Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[Fred's Hens]

Barred Rocks and Rhode Island Reds have made a lot of fans and there are many, many growing flocks, but then, they always were popular and widely kept a century ago. And, it is good to remember that it takes people who love the breed to keep it going. The breeds, any breed, must have a good function, a quality purpose and must have people who enjoy them for them it to survive. There are soooooo many breeds. So many new infatuations have also grown in popularity over the past 10 years. The Buckeye has a true dual purpose reason for existing, thus its resurgence among the small holder and homesteading gang. It's made a good comeback.

But, if a breed never did have a huge "base" of fan support, never was all that popular, was never kept/bred on a wide scale basis there was probably a reason, even "back then". Some came too late to the party, like the Delaware, perhaps. Or, It didn't really ever catch on, like the Rhode Island White.

Some breeds didn't catch on because perhaps (gasp, gasp) there never was a good, compelling reason for its creation. There are so many breeds that they cannot all gain traction.

Breeds that were very popular probably had a good reason for being popular. They had some personality, some egg ability and or some meat ability that made them valuable in the first place.

 

[galanie]

What Fred says makes complete sense. I agree. So far as breeds, I think what works best is to get and have a breed you like. Maybe after getting what you think you want you find you don't really care for that breed after all. Try another.

The breeds are all different in ways and some are just not a good fit. I think another way to say what Fred said is this: Some of the rarest breeds are so rare because there isn't a compelling reason for keeping them in the first place. Get what you like.

That may sound flip but you have to really like, love the birds to be able to do them justice. So by saying "get what you like" I mean get and raise a breed you can feel passionate about.

 

[Robert Blosl]

http://padgettspoultry.m.webs.com/s...f9a32ace231dbfe6085194&fb_sig_network=fw#2210

Good Mourning and Happy Birthday again to this tread. It has been a lot of joy for me to be involved in this thread and now we have so many new people who are now teaching the beginners what and where to get new old breeds and that was my goal. In regards to what need help the most I think Fred hit the nail on the head on Popularity even the Barred Rocks as old as they are difficult to get the males tails to look right and they are slow in maturing because of the barred gene and turned a lot of people off and they get rid of them. Some don't like the behavior of some breeds or they dont lay enough eggs for them. Some just don't breed true and you got to hatch so many to get any to look right they say the heck with them I am going with New Hampshire's or Buff Orpingtons or Rhode Island Reds instead. Then they become more popular and the difficult ones go to the way side.

Why dont we let some of the members of this tread put up some names of breeds that need help. I will put up three White Face Black Spanish. Salmon Favorloles and Butter Cups.
Now I found something last night on the net that I think will be a huge smash for peple who want to get very goood large fowl and water fowl in Danny Padgets web site above. This fellow is a great chicken man. He was manager of Superior Farms in Oklahoma before it folded its tent. In my view if he would have been chosen the manager of this operation in the fisrt place it could have made a go of it.
Look at the breeds he has available then type the name of the breed in Google or go to Bing.com Pictures and look at the birds. You could order twentieth five day old chicks of two or three breeds and you would have a great start. Heck if you had some friends who wanted some good chickens you could order fifty or more and he could send them to you. He also sells eggs if you are a big fan of egg buying which I am not but it will work if packed and shipped correctly. So get your thoughts together on what needs help but dont go by those stupid pictures that look so pretty. The pretty they are the harder they are to breed in my view. Remember keep it simple and hope you lurkers out there will take the plunge this spring and try some of these old breeds. They are no different than the feed store chickens they eat the same amount of feed. It just cost a little more to get started ask the chicks are about double in cost than the feed store chicks but worth every penny of it. Look forward to your replies in the next few days. I will make a list of the names of breeds as you make suggestions and post them on a message maybe Friday.

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

I know I could certainly use help with a few more breeders of the Columbian Plymouth Rocks

 

[lawatt]

Another great year? Robert, I hope you all have many more great years helping people conserve these breeds. I've been thinking about breeding and helping conserve rare breeds for a long time and I'm hoping I can get out of the "dreaming" and into the "doing something" stage soon. I recently found (and have been lurking on) this thread. I still have an awful lot of reading and catching up to, but I love what I've seen so far. Your posts, enthusiasm, pics, everything has been an inspiration for people like me who are thinking about getting involved in breeds conservation. I still have a way to go before I can get started with my own project, but threads like this one is a great place for me to learn and be inspired. Keep up the great work, everyone!

just want to say ditto, from another lurker -- i got my first chickens only a little over a year ago, and am now just tiptoeing toward the idea of breeding them at all, still not sure how serious that will become -- but this thread is SO informative and interesting, and clearly i have so much more to learn. so, more appreciation from a newcomer!

