Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[Pozees]

Hi,
Well, ya'll were right, smile. The three chicks are up and bouncing around the coop like little yellow ping pong balls, LOL.
So cute and March is a great Mom. Now what am I going to name them? smile. I can't call all three "February", VBG.
Thanks for your help!
Karen

You could name them February, Ping, and Pong LOL

Congrats, so glad to hear things are progressing as they should - pictures soon? Please???

 

[1MrsMagoo]

What a shame..... He had confided in me, when he was disbanding his Buffs and Pilgrims, that they just weren't selling enough, and people were too busy with fetish colors and putting Sebastapols in diapers. What a loss to the community!

Sadly, this seems to be happening across the boards. Another large waterfowl breeder up North dispersed their entire Pomeranian flock over the winter. I can't remember their name off the top of my head. In both cases, I think their age and ability to care for such a large quantity of birds was cited as at least part of the reason for the dispersal. Honestly, the cost of feed also has to be hurting large-scale breeders just as much, if not more than the small scale ones. Well that, and and you said the faddish designer birds that are "hot" at the moment. The Sebestapol breeder I know in Florida gets over $65 a gosling for her Sebbies. Most Pomeranian breeders get less than $20: I charge $15 and under since I am in it to preserve them not price them into extinction.

Pomeranian breeders have a group page on Facebook where we talk amongst ourselves. I think the largest breeders on there have 30 or less geese in their flocks. We compiled a breeder directory, but am sure that we have missed a lot of folks who have them but don't have or don't use computers. That effort is being spear-headed by a super 15 year old boy whose parents have the means to take him to shows all over the eastern part of the country. While at the shows, he has sussed out a few people who don't advertise but are willing to sell eggs, goslings, or adult birds.

I have been really glad to see the renewed interest in many of the old heritage breeds that has begun to take hold over the past several months. Three breeds in particular that have benefited from this are the New Hampshire, Barred Rock, and now the Rhode Island Red. I have also been hearing a lot about Delawares, which is to be expected considering the first two breeds I just listed. I would love to see Dorkings added to that list as well: They are very difficult to find in any quality and leaves me bugging poor Dick Horstman for stock!

 

[capayvalleychick]

I would love to see Dorkings added to that list as well: They are very difficult to find in any quality and leaves me bugging poor Dick Horstman for stock!

Contact Mary Wetterstroem in FL. She has the last of Gene Patterson's Dorkings, has him and Phil Bartz as mentors. She wants to get her Dorkings placed around the country with people who will work to preserve the breed. I will pm you with her email.

 

[Robert Blosl]

If you get some Poms that have the correct color bills and feet and they come from one strain and have good type and size you might want to stick with this line. Save you allot of work trying to weed out faults that got started over 20 years ago by crossing white Em dens into this old breed.

Many Rhode Island Red folks have done this. They get chicks or eggs from three different sources then go with the one they like best or does best on their farm. The ones that cross the strains end up frustrated after two to three years as the faults just surface so badly. One guy just tole me he has white feathers screwing up his best males. Pinched tails are another issue.

In regards to the show in Louisiana when does this club plan to have their shows and at what location. We can travel to them where we live.

I like that tractor however, I like old 1947 John Deere myself. I had one as a kid the old Johnny Po-per. You could use two to three different fuels in them to get them to run.

Thanks for the tip on the thermometer. I was at Home Depot yesterday and they had ten $2. thermometers outside type. I gr abed this $20. fancy one and com paired the ten to it. I bought one and stuck it in the incubator and she hit 100 degrees so I am happy. I will have to com pair air cell size and time of hatch to regulate the Temps for the future.

Raining down here cant go out side and play. Will go into my craft room and make some pens for Mothers Day. This fund raiser project has turned out better than I thought.

 

[1MrsMagoo]

If you get some Poms that have the correct color bills and feet and they come from one strain and have good type and size you might want to stick with this line. Save you allot of work trying to weed out faults that got started over 20 years ago by crossing white Em dens into this old breed.

Many Rhode Island Red folks have done this. They get chicks or eggs from three different sources then go with the one they like best or does best on their farm. The ones that cross the strains end up frustrated after two to three years as the faults just surface so badly. One guy just tole me he has white feathers screwing up his best males. Pinched tails are another issue.

In regards to the show in Louisiana when does this club plan to have their shows and at what location. We can travel to them where we live.

I like that tractor however, I like old 1947 John Deere myself. I had one as a kid the old Johnny Po-per. You could use two to three different fuels in them to get them to run.

Thanks for the tip on the thermometer. I was at Home Depot yesterday and they had ten $2. thermometers outside type. I gr abed this $20. fancy one and com paired the ten to it. I bought one and stuck it in the incubator and she hit 100 degrees so I am happy. I will have to com pair air cell size and time of hatch to regulate the Temps for the future.

Raining down here cant go out side and play. Will go into my craft room and make some pens for Mothers Day. This fund raiser project has turned out better than I thought.

