Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[3riverschick]

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

Been thinking about this. &Yes, I think good breeding first is best. Thinking all I will use is black oil sunflower seeds
as a part of their ration, and a raw silk rag for a gentle once-over of the feathers before showtime. In the dog world,
raw silk is used on smooth-coated dog coats just before ring time. Helps bring up a final sheen. Must be undyed raw,
that works best. I used BOSS as part of the daily ration when I had the Golden Salmon Marans. Wow! Lovely, strong
feathers with brilliant sheen. Here's pics of the roo I used the BOSS on .
http://waterfordsussexandmarans.webs.com/apps/photos/ this cock is actually genotype eb/e+ , tho his phenotype is e+/e+.
No raw silk used on him before the pics. That I know of, this is the only photo essay on a Golden Salmon Marans rooster on the Web.
Best,
Karen
Waterford English Sussex
----------------------------
Not to be self-serving, however, it would be immensely helpful to heritage breeders if the top people in each breed would make such a photo essay of their top birds. Then lock the pics so they couldn't be lifted by anyone else. Yes, my photo essay is missing a top view photo which would be very helpful. I wasn't educated enough to know it was important.

 

[flitter]

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

I have some from them. I like their color better than my other groups so far, too. In fact the picture I posted of the 12 week olds are SHP breeding.

 

[flitter]

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

It's raining hard right now but I will try for a different angle on that comb. I might measure it... an interesting bit to keep along with the weight. I appreciate the close look.

 

[ashandvine]

I think Mr. Walt had Houdans. Anyone else? Where did yours some from? There were only four breeders listed in California in 1913 in this book I am reading:

http://archive.org/stream/officialclubyear00amer#page/n0/mode/2up

Some of you keep track of who has whose birds. Is this word of mouth investigation?

Something else I notice is the difference of combs in old photos versus now. I have seen the "little horns" combs, and then more like a spikey leaf comb. Any word on what should be hidden in the feathers? No one in the Houdan thread seems to know for sure.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Been thinking about this. &Yes, I think good breeding first is best. Thinking all I will use is black oil sunflower seeds
as a part of their ration, and a raw silk rag for a gentle once-over of the feathers before showtime. In the dog world,
raw silk is used on smooth-coated dog coats just before ring time. Helps bring up a final sheen. Must be undyed raw,
that works best. I used BOSS as part of the daily ration when I had the Golden Salmon Marans. Wow! Lovely, strong
feathers with brilliant sheen. Here's pics of the roo I used the BOSS on .
http://waterfordsussexandmarans.webs.com/apps/photos/ this cock is actually genotype eb/e+ , tho his phenotype is e+/e+.
No raw silk used on him before the pics. That I know of, this is the only photo essay on a Golden Salmon Marans rooster on the Web.
Best,
Karen
Waterford English Sussex
----------------------------
Not to be self-serving, however, it would be immensely helpful to heritage breeders if the top people in each breed would make such a photo essay of their top birds. Then lock the pics so they couldn't be lifted by anyone else. Yes, my photo essay is missing a top view photo which would be very helpful. I wasn't educated enough to know it was important.

How did you serve these BOSS? Did you use a certain percentage in their regular feed? Did you sprout them? Ferment them? Throw them in dry?

 

[3riverschick]

How did you serve these BOSS? Did you use a certain percentage in their regular feed? Did you sprout them? Ferment them? Throw them in dry?

I just throw them dry on the ground like scratch... , rate 1/8 cup per bird per day.
Best,
Karen
Oh, oh. I just read that post of mine about top breeders putting up photo essays of their top birds. I just need to qualify that.
I am not a top breeder of anything in poultry. Just a novice with a camera , a nice Marans boy I hatched out of an Ed Hess
egg (Portland, IN) and an idea about photo essays.
Ed has much improved his Golden Salmon Marans since I hatched Alvin.

 

[fowlman01]

I think Mr. Walt had Houdans. Anyone else? Where did yours some from? There were only four breeders listed in California in 1913 in this book I am reading:

http://archive.org/stream/officialclubyear00amer#page/n0/mode/2up

Some of you keep track of who has whose birds. Is this word of mouth investigation?

Something else I notice is the difference of combs in old photos versus now. I have seen the "little horns" combs, and then more like a spikey leaf comb. Any word on what should be hidden in the feathers? No one in the Houdan thread seems to know for sure.

