Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[Arielle]

Seabass, they have lovely barring, even me, a newbie, can see the clear lines of black and white.

If I might ask--- do you dress them out? At what weight and age?

 

[seabass327]

I don't keep good tabs on dressed weights and such. I do eat lots of culls, but am of the opinion that I don't want to know how much they cost. I just weighed two cockerels that were gutted and skinned at 3 lbs at about 3 months. The 3 males that i bred from were over 9 lbs as year old birds. When I cull early for defects, I think the small birds less than 2 months old that dress out (gutted and skinned) a little under 2 lbs taste the best.




above are two birds from a strain I have out of California. They have much better barring, but the roosters develped personality issues. The first bird is in my freezer now, the next cockerel is one of his sons. I'm hoping to get one or two nice ones this year or I won't be keeping this strain. Unfortunately the birds I raised this year and last had a good deal of variability in the tail development. I had plenty of "friendly" cockerels, but the only two with full tails weren't nice. None have become aggressive yet, and I think this is about when it started last year, but only time will tell.

rich

 

[7961]

Thought that I'd post this. I am sharing pic of White Wyandotte males taken earlier last month for age comparisons. It is a young cockerel and a 1 year old cock bird. I wish I had a more recent pic of this cockerel because now he is developing so nicely. He looks that much nicer now than he did then. He has a long way to go in growing, finishing, and filling out. I think he should finish out into something similar to the old male on the right fairly easily. Just like with the pics of the Barred Rocks and RI Reds people are sharing, these large Wyandottes take time to develop.

 

[flitter]

No one has been discussing Redcaps but they are a Heritage breed. I wanted to share pictures of my oldest cock from this year's hatch. He's leading the pack so far in weight but I wondered if anyone is familiar enough with the breed to comment on him. He's 5 months old. I haven't found any serious defects (but may have missed something). I'm not sure if his comb is "bumpy" enough for SOP standards. His weight alone will make him a keeper, probably. I have a few other cocks 2-3 months younger but they are behind him on weight at their age.
Any opinions on his type, etc are very welcome.

 

[heritagehabitatfarms]

looks good to me... i love the Redcap breed but have never had more than a couple of them from McMurry...

No one has been discussing Redcaps but they are a Heritage breed. I wanted to share pictures of my oldest cock from this year's hatch. He's leading the pack so far in weight but I wondered if anyone is familiar enough with the breed to comment on him. He's 5 months old. I haven't found any serious defects (but may have missed something). I'm not sure if his comb is "bumpy" enough for SOP standards. His weight alone will make him a keeper, probably. I have a few other cocks 2-3 months younger but they are behind him on weight at their age.
Any opinions on his type, etc are very welcome.

 

[NYREDS]

Type isn't too bad Appears a bit pinched in the tail. The white feathers, other than the primaries, would be a disqualification. The picture is dark so can't tell much about the colour.
For what it's worth as a part of this year's hatch he's a cockerel not a cock.

 

[NYREDS]

Bob, you are always quizing us........I'll see how old you are. Do you remember shipping birds by Railway Express?
That is how Sturgeon shipped the Rocks to me. Same thing happened to me with our WLR Cornish. We thought we had a guy who would be in it for the long haul but he couldn't take the setbacks and the birds went to pot.

Walt

Walt

I remember Railway Express shipped birds. Some of the first birds I had were a pair of Blue Cochin Bantams from Strombergs that came that way-they came in a bean crate.

 

[TomNY]

I remember Railway Express shipped birds. Some of the first birds I had were a pair of Blue Cochin Bantams from Strombergs that came that way-they came in a bean crate.

Ahh, the good old days. The railroads were required to feed and water poultry if you supplied feed and a water can. Somewhere I have a picture of a railway worker feeding squabs on their way to market by mouth. An old Elmer C. Rice photo if I remember correctly. Tom

 

[Pault76]

Are there any old lines of Dominiques still around? I'd like to find a trio of them.

 

[ashandvine]

No one has been discussing Redcaps but they are a Heritage breed.

I noticed you had Ap Spitz too. Not American Heritage but still old and interesting to me personally. This thread does tend to lean heavily on conversation of RIR and BR but the knowledge is universally valuable. Thank you for bringing in another heritage type. More pics? ( I learn visually.)