 

[AletaG]

So why not get bantams? They take exactly 1/2 the space as the large fowl . I think there is a RIR bantam.
There are bantams in other popular breeds like Marans, etc. Bantams don't have to be hot house birds.
They can be hardy too. There are at least 3 top show lines of Bantam Speckled Sussex. Gary Overton; Mongold; and Skytop.
Best,
Karen

I have been bothering the OEGB thread folks. I've considered the RC RIR bantam lines, but I'm trying to avoid the monochrome effect. Superficial, but I'm selling to people new to chicken keeping primarily, and cute and colorful helps. I need to find a leghorn bantam thread... (you'll note I'm avoiding the feather footed, it's a 'thing') I've been rec'd the non-whites by a couple people for personality and laying ability. Are the SS bantams good layers and personable? I don't know a thing about them. I have dined heavily on the HRIR, Heritage LF, OEGB, and Icelandic threads, but don't know a darn thing about anything else. On the OEGB, I was looking into a particular cross, because the color result was stunning, and the progeny was 50% was the same, 25% white and 25% duckwing (also a stunner), but they don't lay that great. I can only have one, maybe 2 bantam lines, so if it WAS a cross that worked like that and still layed enough eggs for a couple or single person, and pretty enough the 4h kids could have a nice bird, that's sort of who I'd be aiming at! Let the PM campaigning begin! LOL.

 

[AletaG]

Why does Washington State need to be in our lives and tell folks like you this is how it has to be is it because you need this paper work to ship eggs or chicks to people? What about the folks who just want ten R I Reds the H ones for pets?
Well lets get back to chickens. Ice Landers you keep as many as you can. Then get you some big old fat Rhode Island Reds or What ever the top breed you want and hand full of young birds that you can keep and raise that are old enough to rate in the 30 birds that they have to touch every 90 days.
If you cannot transport ten birds from Cousin Ricky's house back and forth to your house five miles away and they are your birds Then I dont know what to think.
What you said about this and you would like to live somewhere else shows the freedoms we dont have any more in this country and how in a flick of a eye these people who are in power could put us right out of our hobby. Heck when I was living in a Apartment complex in Tenn I was going to have four Red Bantam females in a pen on my porch as pets. What if Walt sent me six Seroumas in cages and I had them in my house or on the porch of my apartment. They would say you cant have five Seromu they have to be at minimum of 30 that's the law.

I want to clear... you only have to have 30 if you want NPIP. but you have to have NPIP to ship. I'm pretty sure there's a black market underground shipping of eggs and birds. I can totally understand why. Thank you for the detailed arrangement for bantams. I think that's where I'm going to need to head. Just can't figure out what I want!

Cheryl sold off all of her birds this winter, due to health problems i believe -- I'm not sure who ended up with her breeding stock, i only have two of her SPPR hens, both are a little over a year old and have been broody twice this year, both make excellent moms. and they are *gorgeous* -- but i don't have a male to go with them.

I don't know what line it is, but RainyDayChicken has a SPR male he's been trying to find mate(s) for... maybe you could work something out...

 

[fowlman01]

I have been bothering the OEGB thread folks. I've considered the RC RIR bantam lines, but I'm trying to avoid the monochrome effect. Superficial, but I'm selling to people new to chicken keeping primarily, and cute and colorful helps. I need to find a leghorn bantam thread... (you'll note I'm avoiding the feather footed, it's a 'thing') I've been rec'd the non-whites by a couple people for personality and laying ability. Are the SS bantams good layers and personable? I don't know a thing about them. I have dined heavily on the HRIR, Heritage LF, OEGB, and Icelandic threads, but don't know a darn thing about anything else. On the OEGB, I was looking into a particular cross, because the color result was stunning, and the progeny was 50% was the same, 25% white and 25% duckwing (also a stunner), but they don't lay that great. I can only have one, maybe 2 bantam lines, so if it WAS a cross that worked like that and still layed enough eggs for a couple or single person, and pretty enough the 4h kids could have a nice bird, that's sort of who I'd be aiming at! Let the PM campaigning begin! LOL.

Not only do oegb hardly lay, they lay a tiny egg. Bantam white Leghorns lay well and have a larger egg....still small though.

Walt

 

[fowlman01]

I want to clear... you only have to have 30 if you want NPIP. but you have to have NPIP to ship. I'm pretty sure there's a black market underground shipping of eggs and birds. I can totally understand why. Thank you for the detailed arrangement for bantams. I think that's where I'm going to need to head. Just can't figure out what I want!
I don't know what line it is, but RainyDayChicken has a SPR male he's been trying to find mate(s) for... maybe you could work something out...

Does the USPS ask if the eggs are NPIP? They don't here in Cali. Some customers might want them to be NPIP though.

w.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

We're seeing a lot of interest I White Dorkings, which is great. The more the merrier. I believe the White variety of Dorkings is the best way to start. We're also hoping to foster further interest in our RC Anconas--as well as other traditional eggers--they're excellent fowl for the farm and homestead.