Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[NotAFarm]

Bob, I believe those type of articles need to be on the breed club websites. If a newbie is looking into a breed and they could get that type of information on a breed website, they might feel encouraged to try that breed. Without the help of such a reference, newbies are beaten before they get started. Many breeding secrets were taken to the grave with the master breeders of the past.....with the technology we now have, there is no reason that this should ever happen again. The problem remains of how to get those breeders to "give up" their secrets...........



Edited because I can't spell..........

 

[fowlman01]

Walt you earned so many points over the years with different breeds you are making a com pleat circle.

Nothing wrong being a point chaser if you stick with it after you win the number of points to be a master breeder. What get me is they give up in eight years or so go to another breed or even give up poultry.

I guess I am asking to much for someone to enjoy the hobby and stick with a breed for ten or twenty years. Not many can or will do it.

The ones who do my hat is off to them and then we hope they will be good stew arts of the breed, their club and help the beginners.

You have helped many people get started...keep in mind 8 years is a really long time for a young person. lol
Even if you interest a only few that will hang in there for the long haul, that is all you can ask for. I am sure that you have influenced many lurkers and that is what moost people are hear, so you never know how many you have enlightened. Hows that Silkie doing?

Walt

 

[Maggiesdad]

I would like some of these beauties, but they are on the other side of the world in boriss' backyard... Tasmania

 

[thedragonlady]

You should see the emails and phone calls I get wanting off the wall breeds. I ask the question why do you want these rare rare breeds. They say its a interesting history, they have great egg laying ability, they lay lots of eggs, they where popular in the 1950s ect. I tell them if they where so great why dont people fool with them any more. Some of these breeds where promotions of breeders who wanted to make money selling chicks. I think the worse one was the Rhode Island Whites trying to ride the coat tails of the Rhode Island Red explosion in the 1930s. The Delawares was another, sounds great on paper but try breeding these breeds they are hard, if you try to show them the dont win and sooner or latter they become almost extinct.

Many beginners take on breeds that only a ten year experienced chicken person should have. How ever, many just want them in the yard to look at and say they are preservationist but they are not. They keep the birds and they will revert back to their origin and become barnyard culls in no time. Thats why many who go in and buy out a good breeders flock are out of them in three years. They dont know how to breed them. The worse story is having a guy buy two dozen eggs from a rare breed who has not raised a chicken in a incubator for twenty years and then goes to a feed store and buys a $35. Styrofoam cheap incubator. Puts the incubator in a old spare bedroom near a window where the sun hits it during the day and hatches one chick. Sound familiar? It was me 32 years ago. I did this so many want these hard to get eggs and they have no skills using a incubator and then buy the worse incubator you could have for such rare eggs. That is why if I was a beginner I would like to have ten started chicks sent to me over night express and then I should get two males and two females for next year and you would be off to the races for breeding the next year. Or make a road trip of four or five hundred miles with the family and go pick them up one weekend at the persons house.

Anyway, most of the chickens you all want are very very rare. You need to have a list of the top five breeds you would like to obtain then study the population of these breeds and pick one that makes sense and is around. If Mr. Urch does not have them then they may not be available. Of course there are the Hatcheries most of the time they have the old breed and what you get is about what is available but that is just the facts of life. At least my two phone calls last night where breeds I could manage to help people locate this spring with chicks from good breeders. I guess today I will get a call for a purple chicken with a crazy looking comb today.

Well off my soap box and going to clean conditioning pens and get dust up my noise. I should feel real good by Noon. Have a nice day and keep the pictures coming .

 

[Robert Blosl]

Maybe what I should do is set a five year goal on how to breed for color and have a list of all breeds that are considered Heritage Fowl which where chickens in the Standard of Perfection be for say 1960.

I have a list that I helped write for the Plymouth Rock Club all ready done. Buff, Barred, Colombian, Partridge, Silver Pencil led. Have Rhode Island Reds How to get started with Black Java.

Need articles and will work on this one myself How to breed Silver Spangled Hamburgs I have a friend who has been breeding them for 50 years. Got to get it on tape or paper befor he goes to Poultry Heaven.

So many more. How to breed for Color, Delawares New Hampshire's Mottled Javas or Co chins Domini ques Light Brown Leghorns Salmon Favorols Butter Cups

So what others would you like to see or help get written????

Maybe befor I unplug my incubator and go to the big Poultry Show in the sky I can try to to this task.

If people get the birds and dont stick with them for one reason or another so be it.

Maybe I am asking to much and the reason people stick for the more popular breeds like Reds or Rocks is the are easyer to breed true color. However, many of these colors are as rare as many of the less popular breeds out there wanted by folks today.

You mentioned that the breed clubs should have these article stored on their web pages or the sectary should have all the old literature this has not been done very well over the last 30 years. I think when you bird dog some of the old books that are now on the Internet digitally this will help us.

There are also very few people who are really slick breeders of color anymore or they breed color by hope and chance. Will see what we can do. I will ease up on telling you about the hear today gone tomorrow crowd. For one thing asking for sticking with a breed on this kind of web site is silly I think. Very few people even care about preservation only a very small hand full and most are satisfied with is all ready out there by feeds store suppliers.

I will put together a web site my self on my web site source and let you know when I get it to the point that its worth going to.

Give me something to do in my old age.

By the way I heard some very good news for the R I Red Club found a new News Letter Chairman and should get out the old Rhode Island Red Chronicles so save up some money for due and we will send it in when the time is right.

Thanks for your interest in these old breeds and maybe wanting to sponsor and own them to keep them from going extinct.

 

[NYREDS]

that is why i stick to one variety..i am way too novice to play in a lot of colors and breeds..

i wish i would have taken pics of the light sussex at twin tiers show..i saw 2 ..they were right next to the buff orps..not sure about the quality, but it struck me that they were good sized birds..looked like a nice meat - egg combo.. next year i will take more pics, better camera for heritage group.. i only wish they would have let me off work for the classic..it was a no..but hopefully next year they will have things straightened out and more staff..and i will NOT loose any more to weasles..

I saw them there, then I saw the same 2 again at the Northern NY show. They were the first ones I'd seen in I don't know how long. The owner asked me what I thought of them. I handled them & they weren't bad. The owner bought an assortment some where & they were in it-the only 2 he has. He's going to keep & breed them.
Sorry to hear you won't make it to Syracuse. Hopefully next year. We have a show there in the spring as well.

 

[NYREDS]

I would like some of these beauties, but they are on the other side of the world in boriss' backyard... Tasmania

Interesting looking birds.What are they?

 

[Maggiesdad]

Interesting looking birds.What are they?

Black Australorps... they don't look anything like what comes out of the hatcheries around here.

 

[hcammack]

All this talk of articles and such is making me think of a great Faverolles breeder of 20+ years. He is still around and sometimes on this site. Hatched a couple promising boys from him ( I know hatching eggs a no no but it was the only way to get the genetics) I will be breeding those boys this spring.

Here is the website. Very helpful articles about breeding faverolles:
http://peterfmerlin.tripod.com/Choices.htm

 

[nyanamia]

Bob and others keep mentioning that patterned breeds are hard for beginners and if they want to learn to breed, start off with white. It makes good sense to me, but what about black? I think my question got lost in the flood

What about black birds? Is black considered a difficult color, or a good one for beginners to learn how to breed? Is it more difficult than white? I've never been drawn to white birds, but I could look at shiny black ones all day.