Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[3riverschick]

Glad the tread did not die should have not been so thought full.

It's great whe you are thoughtful. Always something for the list to chew on.

 

[3riverschick]

There are Columbian breeds which are founded on eb Brown. The Light Sussex is properly eWh/eWh S/S Co/Co.
The way I tell the difference is in the color of the undercolor. Plus, the eb based birds often show black ticking on the male saddle. This usually doesn't show in eWh based breed unless the color balancing is way off with too much black. Probably by the time one saw black ticking in the saddle of an eWh based male Light Sussex bird, one would also see a superhackle also on him.
Karen

 

[Yellow House Farm]

It occurs to me when looking at this picture, I should be vacuum sealing my culls. I have the unit .... (suffice to say, it didn't occur to me before seeing this picture that I might take advantage of modern inventions when "culling".) <sigh>

It causes the birds to last in the freezer at length without damage or reduction in quality.

 

[Robert Blosl]

Does corn or Marigold extract cause white chickens to have a yellow hew to their feathers or quills? This has been a issue for many years that I have heard. I have had white rock large fowl off and on for 20 years and white rock bantams for ten years. My bantams have always stayed white until last year when I showed them in October. I noticed my five males I washed had a yellow hew to their feathers after feeding them a feed that I have used for years that had a Marigold extract in it for the purpose of making their legs more yellow. My leg color has always been yellow but what the heck why not try it. My large fowl did not turn yellow they are as snow white as they have ever been.

So for those who say no it cant I say have you raised or breed them?

I know one item that is maybe better than corn to help the leg color and that is Alfalfa leaves. Hard to get down here where I live but there is some magic stuff in general in that product. If you can get a bail of leaves type hay and give it to your birds it can put a heck of a finish on them for the show room. I know most of you on this board who read this thread or the lurkers dont show but a secret here or there by those who do is valuable.

Case and point. About 20 years ago I went to Southern Louisiana to visit a fellow named Russell Roy who was a dark Cornish bantam breeder and also had some fantastic large fowl. He had a fellow who worked at a near by Horse Race track and paid him so much for a plastic bag for the leaves that fell to the ground after the Race Horses at the Alfalfa Hay. He feed these to his Cornish. The results was simply fantastic.

He went to the Ohio National that year and there was something like 8 throphys for Cornish a huge National Meet and he came home I think with five of them. That year he won more points for wining with his Cornish bantams and large fowl than any person who won points for any breed club I ever read about. So having a good blood line and knowing how to condition was his secret. He had a large fowl Cockerel siting in a pen with a light bulb over his head in the day light. I asked him what was the light for. I am trying to stimulate his growth to get him to be as big as he can be for I show him at Columbus. He won Champion Cornish Large Fowl of the show. He was the best Large Fowl Cornish I ever saw. I even had a trio of his off spring for a short time but lost them to foxes.

So that's my two cents on color of a white chicken but who CARES? I thought we where going to try to find lost breeds of endangered Fowl. You know the H chickens.

Does any buddy have a rare breed of chicken or H fowl they are getting this year. I know there are some breeds out there that people want. I have seen orders for White Rock and Rhode Island Reds go through the roof this year.

Any other breeds? If there is a breed you want and its in the category of difficult to breed for color or it is on the bottom of the list for being close to standard that is no reason to not get them. Again don't get all bent out of shape about breeding and raising these chickens to the Standard of Perfection. This is a slow process any way. Heck after you get them you may not like them or their personality. Like Charlie. He tried four breeds I think and flipped over a new leaf and got rid of three that he thought he would like.

Enjoy your chickens, have fun with them and don't make it a JOB if you do you will not be happy and may do what others do.

KISS

 

[Yellow House Farm]

I know that eggs laid by hens fed marigolds are supposed to be rather healthy to eat.

Is there anyone in New England with some poultry wishes? There are some strong breeders around here:

White Wyandottes
White and Barred Rocks
SS Hamburgs
Langshans
White Chanteclers
Salmon Faverolles
SC and RC RI Reds
Buckeyes
SC White Leghorns
Andalusians
Dorkings
RC Anconas
La Fleche
Australorps
Cochins

 

[3riverschick]

Does corn or Marigold extract cause white chickens to have a yellow hew to their feathers or quills? This has been a issue for many years that I have heard.
===============
Hi Bob. Not to start the silver/corn thign again...but I was looking around and found an opinion that adding in the silver gene to white birds would keep the feathers from getting that brassy/yellow problem. But I have only seen this opinion one place so until I see it 2 other places, I will stick it in the "opinion-not yet proven" file.
Best,
Karen

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Quote:
That opinion is well supported and all over the place, Karen. Keep looking!

