

 

[NYREDS]

I am being a pest about these Redcaps but there is not any other thread that might provide opinions. The redcap threads are dead. You are all so right about scarcity of source for these guys but I'd like to make a start at making them more "desirable?".They are really pretty reliable layers so I want to be careful to not lose that trait. Their weight is way low and that has been the real focus for me. I pick the heavies and cull out the disqualification defects... I've had single comb and white ear lobes... color has held fairly good but I do get that fluffy white stuff by the tail occasionally... it comes and goes. I haven't culled for it,yet. Should I? I'll carry over 5-10 cockerels this winter to see how they develop... weed them down to half and keep until they are three years old. And do that with each spring's hatch for several years. Their background is 3 different hatcheries... I've only found one gentleman that breeds them and has for quite a while. This is the beginning of years of building weight, I know. Are their any other traits besides the general SOP disqualifications that I should beware of? I don't want to finally get bigger birds that have some awful trait that will mean starting over, almost. For example, is the pinched tail or the white fluff something I should cull out now? I can't breed to correct everything all at once...weight, productivity, vigor are first and then color, I'm thinking.Other opinions and advice are welcome.

Sandhill has been selecting for size for some time now. You might want to think about some chicks from them.

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

Quote:
Ralph did have the best colored Buffs I have ever seen. You knew him a bit better than I. We talked a lot on the phone and in letters, but only seen each other at a couple of shows. Back then I could not afford the drive to northern Kansas.