Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[HallFamilyFarm]

Quote:
I just ordered some Barred Hollands from Urch this week. He can only get about 10 or 12 at a time, but has a minimum order of 25, so I had to order a lot of others to get my hollands. But it should be worth it. Off to read Call of the Hen, I guess.

Get any buckeyes?

Jen called me the other day. She had just found out that she had to add some packing peanuts to her Urch order. My understanding is she added both LF and Bantam Buckeyes. Since she drives within 2 miles of our small farm almost every day, I have volunteered to take any "extras" off of her. Would not want her brooder to cramped!

 

[punky rooster]

my buckeye bantams will be from Urch can't wait to start working on them!

 

[Jared77]

Jared,
What a thoughtful post- you have me thinking about how to reach the general public, who won't generally know about PP or Backyard Poultry, or other great places where there are ads.
And may I insert, thank you! for sending people to the Delaware Club site. We are trying so hard to promote and preserve the dual purpose qualities of these birds- we think they are a pretty perfect bird for the backyard flock owner who wants to become a bit more self sufficient.

I am not the most knowledgeable person here, obviously, but I have eaten some of my own Dels, and there are a couple of things that come to mind - I don't know if this is true for other Heritage breeds or not. First, when people order the Cornish cross broiler birds, it seems to me from what I have read, that they are getting a chicken who basically sits there and eats and poops- there are no long range plans for these chicks. They will be in the freezer in a flash. Your Heritage bird is apt to be active, foraging, running around and playing,and will have a different texture meat because of this. There are great articles out there on HOW to cook Heritage fowl, and it does make a difference. I know, I experimented. Also, people may have to wait longer to process Heritage birds, they DO grow slower than the CX: we processed ours at about 20 weeks, and they really needed maybe another month on most of them. But that is worth it - even if it costs to keep those extra roos around for a while, because our goal is better and healthier food that we have grown ourselves. I think there are breeders out there who are working on their Heritage lines for faster maturity, but in general, it is just going to take a little longer, from what I understand.
How to get the word out there? I think it is up to the individual selling to make a point to market the good dual purpose birds AS dual purpose birds- most CL ads or IWANNA ads that I have seen just list the breed with no other info. I know ads cost money, but just adding the words "dual purpose" could raise interest, and it doesn't cost much to explain what that means over the phone or by email to the people that respond to the ads.
Breed Clubs that take out ads could certainly promote that aspect. I do think there is going to be a continued interest in the dual purpose bird, and promoting that aspect is a two fold good thing - the more rare breeds could experience a revival, and the general public who is interested will be getting some darn good eggs and Sunday dinners.
I hope I didn't miss your point and go rambling off, but little sleep and posting on one cup of coffee sometimes takes me off on side roads.

Joletaby;

No your absolutely right and Im glad you got where I was trying to go with this. People want healthier food that actually acts like its supposed to not just sit, eat and grow at a crazy rate to be turned into a meal.

Regarding the Delaware club your welcome. The hard work of the membership is being recognized so many of us pass the word along. More folks are taking notice and find the Delaware does fit that bill for the more self sufficient homesteader/backyard flock owner. I personally raise colored broilers. Ive raised Cornish crosses and may do Freedom Rangers. The colored broilers grow slower than the cornish crosses but they actually act like chickens more. They forage, and scratch instead of just sitting there eating and pooping. I raise mine in tractors that I move around the horse pasture daily so they alre always have access to fresh greens and new ground to scratch at. I have let them out to free range occasionally and they manage just fine. The quality of meat is much better than anything store bought.

With any of the broilers or faster growing chickens your right there is no long term goal with them. They are a crop. You raise them up and when its time you harvest them. For the Cornish cross 8 weeks from hatch to harvest is pretty typical. The colored broilers and Freedom Rangers go longer usually 12 sometimes even 14 weeks is common it all depends on how you feed them and if you let them free range or not.