 

[Robert Blosl]

Quote: Well twenty years ago when I started this old line of White Rocks I was told not to kill the chicks that had the black down color. Heck they looked like barred rock chicks I hatched as a little boy. They all turned out snow white and some of my best birds of the year. Big huge males. I have a picture of one male I think that was almost black as a new born chick. There for the old timers back then said thats a sign you have the stay white gene in your blood line. This name I think was made up by Bill Halbach in the 1920s thats Harolds dad and Jeffs grandfather. My old rocks I had in the 1960s came from Carl Hove and his came from Bill Halbach in the 1940s. I just raised mine like Carl did and how he told me to breed them when I was a little boy. I was thinking today when I went out to Washington about 23 years ago to visit I timed it where I could go to a winter show in Centralia. This is the same building where Carl told me the facts of life about breeding large fowl. At this show I met Oliver Bowen from California and saw his White Rocks which I ended up getting four years latter. They were flat chested males and he won with them. Its funny to me that twenty years latter this strain of flat breasted males has a trait which I am proud of and that is full extended keels with round breasts on the males. This could be because I am a Red guy and always looking for full keels to finish off the brick shape of the Red. If you dont have the black down color on your little white chicks its not the end of the world. I dont know if I have ever seen it on my rock bantams in ten years but its some ting that I see every year or two on the large fowl line. The secret to avoid white chickens that turn colors to brassiness is dont breed from them. In time you will have white large fowl that wont do this. There is about five shades of white in a white chicken. There was a great article written on this in the ABA year book about 30 years ago and was part of the articles you could buy from the ABA. I dont know if they sell them anymore. When I got statered again 20 years ago I bought a whole bunch of them to study.

 

[RiddleMe]

...I know one item that is maybe better than corn to help the leg color and that is Alfalfa leaves. Hard to get down here where I live but there is some magic stuff in general in that product. If you can get a bail of leaves type hay and give it to your birds it can put a heck of a finish on them for the show room. I know most of you on this board who read this thread or the lurkers dont show but a secret here or there by those who do is valuable...

...Does any buddy have a rare breed of chicken or H fowl they are getting this year. I know there are some breeds out there that people want. I have seen orders for White Rock and Rhode Island Reds go through the roof this year.

Any other breeds? If there is a breed you want and its in the category of difficult to breed for color or it is on the bottom of the list for being close to standard that is no reason to not get them. Again don't get all bent out of shape about breeding and raising these chickens to the Standard of Perfection. This is a slow process any way. Heck after you get them you may not like them or their personality. Like Charlie. He tried four breeds I think and flipped over a new leaf and got rid of three that he thought he would like...

I feed mine alfalfa leaves, and when bale alfalfa prices spiked I gave them pelleted alfalfa soaked in a little water. Didnt know it helped with conditioning, seems to keep the egg yolks nice and orange.

Decided to stop over thinking and just try a few varieties this year. See if I like them then I can worry about narrowing down next year. I'm looking at GS Hamburg, RC RIR, and either a buff or, gasp, white Wyandotte or Chantecler. The rub, I have to either find local sources so I can get a few of each, or order from one location. I can get the first three through Mr Urch but I am a little concerned about the distance and climate change (I'm in Oregon). Input?

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

I know one item that is maybe better than corn to help the leg color and that is Alfalfa leaves. Hard to get down here where I live but there is some magic stuff in general in that product. If you can get a bail of leaves type hay and give it to your birds it can put a heck of a finish on them for the show room. I know most of you on this board who read this thread or the lurkers dont show but a secret here or there by those who do is valuable.

THAT is cool. Very interesting, especially that it helps the leg color. I would not have thought of that. I wonder if I could put up a part of a garden that grows alfalfa. Hmm....the possibilities are endless!

I have a question that is bugging the absolute heck out of me. My white bantams were apparently sold to me as breeder quality. They are all of a sudden throwing side sprigs and I even had a double comb. Really hacks me off. Why do people do that? Anyway, I'm making the best of a bad situation and am culling HARD since I am darn happy with the conformation of the birds. The worst offenders are the birds that present with the "stay white" color. I don't get it? Any idea why these chicks, the ones I REALLY want to keep are coming up with the worst combs? Do you think it's just a coincidence?