Buckeye Breed Thread

[cgmccary]

 

[cgmccary]

 

[cgmccary]

I want to congratulate Jerry Couch for winning the American Class at the Saturday show of the Alabama Chicken and Egg Festival in Moulton, Alabama (the largest of the triple show). Jerry won with a two year old cock bird from pure Laura Haggarty line (bought as a chick from Laura). I guess congrats to both Jerry & Laura!

 

[cgmccary]

Congrats to Jerry!!!

But, a small point of interest. I do not now, nor have I ever claimed to have my own "line" (this is not for Chris, but for the lurkers, and you know who you are.)

I would never have the hubris to claim such a thing. My birds are project that is ever-evolving. I tinker. I add things in. I take things out (goodness knows I take things out!) I fiddle.

Until such time as I feel like I have my birds right where I want them, I will not even consider letting folks say they have "Laura Haggarty" or "Pathfinders Farm" birds (although I know some people do, and it makes me very uncomfortable, and when I find out about it I always contact them and ask them not to do so.)

My adult birds are, at this time, about 15/85% ALBC/Urch, give or take. I have winnowed out all the Brown that used to be in there (too many problems with Brown in my experience, not the least of which was black speckling and fading of hens, in particular), and with the addition of Chris's magnificent cock bird to my main breeding pen, chicks I am hatching and shipping this year will be about 50/50 ALBC/Urch.

Hence my unwillingness to claim a line. It's a work in progress. IMO there is no such thing as a "perfect Buckeye" and I know I will continue to work on my birds until I can no longer walk to the pens...

When I talked with Jerry last night, I asked him more about the bird. He had been saying good things about this Buckeye male for some time to me. I give credit to Jerry that he has followed advice, learned the breed, learned what to look at and how to interpret the SOP was able to tell this was his best bird (and it is the only one he put in the show!). This was Jerry's first ever show, so his first show he wins Champion American (entering a single bird).

Jerry said a close friend of his ordered Buckeye chicks from Laura Haggarty. The friend raised them until they were 4 months old and the friend chose the cockerel he was going to keep. Jerry bought the discarded cockerels at 4 months old -- and it is one of those who won CH American Class at the Jerry's first show . . . so part of culling is knowing what to cull. Jerry said his friend was at the show with him and rooting for the bird as well. I recognized that I had the same problem (knowing what to cull early on) after I almost culled a superb bird in 2009. It was an accident that I did not cull. After that, I grew out a whole bunch of Buckeyes keeping them way longer than I normally would so I could see how they developed & grew. I was surprised that some I had given such great promise actually fizzled out and a couple of others blossomed -- in other words, what I thought I knew at 16 weeks maybe was not so much -- again though, I will add, I am selecting for rate of growth first, so what becomes a nice looking bird at 9-12 months old does not necessarily have the best rate of growth and not the best at 16 weeks . . . if you are selecting for showing, your selections will be different . . . however, we're eating ours here first.

It is nice to know that someone who does not promise you SQ Buckeyes (like some other folks) actually is putting out chicks who can grow up to be SQ if you take care of them and raise them good . . . . Jerry is not the first person to get Buckeyes via chicks from Laura H & go on to win shows with them. I think Janet Hatch did the same thing and then kept winning with the line. A couple of other people have had success at shows with Laura's birds. Laura's birds have a history of doing well at shows going back to Laura winning when she was showing -- particularly, Reserve American at Lucasville with a pullet in 2009.

I distinguish strain from line in that there is Urch strain and ALBC strain but my line of that strain, your line of that strain, etc. I see a "strain" as the population as a whole, kept in many locations, with each of us who have had the birds ast least 2-3 years having our own "line" of that "strain" . . . . having had Buckeyes now for about 7 years, Laura, you have your own line of Urch/ ALBC strain, the same as I.

 

[cgmccary]

We are expecting our first (Urch) Buckeye chicks in a few weeks and have been following this thread with interest. I have read the SOP and am also following the Buckeye discussion over on the CSU thread. We've had a mixed layer flock for a while, but new to breeding. Understanding that we should select for type first: What are some obvious first season things you cull for? What traits should be given more time to develop before deciding? Thanks!

The obvious things I first cull for in males are lack of size & weight, lack of a wide heart girth, a thin skull, & thin shanks. You want to make sure you do not let the backs get too short. The Buckeye back should be "rather long and broad " resulting in a broad tail. You want a back that maintains that broadness throughout its length. This is not quite as long as the exhibition RIR (which in the Standard is "long").

With females, I use the ALBC selection criteria to determine my keepers (available on their website).

You should give feathering more time to develop before culling on the basis of feather shape, quality or color.

 

[cgmccary]

Congratulations again to Jerry Couch for winning the American Class at the 'Something to Crow About' show in Newport, TN. Jerry won Class CH again with the Buckeye Cock purchased from Laura Haggarty as a chick (the same cock bird who won the Class in Moulton, Alabama a few weeks ago).

 

[Blueface]

Bennett/McDaniel had three bantams on champion row....a black rosecomb (champion bantam/reserve of show), a birchen modern game, and an OE. All three were exceptional examples of each breed. Thanks all for the nice comments! It was a nice weekend for the breed!

 

[Canieldonrad]

Hey L! It's Jule's! This is definitely what is missing in mine!

And ya know what's sad? The one cockerel I have that is really the most typie is the one with the bit of white!!!

Color is a good thing to have, but keep type in mind. Better type is always going to trump color. Especially as the standard only states "should."(I'm just going to regurgitate Chris' words but that is truly how I feel as well).

You can take type and work with the color easily. But its a lot more difficult to perfect color and end up with it on a wrong body.


I would not cull the Cockerel, in fact I would probably keep him. Use him to breed to hens with slate on the back. Use the next generation Cockerels that have type and have slate(if even just a sliver) in the back to breed to your hens. Line breeding is a great way to preserve your best traits.

 

[Canieldonrad]

Well sodium is a pretty vital nutrient, and if your birds range they likely don't get a significant amount outside of their feed. Sodium is used for several body functions and a chicken's body functions at a faster, more active rate than a human's. I would be willing to say if you are afraid you are giving too much you may not be giving enough.

It has been suggested that humans (I may be making a mistake by saying this) evolved(or maybe we were designed this way) to require less sodium as early humans had little access to large quantities of sodium. Which is why we have problems with relatively small amounts in present day.

 

[fowlman01]

People who have raised chickens for many years feed dog or cat food without any problems.

Walt