Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[rodriguezpoultry]

Edited. I personally would want to learn all I could from the breeder. True information is worth more to me than a trial-and-error method and what better way to get that info than to contact the breeder that's been doing his passion for years.

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

We can all learn more than we know. It has been 35 years since I got my first Buff Orpington. Not that Walt is old, but he has much more experience with the breed (and all breeds) than I do. We can all learn something new, if we listen. At about 3am I pulled three White Orpingtons out of the incubator and placed in the tote brooder. Took their photo and posted on the Orp thread. The photo is below. Walked in here this morning and realized that one is not white, but buff. Oops. Forgot I set some of our eggs with the whites.

In my defense....you try judging a chicks color after being awaken in the middle of the night to drive 3 miles to Grandma's and bring home a sick child.

 

[buffalogal]

Quote:
Saladin, no need to be so formal, you can call me Gal.

I agree, 10% is a worthy goal to strive for.

 

[centrarchid]

With at least some of a batch of dom chicks I raised last summer, indications of inverted spike was apparent at 2 days post-hatch. The point was not actually inverted at that time but posterior lobe appeared blunt or flattened. The initial number of chicks was 30 (25 female, 5 male. All survived to 24 weeks. Two of the males had either shortened posterior lobe (no spike) or spike was inverted. All but had pullets had either inverted spike or at least lacked proper point to posterior lobe. Chicks were from commercial hatchery source and relationships between chicks not known.

 

[fowlman01]

Rosecombs are far more difficult to get right than single combs.

Walt

 

[punky rooster]

Quote:
Thanks, Doc. I really don't like those old posts... I've learned a lot since then.

I would hate to read something I wrote at your age now. ahahaha I will say that admitting to a mistake takes a lot of courage for anyone at any age. Your post shows a lot of maturity.
Walt

Thanks, Walt, I appreciate it.

Mitch

 

[centrarchid]

Quote:
My fun with rose combs in doms is the better they look, the fewer viable eggs I get. Big, beefy and a symmetrical and rooster just needs to be in same room and eggs will hatch. It is problem I hope not purely a function of rose comb allele.

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
I agree Walt,
Look at most of the Wyandotte combs today, very little points if any and most of them don't have a spike at the end on the comb. To me todays Wyandotte comb looks more like a cushion comb than a rose comb.

Chris

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Evening all....since this thread seems to be a bit active today, how 'bout a question for you long time breeders.

I am pretty sure I am dealing with a bout of DRY fowl pox on a few of my BRs hatched this year. Small scabs on the comb tips, rear blade is a bit discolored (lighter and a bit opaque compared to normal). Is only affecting my cockerels, not a single pullet (perhaps because the non feathered tissue is larger). We DO have a boatload of mosquitos this year and I understand that they are a primary transmitter of the illness.

I live in NW Georgia where heat and humidity are here from April 'til October. Mosquitos are just a way of life (unfortunately)

With that said....

"To vaccinate or not to vaccinate, that is the question?"

I have been advised to "vaccinate nothing" and breed for resistance and others I know vaccinate for just about everything

Any advise?

Thanks

Scott


BTW - gonna try to get some pix of this years birds to post later. Nice bunch of LF BRs coming along and my Col Rocks are growing like mad

 

[centrarchid]

I am not a long time breeder..........of chickens. But for the purpose of sustainability, if breeding for resistance practical, then that is path to follow. Vaccinations yet another input that increases cost and may not always be available.

My birds are getting hammered at night by mosquitos, more than I have ever seen before (warm and wet year). Sucking pressure so high I would be very surprised if growth not impacted.