Buckeye Breed Thread

[retiredwithchicks]

That looks like a mutualistic symbiotic relationship to me!!

 

[Arielle]

Quote: I will have to learn a new way to cook for sure. Have been learning by trial and error to cook a better eating product. LOL

I actually like the dark meat and have to force myself to consume the breast meat. At what age do you need to put them in the freezer? Any one use a particular day of age? ANd what is the weight? I have to admit I like to get a lot for my butchering effort, I do know I need to adjust my expectations as I do need a bird that can be quick on it's feet to avoid predators and forage well.

How about egg production. GIve me the real deal.

I think this must be a good omen--my 6000th post!!

 

[JoshU]

I will have to learn a new way to cook for sure. Have been learning by trial and error to cook a better eating product. LOL

I actually like the dark meat and have to force myself to consume the breast meat. At what age do you need to put them in the freezer? Any one use a particular day of age? ANd what is the weight? I have to admit I like to get a lot for my butchering effort, I do know I need to adjust my expectations as I do need a bird that can be quick on it's feet to avoid predators and forage well.

How about egg production. GIve me the real deal.

I think this must be a good omen--my 6000th post!!

I butchered some at 16 weeks from a local breeder and they were about 4.5 pounds. I have 2 different lines so to speak so I can say that growth rate does vary depending on who you got them from. If you wait until 20 to 22 weeks you do get a lot more filled out carcass but may tend to be a little tougher as that is when the boys are really starting to blossom. As far as eggs, I think the average for buckeyes is around 180 to 200. However I have a young hen from Jeff Lay and she gives me 4 to 5 a week. That averages out to well over 200 eggs per year. If you like a good growth rate and good egg production, I can get you contact info for Jeff and he would be happy to sell you some hatching eggs. This is from personal experience, and I know that some people in the buckeye world dont particularly care for him. But I would recommend him to anyone that wants the qualities that you seem to rank high in your search for buckeyes. The coloring and temperment on his buckeyes are great attributes as well.

 

[cgmccary]

Quote:
Wow, 6000 posts! The real deal: The average egg production for a Buckeye is about 200 eggs per year. Some pullets lay better than that and some a little less. I only kept a few pullets last year and one of those (a hen now) lays about 6 days a week & never goes broody. I'm still getting eggs from her and she has entered first molt (that hen also got judged #1 pullet at a show last January where there were six Buckeye pullets entered). It is real simple to pick your best layers. You can tell your best layers by the space between keel and pelvic bones, & that particular #1 pullet is a four finger space (and is why I kept her & the Judge (who has Buckeyes himself) put "+type" on her coop card). I griped a lot last year because Bob Gilbert got a couple of my best pullets (one was a 4 finger bird), and Don Schrider also got two from me for his breeding pens.

 

[Arielle]

Quote:

Wow, 6000 posts! The real deal: The average egg production for a Buckeye is about 200 eggs per year. Some pullets lay better than that and some a little less. I only kept a few pullets last year and one of those (a hen now) lays about 6 days a week & never goes broody. I'm still getting eggs from her and she has entered first molt (that hen also got judged #1 pullet at a show last January where there were six Buckeye pullets entered). It is real simple to pick your best layers. You can tell your best layers by the space between keel and pelvic bones, & that particular #1 pullet is a four finger space (and is why I kept her & the Judge (who has Buckeyes himself) put "+type" on her coop card). I griped a lot last year because Bob Gilbert got a couple of my best pullets (one was a 4 finger bird), and Don Schrider also got two from me for his breeding pens.

My customers are funny, well rather they are the product of buying from the grocery store, and want a large egg. I need to better understand egg production. I don't mind a hen that produces fewer eggs IF the eggs are large. Collecting medium eggs is a lot of time for less money from customers.

Don is adding new blood. I like how he breeds.

 

[Marengoite]

I will have to learn a new way to cook for sure. Have been learning by trial and error to cook a better eating product. LOL

I actually like the dark meat and have to force myself to consume the breast meat. At what age do you need to put them in the freezer? Any one use a particular day of age? ANd what is the weight? I have to admit I like to get a lot for my butchering effort, I do know I need to adjust my expectations as I do need a bird that can be quick on it's feet to avoid predators and forage well.

