Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[fowlman01]

I would remove the feather, but sometimes it is better to cut the feather at about an inch and then make some cuts in the feather stump down to the skin. This way the feather will fall out quickly, but on it's own and not damage the feather follicle.

Walt

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Quote:
What adult weights are you seeing on your col. rocks????

Flowerchild.....my rocks are not quite full grown. One group is nearing 8 months old. In that group, males are 8+ lbs and females are around 7 lbs. I lost the original male, but he was 11lbs. The 2 original females (from Canada) are 7lbs 3 oz and 7lbs 14 oz....pretty good sized girls

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

On another forum the question arose about the various "types" of Toulouse geese. It was stated: It might help if someone would present the common grey goose to be recognized as a distinct breed by the APA.

We need a census on how many of these "common grey goose" exist in North America. These are mostly hatchery Toulouse geese that do not have the dewlap. Though a proper standard would have to be drafted, it would essentially be a Dewlap Toulouse without the dewlap and a bit smller in size.


So a thread on the topic has been started at https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=563198&p=1

It would be nice if some judges would join us and assist with the discussion.

 

[Robert Blosl]

Fast Growing Hybrid Meat Chickens Standard-bred Meat Chickens
Chickens for Consumption
Body Type Obese Balanced
Ability to Move Restricted and awkward Free and natural
Activity Low, causing sores and infections High
Immune System Impaired Healthy
Lifespan 5 to 8 weeks then begin to die at 10 to 12 weeks as long as you want 8 to 15 years
Environment Does best in controlled environment Thrive in free-range and pasture systems
Parent Stock Antibiotics Require No antibiotics required under normal conditions
Feed Management Feed and water restricted to limit growth Can have free access to feed and water
Reproduction Highly selected for hybridization; multiple “families” required Self-reproducing
Ownership Owned by corporate conglomerates Owned by small farmers

The above was sent to me by Frank Reese as he is starting to write articles on his thoughts of raising standard breed large fowl poultry or What this thread started a year ago HERATAGE POULTRY,
I am seeing increase in back yard Poultry hobbyist who want to raise a rare old breed of large fowl and not get hung up in the commercial traits or ease to get birds in a box each spring. Many master breeders of the rare birds do not sell eggs or chicks. So many people want for example I want to get a dozen eggs from each Rose Comb Rhode Island Red master breeder and then compare them to see who has the best. This is thinking like a junior in four H like I use to do 50 years ago. This is impossible as Master breeders don’t sell eggs as they do not have time to fool with this chore and they know that only about 10 to 15% of the eggs will hatch. I am seeing more people who are shipping four and six week old chicks to beginners overnight express mail. This is the best and most cost conservative method to get started unless you go to their homes and pick them up.

Getting a good start of a rare breed is very hard to do. Going the egg route is the worst way and when you ask me for someone who will sell eggs on most breeds I am limited to maybe on breeder in Minnesota. My Heritage 60 year old strain of White Rock Large Fowl is now in Ohio. A fellow named Chris has about 8 of these nice white birds and can help some of you who want a old strain of White Rock Large Fowl that have it all. They have meat, looks and lay very well. For the 1% who want to show them in adult or junior 4H shows they will bring home the trophies like no other large fowl breed as they have been line breed for over 20 years to do the above. Hope to see more activity on this first of my three threads on Heritage Fowl. Lets sound off on what you got this year in a Standard Breed Fowl, who you got them from, maybe even some pictures of your Standard Breed (Heritage) large fowl. BOB

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Hi Bob, when you have the opportunity, could you offer a tutorial on shipping started chicks:

The size box and where to buy them? Packing? When to ship? etc....

I think that this is the best way to do muscovy ducklings as well, as they don't ship well as day-olds.

 

[silkieluver_07]

I am going to be doing a research paper for college on how American-bred poultry has changed in the past 100 years. Are there any good older books for me to read?

 

[KyBlue]

Quote:
I would recommend a book by Frank Platt- The American Breeds of Poultry- Their Origin, History of Their Development, The Work of Constructive Breeders and How to Mate Each of the Varieties for Best Results. You can find it on several internet archives for free.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Quote:
The Biggle Poultry Book: This is an excellent turn of the centure treatise on raising poutlry. It would be a suitable point of departure.

The Priciples and Practice of Poultry Culture: Bob introduced us all to this book. It is the single most valuable work I've yet to read on poultry. it was wwritten to be a univerisity text. In many ways it is the apex work of a nascent modern poultry industry that still depended on quality heritage fowl. Moreover, insofar as industrial poultyr were much more of a deviation from, and not continuance of, heritage poultry culture, it's probably the single most important text for anyone to read who's thinking about entering poultry on more important scale.

The Call of the Hen: This is an excellent text for learning how to select heritage poultry for production. It obviouslt played heavily into the current ALBC model.

 

[OwensMom]

Ok Bob, I'll start this off. This summer I was able to acquire a Jersey Giant rooster. He is from Bobbi Porto breeding and a lovely bird. His temperment is docile(ggod thing since he is very large) and as chickens go he seem intelligent. Bobbi also shipped me started chicks that arrived here dead!! What a sad situation. So then we went the egg route. I have hatched a total of 7 chicks 3 of which I believe are hens, 2 cockerels and 2 undecided. I am hoping to base my flock totally on heritage birds once I weed out my hatchery birds.
I am very interested in your white Rocks and they would be the other half of my flock.
I am a small meat and egg producer who would like to have the proven bloodlines of the past. I will post photos as soon as I can.
By the way The Call of the Hen is a great book. Lots of good info and I have alot to learn.

 

[jenjscott]

Postal regulations require a weight of 6 ounces on chickens shipped other than day-olds.