Buckeye Breed Thread

[MMPoultryFarms]

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You have some nice birds there. How old are those chicks?

The chick are little more then 4 weeks old they were hatched jan 29th.

 

[punky rooster]

Have you been culling at 4 weeks for reasons other than obvious flaws ?

 

[MMPoultryFarms]

I am sure I do things alot different then Most But I base my culling on 5 grow out pens think of it as phase shifting. I cull for color.I cull for definition. I cull for Meat to feed conversion. I cull for flaws, I cull for stamina, Just because it goes into a different Cull pen doesn't mean I wont use it. But all Culls are final at 6 months of age. By then I can usually know whats good and whats not for my purpose. I have lots of buckeye projects. For example If I get a large bird Hens or Roosters. and I know there to heavy there shifted to the meat bird program and are used for my own homemade Broiler so to speak. I line I created off of Dark Cornish, Buckeyes, Plymouth White Rocks, and Cornish X meat birds. I dont Breed for show.Please dont misunderstand me I breed for SOP, But I do not show birds or attend shows,My farm does support the local 4H and we Do grow show quality birds for Kids that arent able to show birds,reguardless if its because of lack of housing, Finacial Support, Disabled kids. We do our best to provide these kids with good quality Show birds.So they dont have to lose out on something that might change there lives forever.

 

[punky rooster]

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OK I was just checking. at 4 weeks you never really know what your going to get.
Agian, you have some pretty nice buckeyes!
good luck,
punky

 

[MMPoultryFarms]

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OK I was just checking. at 4 weeks you never really know what your going to get.
Agian, you have some pretty nice buckeyes!
good luck,
punky

But if you have 4 weekolds that are matching upwith everything you breed for you cross your fingers and Hope it keeps coming. There only special to me because how dark and rich they are. the other 20 chicks are behind them in color. This can work against me as well as for me.

 

[foxflower]

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Sandhill Preservation Center, born 9/21/09.

You can get better quality Buckeyes from Dave, Laura, etc. but I thought I would offer, since I'm in CA. He looks pretty good to me and he is huge. I can't get a pic until it stops raining.

Kim

Size would be an improvement. Comparatively, you aren't that far from me. The only reason I haven't put mine out of his misery is probably stubborness and curiosity to see if he'll recover. Somewhere I read one shouldn't breed birds even if they've recovered from an illness because they weren't hardy enough to resist it in the first place. I don't think the line of birds I have is very hardy. One of the original 6 roosters I hatched died unexpectedly without warning. One of the 4 we butchered had weird green/yellow liquid in him so we tossed the carcass, now this. Plus I had to cull one as a chick because it had a weird leg that wouldn't get better and it wasn't growing. That's 4 of the original 8 hatched. I've not had that kind of trouble with any other breeds. But I really like buckeyes for their characteristics. Now that I'm writing it out I see I probably shouldn't breed with this roo, whether or not he recovers. Anybody disagree? I'm not breeding for show, just for personal use and enjoyment, but would also like to do that responsibily. A friend wants some eggs to hatch also. Kim, I'll PM you about the roo. I have some other breeds from Sand Hill. Sounds like your extra roo would be an improvement on mine.

 

[Tailfeathers]

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I would recommend checking that bird for mites. From looking at the pics, that is my sense of what's going on. And if it is mites, they can and will kill that bird if immediate steps are not taken.

God Bless,

 

[BuckeyeDave]

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Dude, that is one down in the dumps buckeye!!!!!

If he has mites to the point of effecting him this badly you would be able to see the eggs/parents/a mite block party at the base of the feathers around his vent. His condition looks alot more serious than just a bad case of mites. To battle mites year round I took the largest rubber tub I could find at the feed store, and placed it in the coop. Put a bag of top soil, some sand and a generous helping of DE, my chickens dust themselves all year long and in turn they keep themselves mite free!!

It could be worms, I feed mine DE in their food, I don't know how else to treat for worms.

Does he gurgle or makes a raspy, whistly sound when he breathes? The high humidity in the winter typically causes more problems than the cold.

In the winter we need to keep the snow and wind off of the birds, but ventilation is a must. An old wives tale in our area is "if you have sick chickens tear out a wall".

I would bring him into the garage in a dry secluded well ventilated cage, put some apple cider vinegar in his water, give him a tray with Black Oil Sunflower Seed, chicken food, cat food, table scraps including small chunks of meat, etc., if his head starts to turn upside down it may be too late. If he does not improve in the next 2-3 days you will most probably lose him, plain and simple. If you want to keep him, you may want to call your local vet.

 

[jenjscott]

His stance is really weird, I wonder about a back injury.

 

[BuckeyeDave]

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Great point!!!

Check him for puncture wounds from a predator!!!