How about egg production. GIve me the real deal.

I think this must be a good omen--my 6000th post!!

I weighed a couple of my 22 weekers before putting them in the crock pot and they came in at 4 - 4.5 lb. If you like dark meat, you'll love Buckeyes. Also, they are larger boned than Cornish X from the store. If you like crock pot cooking, the Buckeye is a fine fowl for that. I have a couple of them laying and they are steady producers of medium brown eggs.

If you are in eggs for size and money, I'd say go with the hybrid layers like Golden Comet, Golden Buff, Red Star, etc. My lone GC lays a much larger egg than any of my Buckeyes and is like clockwork. She's not broody at all and forages with everyone else. If I were in the egg business alone, I'd go with a flock of Golden comets. But for a nice medium brown egg for use around the house, the Buckeyes are fine. My Barred rock pullets are only a week younger than my Buckeyes and they aren't laying yet. I want to see what kind of eggs they have before I rush to judgment. They seem to be awful popular here in the county, so I'm thinking they must be doing something right.

Buckeyes have the advantage of being dual purpose. They aren't the egg-laying machines that the hybrids are, but they have the advantage of a lot more meat on their bones than the other laying breeds. I'm thinking there might be a place for a Buckeye hybrid to capitalize on its dual characteristics and intensify them.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: Pretty good weight for the age: 4-4.5 for 22 weeks. How did you raise these? Forage? Penned and finished?

Funny that you mention the BR. I know one person running a comparison of the two breeds. THe BR grew bigger faster on a grain fed basis, no foraging. Both are from real heritage stock not hatchery lines.

Seems like most of the heritage lines, the dual purpose birds, usually lay a medium egg for size. Maybe only the RIR lay a large egg. Need to ask on the heritage thread I guess.

 

[Marengoite]

Pretty good weight for the age: 4-4.5 for 22 weeks. How did you raise these? Forage? Penned and finished?

Funny that you mention the BR. I know one person running a comparison of the two breeds. THe BR grew bigger faster on a grain fed basis, no foraging. Both are from real heritage stock not hatchery lines.

Seems like most of the heritage lines, the dual purpose birds, usually lay a medium egg for size. Maybe only the RIR lay a large egg. Need to ask on the heritage thread I guess.

It was a mix, Arielle. They ranged while they were young, but as they got bigger they wanted to spend all their time at my BIL's place, so I had to round them up and pen them. Even then, I didn't get them all. My BIL now has a pet Buckeye rooster that I can't get out of his horse pasture for anything. Finished them off with a mix of pasture, feed, and table scraps for about the last four weeks.

My BPRs are hatchery stock. Wish they would start laying. I like having them around and they make a nice contrast to the red birds, but they've only just recently showed any interest in the nest boxes and still have yet to lay. My Buckeyes have been laying for 3 weeks at least by now. And I'm afraid my Hamburgs won't come on line in time to lay anything before the days get too short. Went out to feed & water this morning at the usual time and NO ONE was interested in coming off the roost until almost 7:00.

I couldn't find a good supply of BPRs locally which is why I went with Eagle Nest Hatchery stock on Oceola. They do well at the county fairs and supply a lot of the winning meat birds, turkeys, and had some of their pullets finish well this year. Near as I can figure, the kids got their chicks last fall so they'd be ready in August. I may stop in the Ohio National this year and see if I can find anyone with some good stock to bulk up what I have.

 

[Arielle]

Seems like penning for 4 weeks with extra feed is the way to finish these birds.

Chris --how wide is four fingers--fingers vary in size. What size eggs are you seeing from this 4 fingered girl?

 

[Marengoite]

Seems like penning for 4 weeks with extra feed is the way to finish these birds.

Chris --how wide is four fingers--fingers vary in size. What size eggs are you seeing from this 4 fingered girl?

Arielle,

He's referring to a method described in The Call of the Hen by Walter Hogan. It should be required reading for anyone wanting to improve the laying ability of their flock. See: http://archive.org/details/callhenscience00hogarich for a variety of formats. This works with any breed because laying physiology is basically the same across chicken breeds. This makes sense because we don't expect meat breeds like the Cornish to lay like Leghorns and Australorps. They don't have the physiology to support it.