In the US you need to have the V comb. Some countries have the "leaf" comb. The APA does not recognize the leaf comb in any breed. It is hard to beleive that no one knows that in the Houdan thread..I believe it....but...

Walt

 

[fowlman01]

Been thinking about this. &Yes, I think good breeding first is best. Thinking all I will use is black oil sunflower seeds
as a part of their ration, and a raw silk rag for a gentle once-over of the feathers before showtime. In the dog world,
raw silk is used on smooth-coated dog coats just before ring time. Helps bring up a final sheen. Must be undyed raw,
that works best. I used BOSS as part of the daily ration when I had the Golden Salmon Marans. Wow! Lovely, strong
feathers with brilliant sheen. Here's pics of the roo I used the BOSS on .
http://waterfordsussexandmarans.webs.com/apps/photos/ this cock is actually genotype eb/e+ , tho his phenotype is e+/e+.
No raw silk used on him before the pics. That I know of, this is the only photo essay on a Golden Salmon Marans rooster on the Web.
Best,
Karen
Waterford English Sussex
----------------------------
Not to be self-serving, however, it would be immensely helpful to heritage breeders if the top people in each breed would make such a photo essay of their top birds. Then lock the pics so they couldn't be lifted by anyone else. Yes, my photo essay is missing a top view photo which would be very helpful. I wasn't educated enough to know it was important.

Karen.......this is not the dog world........lol. Lot of people who show, feed special feed and do the silk at the show...maybe most of them, I don't know. I don't have time to do all that and most people think I lay down some good looking birds. I show a lot of white birds and if they are not glossy white you are not going to win. If I can make them pretty without feeding special feed etc, I'm going to go that route. I'm not saying that it isn't a good idea Karen, but I am saying if a person spends that time and energy breeding for those traits, it is a lot easier. We show 50 birds at a time. We have shown 50 birds (exactly the same entry) in CA and AZ on the same weekend...kind of crazy huh? We don't do it for the points (point chasers I think Bob calls them) we do it to annoy people. ahahaha.

Walt

 

[3riverschick]

Karen.......this is not the dog world........lol. Lot of people who show, feed special feed and do the silk at the show...maybe most of them, I don't know. I don't have time to do all that and most people think I lay down some good looking birds. I show a lot of white birds and if they are not glossy white you are not going to win. If I can make them pretty without feeding special feed etc, I'm going to go that route. I'm not saying that it isn't a good idea Karen, but I am saying if a person spends that time and energy breeding for those traits, it is a lot easier. We show 50 birds at a time. We have shown 50 birds (exactly the same entry) in CA and AZ on the same weekend...kind of crazy huh? We don't do it for the points (point chasers I think Bob calls them) we do it to annoy people. ahahaha.

Walt

---------------------

Karen.......this is not the dog world........lol.

You got that right, Walt. Poultry is much harder than the dog world. I find that out daily. I had thought the BOSS and silk were just part of regular show grooming like oil on the combs and legs and such. Guess I need to re-think that too. Sometimes I wonder if I am ever going to land on a real answer instead of ones which keep needing re-examining because I am a newcomer.

Well, ok then, how does one breed gloss into feathers on white birds? I had thought "gloss" was part of "environment", at least on white birds.
Sigh.
Karen

 

[fowlman01]

---------------------

Karen.......this is not the dog world........lol.

You got that right, Walt. Poultry is much harder than the dog world. I find that out daily. I had thought the BOSS and silk were just part of regular show grooming like oil on the combs and legs and such. Guess I need to re-think that too. Sometimes I wonder if I am ever going to land on a real answer instead of ones which keep needing re-examining because I am a newcomer.

Well, ok then, how does one breed gloss into feathers on white birds? I had thought "gloss" was part of "environment", at least on white birds.
Sigh.
Karen

You are the first dog person to agree with me that poultry are difficult. Wow!!

Selective breeding will do that for you. Next time you see some white Rocks, Leghorns whatever in a show, you will be able to tell which ones have a natural gloss and which don't have a shine at all. More of a dull white. It is most evident in the male and the males hackle and saddle feathers, but can be seen in the females as well.
The environment is also a factor as you noted.... and to be fair we here in norcal are blessed with a climate that makes a lot of things easier. I get cool and sometimes damp weather even during summer mornings and evenings which helps with feather quality. In some areas of the US the weather is so hot it dries out the feathers and will sometimes even curl the feathers so that they somewhat resemble a frizzle. The don't look exactly like frizzles, but the feathers start to curl.

When do you get your birds?

Walt