Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[cbnovick]

Of course they are.

 

[cbnovick]

Of course they are.

wow, this strain is darn well developed and uniform....one could almost apply the ' 30 foot rule'...that is you can tell they are GSBR strain birds from 30 feet away....i can hardly tell my Jwhip BR pullets apart...take my breath away almost every time i lay eyes on mine or any one else's

....i know there's no perfect bird or strain...but i truly admire all those that made this strain/line so nice...i bet it makes culling very challenging...guess that's what one strives for!! One of these days I 'd like to have a big 'ol flock of these...slowly but surely. please excuse my enthusiasm...just can't help myself

 

[cbnovick]

My daughter had a bantam brahma do something like this. I had the same thoughts as you about what the heck was going on. At the next molt, the bird developed normal feathers... but that particular pullet never had great feather quality and IIRC died inexplicably and fairly young.

i have a lavender 6 week old pullet (marans mix for laying only) that is the same way...she's getting plenty of protein too...i figured it may be a weakness in that colouration...now i see yours and scratching my head. she's vigorous and great in every other way...just brittle feathered.

 

[Fred's Hens]

wow, this strain is darn well developed and uniform....one could almost apply the ' 30 foot rule'...that is you can tell they are GSBR strain birds from 30 feet away....i can hardly tell my Jwhip BR pullets apart...take my breath away almost every time i lay eyes on mine or any one else's

....i know there's no perfect bird or strain...but i truly admire all those that made this strain/line so nice...i bet it makes culling very challenging...guess that's what one strives for!! One of these days I 'd like to have a big 'ol flock of these...slowly but surely. please excuse my enthusiasm...just can't help myself

Be as enthused as you wish! LOL

Yes, 30 feet is plenty close enough to see these ringlet birds and identify them. Culling is very difficult, but patience is really required. The males simply don't show their "stuff" until they are almost a year old. If you choose or reject too early? They will dead on fool you almost every time. The pullets are somewhat easier for me to keep an eye on. They'll show their type very, very early.

 

[black75betty]

I am happy to say that Jwhip is one of the breeders who has no issues with selling/shipping eggs! I am on his list for eggs this spring and can hardly wait! I can't wait to start my journey- and look forward to sharing pictures and asking for advice from you all as I learn more and more about breeding to the SOP.

 

[3riverschick]

I'm glad that you posted this! I am three years into keeping chickens- and am looking to change my flock over to Heritage Large Fowl (now that I have a good set up and handle on caring for hatchery chickens, selling eggs, processing etc.). I have been reaching out to breeders and most have been reluctant to ship eggs (this is even before they hear that I live in Alaska!). 25 chick minimums just isn't realistic for me at this point.

Anyway, thanks for the positive post- and tips about shipping eggs- hopefully more breeders will feel comfortable about shipping eggs as a result.

And thank you so much for all of the great info on this Thread! I can't wait to get some "real" chickens... When you spend as much time in research as possible/$/highly insulated construction/and time spent doing chores in weather that would make most hide in bed- it really is worth it to have the best chickens to work with. After looking at the photos on this thread my poor little darlins' now pale in comparison- bless their hearts!

Chantelcer's would work really well where you are. They come in a couple of colors. Have a Parent Breed Club, very friendly folk.
Belonged to their Club for a year, several years back. They're so very helpful getting someone started ithe breed.
(No, I didn't mean other breeds weren't friendly, just that this particular Club was notably so.)

 

[thedragonlady]

wow, this strain is darn well developed and uniform....one could almost apply the ' 30 foot rule'...that is you can tell they are GSBR strain birds from 30 feet away....i can hardly tell my Jwhip BR pullets apart...take my breath away almost every time i lay eyes on mine or any one else's

....i know there's no perfect bird or strain...but i truly admire all those that made this strain/line so nice...i bet it makes culling very challenging...guess that's what one strives for!! One of these days I 'd like to have a big 'ol flock of these...slowly but surely. please excuse my enthusiasm...just can't help myself

Go for it ! These are Shilling engravings come to life.

 

[cbnovick]

Go for it ! These are Shilling engravings come to life.

Vickie, you hit the proverbial 'nail on the head' with that...indeed!!

 

[catdaddyfro]

Hi everyone, I am so puzzled by this young chick I have who is about 7 weeks old in this picture. It's feathers are tattered and I can't figure out what the issue is. He seems healthy and happy, no mites or lice, I've looked everywhere. The tattered feathers are symmetrical, and evenly distributed, suggesting genetics? I've been trying to find info on this condition for weeks now, and just can't find anything. I just want to make sure it's just how he is, and not that he is lacking in nutrition or something. Have any of you come across something like this before?





Though this bird is not a Heritage Large Fowl, all you smarties hang out here, and I thought I'd give it a shot. I've posted a couple of other places on the forum, but got no definitive answer. Hope I'm not irritating you all!

Thanks for any thoughts!

It is puzzling. I too have a 4 year old little bantam hen and this fall she took forty forevers to go through her molt and while doing so she just looked pathetic and ill and turned into a frizzle after 3 previous molts which she feathered in normal, was born normal feathered. I now have a frizzle bantam something I don't really desire or ever cared to spend time nor money on. I think it was a deficiency or illness that may have caused this change. Surely after molting back for the first 3 years normal feathered, I'd say that genetics could be ruled out of the equation but we are talking chickens here too. I'm sure stranger things have happened, I know stranger things have happened, LOL


Jeff

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Here is my "page" illustrating how I package eggs for shipment

Hope it helps

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/shipping-eggs-by-yard-full-o

I'm very happy to see more people using this method of wrapping eggs for shipping --- the 'burrito method' : )
I started wrapping eggs like this in 2006.