Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[armorfirelady]

Still a lurker but enjoying all the info on the different breeds. The mailman brought me my first poultry press. All I can say is WOW so that's what chickens are suppose to look like!!!

 

[Robert Blosl]

You can get started chicks from good breeders for about $8. each. They eat the same as a $4. feed store chicks but you dont have ie a mean rooster as in the feed store R I Reds. If you want a breed like you talked about for Iowa Rhode Island Reds from a good breeder would do the job very well. Some of the new German New Hampshire's would work well as well. In the Delaware department Kathy from Mo. has a new line she started about three years ago. There are very few Delawares like you would like to have. She started a program where she crossed Barred Rock male onto some New Hampshire females to make this line so I would go that way.

I have a very rare breed that is growing on me called Mottle Javas rare as can be and need help but lay a nice big egg, lots of meat on their bones and not mean but a little flirty than my Rhode Island Reds but can tolerate them anyway.

So do your home work, find a breed you want and if you have marginal birds this year you can always up grade next year. Experience and practice Poultry Husbandry is a on going thing. You are always learning and perfecting your craft.

Glad you joined our thread so much has been written and so much can be learned and yet more will be written as we move forward.

The most important issue is to understand the difference from the old fashion Standard Breed large fowl vs the hybrid feed store kind. There is a difference and you have a choice for what you want but dont expect the traits of the two variety's to be the same. I hope you will be a preservationist like so many on this forum have become. There are also some great poultry shows in your state. We can help you locate them as time goes on so you can see the many breeds that are showed there. The Poultry Press is a great investment per year to get in your mail box.

 

[poltroon]

Great posts Joseph.

This is the inside of the gray and white barn. It is 30 years old.....just repainted it so I took some pictures. The inside is 8 pens of 4 X 8 pens. They can be used for growing, mating or conditioning. I put this back door in with the idea of leaving it open on really hot days, but never used it in the 30 years. This building stays pretty cool.



Walt

Walt, what is the floor on that barn? Is it just a pole barn on a dirt floor, or did you pour concrete?

 

[3riverschick]

Hi,
Well this "hen raising chick" thing is an ongoing learning experience, smile. I put the feed, water, and grit for the chicks in the middle of the 4x6 coop. Been having problems with the trough feeder and waterer being turned over. Took another look today and March is keeping the chicks in her select 1/3 of the coop. Ah Ha! So, need to move the supplies. This time I put the waterer and grit along one long side of her 1/3 section (the other long side is a wall of the coop). . and bisected her select section with the trough feeder. Not as much of a trek for the chicks to feed and drink. Checked this evening and it seems to be working. Obvious they have been using the supplies and nothing has been knocked over. Yeah!
Karen

 

[3riverschick]

Hi,
Here are pics of the 3 chicks . hatched 2-23/24-13. By Junior out of March.
This was a 1/2 sis to 1/2 bro breeding thru a common dam. Once I figure out
who is who, We will name them Pi, Ping and Pong.
http://tinyurl.com/bdrss5b
The pics show the old feed set-up before I changed it.
Best,
Karen
Waterford English Light Sussex
in western PA, US

 

[Pozees]

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.

Think of chickens like horses, in that the largest expense is not acquiring them, but feeding and housing them. If you are able to locate a breeder within driving distance who will sell you chicks of one of the breeds you listed, in the long run you will be happier with them. Yes they will take a bit longer to reach point of lay, but as Fred points out they are far more likely to become broody and raise young, they are likely to continue laying more years, they are almost always going to have more meat on their bones, and you will be supporting a breeder who is helping perpetuate a heritage breed.

Hatchery stock has its place, and is the way many are introduced to the world of poultry. I have hatchery stock in my yard. I am working to improve my flock this year with birds/eggs from breeders who are serious about breed improvement and preservation - I love my hatchery girls, but they do not measure up to my idea of what my flock should look like and represent.

 

[Pozees]

Hi,
Here are pics of the 3 chicks . hatched 2-23/24-13. By Junior out of March.
This was a 1/2 sis to 1/2 bro breeding thru a common dam. Once I figure out
who is who, We will name them Pi, Ping and Pong.
http://tinyurl.com/bdrss5b
The pics show the old feed set-up before I changed it.
Best,
Karen
Waterford English Light Sussex
in western PA, US

Those are good sized chicks! March is doing a great job!

 

[galanie]

With the tractor in the pic it is cuter than an Orp. Get yourself a toy tractor DL.

w.

Nah, big as those birds are, she'd need a real tractor

 

[ninny]

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.

I don't have an incubator or any broody I can use either. I would love to get any breed of high quality heritage but cost is a factor.

 

[fowlman01]

Walt, what is the floor on that barn? Is it just a pole barn on a dirt floor, or did you pour concrete?

Yes and It is on a layer of rock 3/4" +/-. This substrate is clay and it moves too much for concrete slabs.

Walt