Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[OSUman]

That is great! I wish my Anconas were laying.

So, on a slightly different subject. I'm a bit amazed. I had set up some special pairings for an Ancona project with the intention of hatching some out before our heavy hatching season begins. Well, a cold snap hit, and I was pulling eggs in 14 degrees after work, when they had been sitting in the boxes in uninsulated coops. Indeed, I wrote the daily temperatures on the eggs. I even brought some up to the kitchen to fry and inspect, finding slushy whites. Well, I just candled after the first week and 44 out of 50 are fertile and fine. 88% fertility was much more that I was hoping for. I was gearing up to through the whole lot out. Not too bad...now they just have to hatch in high percentage...

 

[Yellow House Farm]

I didn't realize you bred Anconas. SC or RC?

Do you expect them to be in production soon? Ours are pretty steady. They start at around 5 months and tend to lay straight through until molt.

 

[OSUman]

I just got them this past fall, the hen is pretty old so I dont know how many eggs Im going to get out of her. They RC but do have the SC gene.

I didn't realize you bred Anconas. SC or RC?

Do you expect them to be in production soon? Ours are pretty steady. They start at around 5 months and tend to lay straight through until molt.

 

[Chris09]

1945. Wow. Really brings into perspective how young I really am compared to ya'll!

I can't recall ever seeing a Rhode Island White in real life. I don't really understand what the "deal" is with them. They just look like Rosecombed White Plymouth Rocks to me? Not much of similarity to a Rhode Island Red in body style at all?

I'm in my early 40's and have see some that I might call a R.I. White and one Rooster that was outstanding, looked identical to a Rose Comb R.I. Red but White in color.

Chris

 

[Fred's Hens]

R I Whites are the greatest chickens ever invented. So they say like so many of the other breeds that got into the Standard and never go off the ground.. Kind of reminds me of the Spruce GOOSE. Do you know who owned that plane?

They tried so hard to ride the coat tails in the 1930s and 40s with the Rhode Island red club and posting the birds in the Rhode Island Red Journal. They look about the same today as they did then. Poor Feather Quality laking the brick shape most of the time. Here is a question to you who have read the Poultry Press from say 1945 to the present. Do you ever remember seeing a Rhode Island White on Champion Row.??? I have read them all from then to the present and I can not think of one time this has happen.

So many people drove me nuts trying to find this breed over the past two years. I have never seen anything to get me really excited. However, many will continue to want them and get them and that is good.

Now for a real good chicken Rose Comb Rhode Island Reds. There are a few good birds out there today. I like the new Sectary of the Red clubs large fowl Rose Combs. He has some really nice typed birds and they look like single combs from about 10 years ago.

.

The RIW may have failed, just in my own personal view, to fully justify its purpose. A niche bird, but little else. At least it failed to garner the kind of support any breed needs. Having only a handful of keepers/breeders jeopardizes the lines. White birds are among my personal favorites, but many people reject them as too visible for predators from the sky. If any breed cannot enlist a solid following, its long term success and survival is quite suspect.

 

[Fred's Hens]

1945. Wow. Really brings into perspective how young I really am compared to ya'll!

I can't recall ever seeing a Rhode Island White in real life. I don't really understand what the "deal" is with them. They just look like Rosecombed White Plymouth Rocks to me? Not much of similarity to a Rhode Island Red in body style at all?

I'm in my early 40's and have see some that I might call a R.I. White and one Rooster that was outstanding, looked identical to a Rose Comb R.I. Red but White in color.

Chris

Well, I'm a whole lot older than you two, yet, I've never, to my knowledge, seen more than a handful at the fairs and such.
As the old saying goes, "Will it play in Peoria?"

Yet? How many White Leghorns did we see as youths in the 1950's and 1960's? Literally 10's of 1000's. Couldn't go to anywhere without seeing them on neighbors' farms. Same with the White Rock. Virtually every farmer around us kept one or both. We sure did. The women liked the yellow skin and easier cleaning of a white bird. These birds built enormous followings for very practical reasons. OK, I'm done with these early morning musings. LOL

 

[Pozees]

Well, I'm a whole lot older than you two, yet, I've never, to my knowledge, seen more than a handful at the fairs and such.
As the old saying goes, "Will it play in Peoria?"

Yet? How many White Leghorns did we see as youths in the 1950's and 1960's? Literally 10's of 1000's. Couldn't go to anywhere without seeing them on neighbors' farms. Same with the White Rock. Virtually every farmer around us kept one or both. We sure did. The women liked the yellow skin and easier cleaning of a white bird. These birds built enormous followings for very practical reasons. OK, I'm done with these early morning musings. LOL

I guess this musing begs the question, if we already had White Leghorns and Rocks, what was the purpose of developing the Rhode Island White? Not being cheeky, I am actually curious what the reason was.

 

[gjensen]

I do not know what the reason was. A guess would be the advantages a Rhode Island Red would have over a White Rock, but with the benefit that white can be.

It is argued whether or not they are worth messing with at this point, but I go with "If you give today, you will give more tomorrow.". I am one of those that could not care less whether or not I ever won a ribbon. Though I would like to try showing, it isn't why I keep chickens. Maybe I will grow something out that is worth giving it a shot at some point.

 

[Pozees]

I do not know what the reason was. A guess would be the advantages a Rhode Island Red would have over a White Rock, but with the benefit that white can be.

It is argued whether or not they are worth messing with at this point, but I go with "If you give today, you will give more tomorrow.". I am one of those that could not care less whether or not I ever won a ribbon. Though I would like to try showing, it isn't why I keep chickens. Maybe I will grow something out that is worth giving it a shot at some point.

Same here.

I will be interested in following whether the breed advances.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

I do not know what the reason was. A guess would be the advantages a Rhode Island Red would have over a White Rock, but with the benefit that white can be.

It is argued whether or not they are worth messing with at this point, but I go with "If you give today, you will give more tomorrow.". I am one of those that could not care less whether or not I ever won a ribbon. Though I would like to try showing, it isn't why I keep chickens. Maybe I will grow something out that is worth giving it a shot at some point.

The only thing I could think of is that when a Rhode Island Red is plucked, the feather color can tend to leave a less than desirable looking carcass, especially if done incorrectly. Which is why, as Americans, we eat the broilers more often. We don't want to know anything about the bird that was killed for our consumption. The feather coloring won't "leak" into the skin and color areas of the carcass. White gives a more uniform color to a yellow skinned bird.

Or perhaps the Rhode Island Red hen was more productive in that era than the Plymouth Rock? Or, perhaps broodiness was a desirable trait that was wanted and the Plymouth Rock just didnt fit that bill. Just some random thoughts on it.