Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[ronott1]

Nice Fav's. They're definitely a good beginning!

Nice RIR's. Now, I'm assuming that the unevenness of color in them is due to juvenile plumage. I've never grown out RIRs of this caliber to recognize their plumage at this stage.

The Fogel Reds still have the Juvenile molt coming up. They change a bunch between now and 25 weeks old.

 

[Pathfinders]

Because I know there are a lot of smart folks in this thread, and a number of you breed RIRs, I wanted to bring up a topic that is a problem with some lines of Buckeyes, and that's fading in the sun.

I know horses and chickens have vastly different genetics, but when I did a blog post yesterday about the fading in Buckeyes (see the link in my signature for my blog if you want to read it), I had a reply from a friend who said she knows folks who use paprika to prevent fading of their horses coats.

Of course, if I wanted to, I could just keep my birds indoors all the time, but that sort of defeats the purpose of a heritage bird like a Buckeye, as far as I am concerned. I want my birds to range, and be outside in the daytime, and run around in the sun. So I was wondering if you RIR folks, who deal with red genetics in poultry, have any other tips and tricks for keeping those red feathers red (bearing in mind that the Buckeye color is, of course, different than the RIR color, because Buckeye red color comes from BBR Game birds and Cornish, 'way back in the beginning.)

Thanks!

 

[gjensen]

I am not one of the smart people, but I have an opinion.

In people, black hair will not fade from the sun, but my dirty blonde hair will lighten up in the summer time. If I had a vain concern with my hair, I would wear a hat or spend less time in the sun.

How is Paprika supposed to shield the horses hair from the bleaching effect of the sun?

 

[fowlman01]

Because I know there are a lot of smart folks in this thread, and a number of you breed RIRs, I wanted to bring up a topic that is a problem with some lines of Buckeyes, and that's fading in the sun.

I know horses and chickens have vastly different genetics, but when I did a blog post yesterday about the fading in Buckeyes (see the link in my signature for my blog if you want to read it), I had a reply from a friend who said she knows folks who use paprika to prevent fading of their horses coats.

Of course, if I wanted to, I could just keep my birds indoors all the time, but that sort of defeats the purpose of a heritage bird like a Buckeye, as far as I am concerned. I want my birds to range, and be outside in the daytime, and run around in the sun. So I was wondering if you RIR folks, who deal with red genetics in poultry, have any other tips and tricks for keeping those red feathers red (bearing in mind that the Buckeye color is, of course, different than the RIR color, because Buckeye red color comes from BBR Game birds and Cornish, 'way back in the beginning.)

Thanks!

Keeping the chickens out of direct sun is the only way I know of to keep them from fading. It is common to all colors except dominant white. Black fades too.

Walt

 

[cbnovick]

Because I know there are a lot of smart folks in this thread, and a number of you breed RIRs, I wanted to bring up a topic that is a problem with some lines of Buckeyes, and that's fading in the sun.

I know horses and chickens have vastly different genetics, but when I did a blog post yesterday about the fading in Buckeyes (see the link in my signature for my blog if you want to read it), I had a reply from a friend who said she knows folks who use paprika to prevent fading of their horses coats.

Of course, if I wanted to, I could just keep my birds indoors all the time, but that sort of defeats the purpose of a heritage bird like a Buckeye, as far as I am concerned. I want my birds to range, and be outside in the daytime, and run around in the sun. So I was wondering if you RIR folks, who deal with red genetics in poultry, have any other tips and tricks for keeping those red feathers red (bearing in mind that the Buckeye color is, of course, different than the RIR color, because Buckeye red color comes from BBR Game birds and Cornish, 'way back in the beginning.)

Thanks!

I know we used to use some spray on sheen/conditioner products that contain sunscreens to aid in preventing color fading or 'brassiness'...not sure if these would be safe for poultry use but I'd imagine it would be okay....humans use sunscreen and i would bet the horse spray stuff has the same active ingredients? I don't have a bottle right now to look...perhaps you could search online?

 

[thedragonlady]

Because I know there are a lot of smart folks in this thread, and a number of you breed RIRs, I wanted to bring up a topic that is a problem with some lines of Buckeyes, and that's fading in the sun.

I know horses and chickens have vastly different genetics, but when I did a blog post yesterday about the fading in Buckeyes (see the link in my signature for my blog if you want to read it), I had a reply from a friend who said she knows folks who use paprika to prevent fading of their horses coats.