The folks who want dual purpose birds expect them take longer. Waiting 16-20 weeks even 24 weeks is ok for some folks. That may not seem like a real long time to some folks but when you consider the cornish cross chicks are done at 8 weeks. So your looking at 4-6 month old culls so those birds should be fairly good sized. People expect a firmer texture, and better flavor because these birds are active. They want a bird that can reproduce itself. Those of us who want a real dual purpose bird want "Grandma's chickens". The ones that are talked about here so often. Its great. I think the dual purpose aspect of many of the heritage breeds should be encouraged. Even if its a link on the clubs website or an article talking about how they make a good dual purpose bird would help broaden the appeal of more breeds for these new people who want to make the transition into dual purpose birds.

If we have places to send folks to get more info or recommendations on breeders would be great. Are the breed clubs enough?

And Bob don't worry once I get my coop built Ill be dropping you a line​

 

[Cowgirlgrace]

Jared77, I totally get what you are saying. Working on helping preserve some Heritage breeds. I plan on making them available as it is the only way to promote these rare breeds and increase their numbers and popularity.

 

[Robert Blosl]

http://www.archive.org/stream/principlespracti00robirich#page/n21/mode/2up

here is a one of my favorite books. Its a book that helped the beginner in the glory days of Poutlry. They had the same questions as we do today.

You can get some good ideas from this book. Just buy a good feed from a local feed store and dont worry about making your own feed.

bob

 

[junglebird]

I've just discovered this thread two days ago ... wow.

and

and

My quest: to select stock to build a homestead flock of hearty foragers who taste good, provide a few eggs to eat, are good mothers, and are lovely to behold.

I understand that dual purpose birds coming from many hatcheries are selected for laying. Does that mean that if I want a flock that is a little more weighted for growth, I simply buy stock from specialty breeders who have selected for growth? Or are some dual purpose / heritage breeds known more for growth?

I'm not sure which traits I need to have up front and which I should plan to breed for. I'm guessing that in breeding, I can select for the behavioral traits (savvy foragers, good mothers) and environmental hardiness (resistant to local wild turkey/bird diseases, heat tolerant). But, I suspect that some traits, like growth over laying, and heat tolerance are already built into the lines? Do I have that right?

Can I simply start with any good dual purpose / heritage stock, then, in my breeding program select for the qualities I want? Or, is it possible to rank dual purpose breeds in terms of their tendency towards growth, laying, foraging, mothering? I know it's going to vary, depending on the breed line, and where the stock are hatched (i.e., dual purpose from hatcheries are selected for laying over growth), but is there a rule of thumb to follow?

 

[punky rooster]

Quote:
Just a sugestion but ALBC line buckeyes sound perfect for you

 

[joletabey]

Junglebird-
where are you located? Climate can have a bit to do with your choice, but there are several Heritage breeds that you might like. Everyone here knows I will highly recommend the Delaware for their personalities as well as their good dual purpose qualities, but there really are some other great breeds out there.

 

[junglebird]

joletabey, I'm in Southern Oregon, Rogue Valley ... 20" of rain in our moderate winters, and hot dry summers with cool nights. Far as I can tell, we have something like 15-20 nights below freezing in the winter, rarely in the teens, and not often to low 20's. I'm guessing that's a pretty mild and manageable climate for most poultry.

I'm at 2500' elevation in mixed woodland (fir, pine, madrone, manzanita, grasses, and weeds

). I'm on the edge of wilderness and we have lots of predators. My poultry will always be sharing their space with wild birds. My avatar name, junglebird, reflects my interest in having chickens in fertile woodland rather than on cultivated pasture. I am designing protection zones, with an outer ring for dogs, and middle zone for goats and donkeys, and inner (more protected) zones for poultry and gardens.

Punky, thanks for that suggestion. I've heard Buckeyes are good mousers. Anyone know if that's true? I liked the picture, earlier in this thread, of the aseel carrying a rat. lol - that's my kinda bird!

 

[joletabey]

Junglebird, I do think Delawares would love a place with you - mine love to forage and dig up everything. You may have to deal with some of the crud that the wild birds will pass on, respiratory diseases and things like that in that situation, but it does sound like chicken heaven, especially if they are in a protected, inner ring.