Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[Fred's Hens]

Too funny Wynette...we raise beagles for rabbit hunting and sometimes we will take them to field trials.....we either run pack trials with "small males" or "small females". We raise them on the small side as they seem to take running in the hot summer months much better AND they are better at getting into tight spaces when we hunt them for real (log piles, briar thickets, etc)

Here are the "standards" if you will for beagles that can be used in field trials


In the United States, two varieties are recognized: those not exceeding 13 inches at the withers, and those over 13 but not exceeding 15 inches at the withers. Any Beagle exceeding 15 inches is disqualified in this country and may not compete in field trials or dog shows.

Scott, you know that also bred and ran beagles for decades. It is a simple matter for the judges. A stick with an arm at 13" to quickly place over the beagles, if one appears too tall for the 13" class. So simple. Some competitions make all participants bench before field anyhow. It is so simple.

Just not as easy in fowl, so these 2 lbs overweight birds dominate a proper sized bird. Shrug. What are you gonna do? Personally, I don't mind super sized Rocks.... for the table. That's the only place where they meet approval.

 

[cbnovick]

I've had some city folk comment on my GSBR Ringlets grazing from afar --wondering if they were some fancy breed of TURKEY!! LOL

 

[BGMatt]

Scott, you know that also bred and ran beagles for decades. It is a simple matter for the judges. A stick with an arm at 13" to quickly place over the beagles, if one appears too tall for the 13" class. So simple. Some competitions make all participants bench before field anyhow. It is so simple.

Just not as easy in fowl, so these 2 lbs overweight birds dominate a proper sized bird. Shrug. What are you gonna do? Personally, I don't mind super sized Rocks.... for the table. That's the only place where they meet approval.

Perhaps the poultry standard could have height added? I mean, I realize that depending on bird muscling and fluff and all that affect the "size" of the bird, but it shouldn't be too hard to find a standard range? I have seen an old image of Rhode Island Reds with the "ideal" measurements, why not do this for every breed and add it to standard. It would be easier to test in showroom that weighing each bird right? (Which I'm a proponent of, make it part of the check in process)

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Scott, you know that also bred and ran beagles for decades. It is a simple matter for the judges. A stick with an arm at 13" to quickly place over the beagles, if one appears too tall for the 13" class. So simple. Some competitions make all participants bench before field anyhow. It is so simple.

Just not as easy in fowl, so these 2 lbs overweight birds dominate a proper sized bird. Shrug. What are you gonna do? Personally, I don't mind super sized Rocks.... for the table. That's the only place where they meet approval.

I dressed an 8 month old Rock last year (guessing he was 9-10 lbs) and I found him to be very "stringy" in texture, even after cooking him in the crock pot. Got any suggestions? I have about 15 cockerels running around now and I need to cull down to about 5. Wouldn't mind putting a few in the freezer

Thanks

 

[Fred's Hens]

I've had some city folk comment on my GSBR Ringlets grazing from afar --wondering if they were some fancy breed of TURKEY!! LOL

Ain't that the truth!!!! I don't know how, for sure, we're gonna breed these monster ringlets back down to specs.

Perhaps the poultry standard could have height added? I mean, I realize that depending on bird muscling and fluff and all that affect the "size" of the bird, but it shouldn't be too hard to find a standard range? I have seen an old image of Rhode Island Reds with the "ideal" measurements, why not do this for every breed and add it to standard. It would be easier to test in showroom that weighing each bird right? (Which I'm a proponent of, make it part of the check in process)

Weighing in is what we had to do in High School wrestling. Would it add a drawn out, tedious process? Perhaps. In car racing, there is also an inspection.

I dressed an 8 month old Rock last year (guessing he was 9-10 lbs) and I found him to be very "stringy" in texture, even after cooking him in the crock pot. Got any suggestions? I have about 15 cockerels running around now and I need to cull down to about 5. Wouldn't mind putting a few in the freezer

Thanks

Bob touched on this a while back in talking about Frank Reese breeding for quality meat. Not sure we've plumbed the depths of that discussion adequately. Perhaps we should cage up our eminent meat cockerels for a few weeks and feed them something else?

