Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[LeslieDJoyce]

Scott, no fair, no fair, NO FAIR! 

If I had room and more money to invest in a breed to raise to the SOP, I'm thinking these would be it!  I just LOVE what you've done with them!

Seriously. Scott is playing dirty posting photos. Photos give me IDEAS. Ideas give me chicken math problems.

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Scott, no fair, no fair, NO FAIR!

If I had room and more money to invest in a breed to raise to the SOP, I'm thinking these would be it! I just LOVE what you've done with them!

Lacy Blues

Thanks for the compliment....its been a LOT of fun. Have been sitting with a "Blue Moon" and #2 son trying to pick the best 3 pullets from this yr to keep and to breed from. Not sure that I'll ever show, just love the challenge of improving what I started with

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Seriously. Scott is playing dirty posting photos. Photos give me IDEAS. Ideas give me chicken math problems.

LeslieD

BOB did it!!

I didn't post those photos....although it is fun to see where we started and where we are now. It has truly been a learning experience and a lot of fun

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Here is the "great, great, great grandsire" of my flock that I am trying to get a male that looks like

 

[Robert Blosl]

can you post your picture of the original trio you got for historic purposes bob

 

[Pathfinders]

Wikipedia says Buckeyes get bigger that Delawares. Do they grow as fast?

I LOVE that Buckeyes are credited to a woman.

Comb doesn't matter as much in western Oregon. We don't get too much super cold weather here. Usually.

Hard for me to answer that, I've never owned Delawares. Buckeyes can be a little slow-growing, but that will vary from line to line. They usually start to lay at or about 20 weeks. And yes, the only American breed created by a woman (as far as I know, the only breed of chicken of any type created by a woman.)

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

can you post your picture of the original trio you got for historic purposes bob

gotta find 'em

Desktop crashed and I lost a LOT of pictures

Hoping I have them on photobucket

 

[capayvalleychick]

Hard for me to answer that, I've never owned Delawares. Buckeyes can be a little slow-growing, but that will vary from line to line. They usually start to lay at or about 20 weeks.

According to the Standard, there is only a half pound difference in the cocks and the hens have the same standard weight.

I've owned both breeds, but my Buckeyes were originally bought from a hatchery. So this may not really be a fair comparison. My Delawares mature faster than my Buckeyes did and they are much better layers and I prefer their meat. Plus I love the look of the Dels - the barring - even though I may never get that to Standard- and single combs.

I was very impressed with the vigor of the Buckeyes and their club members were so helpful and nice. I miss the club more than the Buckeyes!

Scott, what are the ages of the hens/pullets in your photos? They are big!

 

[3riverschick]

I got some Speckled Sussex at the feed store -- don't know how they would compare to the Light Sussex. The feed-store SS were SO adorable in the brooder, almost as friendly and entertaining as turkeys. And the inevitable oopsie cockerel is a good size, too. Based only on hatchery experience, this would be one of two breeds I'd keep (besides colorful egg layers) because the birds are good sized and nice in the flock.

How about Light Sussex? Since they are eWh based, they don't need the under-fluff color balancing seen in eb based breeds like Columbian Rocks and Delawares, There are several show quality strains I know of in North America which are accessible to folk in the US including Emily Robertson in British Columbia (TruNorth Heritage Poultry http://truenorthfarm.ca/ );
I see you are looking for a "business bird". One which will lay (and also provide meat?). A bird which is heritage, , but still able to do what it was historically bred to do. I also see you are in Oregon. Read up on TruNorth's Light Sussex. Ms. Robertson is one of the few who is using population genetics to breed utility Light Sussex. Her birds excel in classic Light Sussex virtues. They also win at poultry shows because in Sussex the production virtues are the same as the breeds hallmarks for the ring. She is experienced at shipping birds and eggs across the border. I am so impressed with Emily's work. She hatches hundreds of chicks each year and.... well her website says it better than me. Note she uses no Australian Light Sussex genes in her breeding program, a good thing. She will be there for you after the sale.
Interestingly, Emily uses camping tents to house her birds in the growing out pastures. A pretty cool idea. She buys the tents @ about 89. each and by the end of the grow out season, she replaces them the next year.
Best,
Karen

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

According to the Standard, there is only a half pound difference in the cocks and the hens have the same standard weight.

I've owned both breeds, but my Buckeyes were originally bought from a hatchery. So this may not really be a fair comparison. My Delawares mature faster than my Buckeyes did and they are much better layers and I prefer their meat. Plus I love the look of the Dels - the barring - even though I may never get that to Standard- and single combs.

I was very impressed with the vigor of the Buckeyes and their club members were so helpful and nice. I miss the club more than the Buckeyes!

Scott, what are the ages of the hens/pullets in your photos? They are big!

Well....believe it or not they are pretty young

The single pullet by the gate was 8 or 9 months at the time of the picture. The shots with multiple pullets were this year at 6 months!!