Robert:

I will take your advice under serious consideration. I am completely new to this, but very dedicated to working with this breed. I do have room to isolate small flocks, and may do that since I have already obtained the stock for this year. If I allow them all to grow out until their adult feathering and basic body shape are filled out, around 4-6 months then I'll have a much better picture of what I have to work with and can sell the ones I am not keeping.

Seems like I am drawn to the breeds and varieties that are hardest to find: The Pomeranians, the Dorkings, and I also raise Beltsville Small White turkeys...lol.

Actually, we have two new clubs locally. The Central Louisiana Poultry club is having their first show in Jennings, LA on April 20th. They are several months ahead of our local club on the organizational curve...so to speak. Here is a link to their facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/CentralLouisianaPoultryClub/notes

The club that started locally is the Southern Louisiana Poultry Breeders Association. We are just getting started (formed over the winter) and are meeting this Sunday to try and get things moving. I don't look for a show from our club until fall at the earliest since we are getting a late start. Here is a link to our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/SouthernLouisianaPoultryBreedersAssociation?ref=ts&fref=ts

I can feel your pain about the continued rain too. We got another 4" last night which brings us up to around 16" of rain since the first of the year. I am NEVER going to get my tractor out into the garden in time to plant at this rate.

Good luck with your project today. Hope you make lots of progress!

Contact Mary Wetterstroem in FL. She has the last of Gene Patterson's Dorkings, has him and Phil Bartz as mentors. She wants to get her Dorkings placed around the country with people who will work to preserve the breed. I will pm you with her email.

Thank you for that. I had heard their was a Dorking breeder in Florida, but had no idea how to find them. I have 3 cockerals and 1 pullet from Dick Horstman, and just LOVE them!

 

[NeilsHamburgs]

Does anyone have silver spangled hamburg stock directly out of paul hardy to anyones knowledge?

 

[Yellow House Farm]

It is nice to see the Dorkings pushing forward. There are now serious breeder in all three of the primary colors: White, Red, and Silver Grey. We're receiving a steady stream of orders for the Whites. It would be great to ssee a community of folks breeding these and really getting them up to SOP par.

 

[ninny]

Hi everyone! I am looking for info on Dominique's,buckeyes and Delawares. I am thinking of ordering some from Meyer hatchery this year. We are redoing the whole chicken setup so not wanting to send the money on high quality birds this year in cause the the local coyote pack comes calling. I am looking to find a breed that does well in a grass fed setup with good feed to meat/egg ratios, that will lay well without lights in Iowa winters, roosters that are not nasty, friendly but don't have to be lap chickens, is an American heritage breed, can mate on its own and will go broody once in a while, does not take a long time to mature,does not take forever to molt. Am I asking to much? I am wanting to find a breed to (once my set up is how I want it) use for pastured meat and egg sales plus breed for my own use and to sell. I am wanting some time in the future (when I get my own place) to open an heritage breed chicken hatchery that sells very high quality birds. So I am looking for my starter breed. I could use any advice and tips. I will be starting at the beginning of this thread and slowly reading through it. Thanks!

 

[Fred's Hens]

Hi everyone! I am looking for info on Dominique's,buckeyes and Delawares. I am thinking of ordering some from Meyer hatchery this year. We are redoing the whole chicken setup so not wanting to send the money on high quality birds this year in cause the the local coyote pack comes calling. I am looking to find a breed that does well in a grass fed setup with good feed to meat/egg ratios, that will lay well without lights in Iowa winters, roosters that are not nasty, friendly but don't have to be lap chickens, is an American heritage breed, can mate on its own and will go broody once in a while, does not take a long time to mature,does not take forever to molt. Am I asking to much? I am wanting to find a breed to (once my set up is how I want it) use for pastured meat and egg sales plus breed for my own use and to sell. I am wanting some time in the future (when I get my own place) to open an heritage breed chicken hatchery that sells very high quality birds. So I am looking for my starter breed. I could use any advice and tips. I will be starting at the beginning of this thread and slowly reading through it. Thanks!

Your "want list" is a mixed bag, but you already know that.

Heritage birds often mature more slowly, but they are more likely to go broody. Heritage birds are usually known as good foragers and are friendly and often more docile than their hatchery counter parts. The hatchery grade fowl often are of mixed heritage, although they look somewhat like the breed they represent, they rarely go broody.

They will mature quickly, as a rule, and lay very, very well, depending on the breed.

Finally, I'd discount the idea that heritage birds are expensive. Honestly, they often are available at prices quite in line with hatchery grade fowl. Not all heritage birds are $50 a piece of something like that. You can often buy eggs from heritage breeders for as little as $3 an egg or much less. The feed store near here gets $3 a chick for their stuff. I dunno.

 

[mbmess2003]

And to go along with what Fred said and has been posted many times...it costs the same to feed a "heritage" bird as it does a hatchery....same amount of work to raise them too

buy some quality stock to begin with....if its not the breed for you, then sell them.