 

[cbnovick]

Scott, there's a link on Frank Reese's website. Theres some good heritage fowl recipes. Direct link is
http://www.heritagechef.com/Heritage_Recipes.html
Perhaps culling at 5-6 months would make a difference. At the very least, you could use carcass to make plenty of soup/cooking stock which freezes well for winter etc.
Cindy

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Scott, there's a link on Frank Reese's website. Theres some good heritage fowl recipes. Direct link is
http://www.heritagechef.com/Heritage_Recipes.html
Perhaps culling at 5-6 months would make a difference. At the very least, you could use carcass to make plenty of soup/cooking stock which freezes well for winter etc.
Cindy

Thanks Cindy

I gotta find a way to use some of these extra birds. My wife about disowned me after I cooked that first one....and we made chicken and dumplings with it (kinda hard to screw that up!!)

And the worst thing is that these darn LF Rocks (especially the males) take FOREVER to fill out and mature....I'm always afraid of culling a good one too soon as I've had many an "ah ha" moment at 10-12 months when a so-so looking bird suddenly looks very nice. Oh well....the guys at the feed store are always willing to take anything I bring to them, guess thats not so bad either

 

[BGMatt]

Weighing in is what we had to do in High School wrestling. Would it add a drawn out, tedious process? Perhaps. In car racing, there is also an inspection.

I know some fairs and shows require a vet inspection for the birds as they are brought in. Seems to me that'd be a perfect time to weigh and record the weight. I know the problem doesn't really lay in the logistics of doing this, but it's fun to point out how it could be done efficiently. When I was a kid showing market poultry, they were weighed by barn staff and the weights were written on card before judge even saw the birds, so why not for our fancy birds? Haha. Heck there's always 4-H and youth exhibitors around too, why not have them weigh the birds? There's lots of solutions to this problem, but alas...

 

[fowlman01]

Ain't that the truth!!!! I don't know how, for sure, we're gonna breed these monster ringlets back down to specs.
Don't worry about them staying too big, they will want to get smaller real soon.....it is actually difficult to keep them big.



Weighing in is what we had to do in High School wrestling. Would it add a drawn out, tedious process? Perhaps. In car racing, there is also an inspection.

It takes about two - five minutes to have my car inspected and there isn't over 1000 cars there. I do health inspections for the state of CA...I can do one bird a minute...or less. I think the weights are abused, but I show 50 birds at a time and I know that weighing is going to take longer than my health inspections.....and they take a long time. I can probably health check 300 birds in two hours. Most of the shows here in CA are 1000-1500 birds. I don't think I want to wait in line for my birds to be weighed. People want it and it would be a good thing, but it would not work with the way most shows work. There is not a lot of extra time Friday night or Sat morning. If the judges had courage it wouldn't be a problem because generally you don't need a scale when you have one of these monsters in hand. There are negative consequences that come with these huge birds. It pretty much takes care of itself. The birds will have leg issues as they get larger and many times will not be able to mate properly. This has been argued for 50 years that I know of and probably a lot longer than that.




Bob touched on this a while back in talking about Frank Reese breeding for quality meat. Not sure we've plumbed the depths of that discussion adequately. Perhaps we should cage up our eminent meat cockerels for a few weeks and feed them something else?

Walt

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

I know some fairs and shows require a vet inspection for the birds as they are brought in. Seems to me that'd be a perfect time to weigh and record the weight. I know the problem doesn't really lay in the logistics of doing this, but it's fun to point out how it could be done efficiently. When I was a kid showing market poultry, they were weighed by barn staff and the weights were written on card before judge even saw the birds, so why not for our fancy birds? Haha. Heck there's always 4-H and youth exhibitors around too, why not have them weigh the birds? There's lots of solutions to this problem, but alas...

I agree....but truth be told, at this point I would BET $$s that the judges wouldn't want them weighed!!! Too many birds they have been placing yr after yr would either received SERIOUS point deductions or be completely DQ'd, and it would cause an uproar. Not that it wouldn't be correct, but certainly would make for a "mess to be explained"....JMHO