Of course, if I wanted to, I could just keep my birds indoors all the time, but that sort of defeats the purpose of a heritage bird like a Buckeye, as far as I am concerned. I want my birds to range, and be outside in the daytime, and run around in the sun. So I was wondering if you RIR folks, who deal with red genetics in poultry, have any other tips and tricks for keeping those red feathers red (bearing in mind that the Buckeye color is, of course, different than the RIR color, because Buckeye red color comes from BBR Game birds and Cornish, 'way back in the beginning.)

Thanks!

You need to look up color feeding of canaries.Paprika does contain canthaxathin, common in red peppers. Since birds have no capsaisin ( pepper) receptor,so they will eat even the hottest. Parrots eat the seeds from the hottest Scotch Bonnet peppers, and they then wonder why Mom doesn't want a kiss !

Many canaries sold as red , and they are very red when they have been color fed , will fade to buff when color feeding is stopped.

It's worth a try.

 

[Zootopia]

You need to look up color feeding of canaries.Paprika does contain canthaxathin, common in red peppers. Since birds have no capsaisin  ( pepper) receptor,so they will eat even the hottest. Parrots eat the seeds from the hottest Scotch Bonnet peppers, and they then wonder why Mom doesn't want a kiss !

Many canaries sold as red , and they are very red when they have been color fed , will fade to buff when color feeding is stopped.

It's worth a try.

The Zoo I work at adds canthaxathin to the Flamingo feed once a week. When I started working there 12 or so yrs ago we fed the Flamingos shrimp meal with ground raw sweet potatoes and canned beets. That was all, and they maintained their color well.
I feed my chickens baked sweet potatoes as a treat. They love it.
I am new to this thread, been reading for a couple of days. It may take me a while. In the past I raised and showed Guinea Pigs(funny I know) they are a great lesson in genetics. 3 generations in a year means you can see your ideas at work. I have a couple of good dogs, I have shown in the past, but due to health not recently.
We have always had chickens, even if just a few laying hens. Now we have a lot of chickens and a small egg business. Our hens are mostly hatchery. I am changing that a little at a time. It cost just as much to feed a mutt as a good purebred. I am still looking for what works good in our area. The heat is a factor, and i'd like to work with breeds that can help pay their way. We'll do a batch of meaties (not CX) spring and fall. So .... I'm here to learn.
Guess I need to start by joining the APA, is it worth the money to buy the SOP? It kinda seems like it is out dated by the time it is printed. I think it's a little early to join breed clubs. Don't know much about the local club, I Don't intend to show for now, doesn't mean I cant have nice Chickens bred to SOP.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Well, I just had a great day of chicken assessing with my buddy Brian Knox. We spent the late morning going over some LF Dominique cockerels. That was good. It's always awesome to go over a large display of birds to find the stars. It interesting to see the beginning and then to look at those retained in the end because of the increased uniformity that is visible in those retained on account of consistent retention criteria.

Then we went over some 50 Silver Laced Wyandotte cockerels--what a confounding pattern! There's just so much to try to take in. It does necessarily seem so on paper, although even on paper they're complicated, but when you're holding them in hand and one sees the level of variability and how many sections their are to a cockerels pattern and how hard it is to get a cockerel that has all of the sections in order on top of a strong type! Mammamia! That was something!

 

[thedragonlady]

Well, I just had a great day of chicken assessing with my buddy Brian Knox. We spent the late morning going over some LF Dominique cockerels. That was good. It's always awesome to go over a large display of birds to find the stars. It interesting to see the beginning and then to look at those retained in the end because of the increased uniformity that is visible in those retained on account of consistent retention criteria.

Then we went over some 50 Silver Laced Wyandotte cockerels--what a confounding pattern! There's just so much to try to take in. It does necessarily seem so on paper, although even on paper they're complicated, but when you're holding them in hand and one sees the level of variability and how many sections their are to a cockerels pattern and how hard it is to get a cockerel that has all of the sections in order on top of a strong type! Mammamia! That was something!

I can't imagine having 50 SLW Ks to choose from, and I showed them pretty heavily for a while. Herb Holtz and Harry Halbach had done most of the hard work though. I was just the village idiot who crossed the lines....on Wilbur Stauffer's advice.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Guess I need to start by joining the APA, is it worth the money to buy the SOP? It kinda seems like it is out dated by the time it is printed. I think it's a little early to join breed clubs. Don't know much about the local club, I Don't intend to show for now, doesn't mean I cant have nice Chickens bred to SOP.

You'd honestly be surprised to know that a standard from 10, 20 or even 50 years ago is still pretty darn good. Since many of these breeds were established 100 years ago, the standard hasn't really changed as much as you'd suspect, perhaps.

Shoot, until recently, I followed the Standard from around 1920 for our Rocks. LOL