Buckeye Breed Thread

[vmdanielsen]

So how many people out there are using electric poultry netting? Larry was asking about it. I use it extensively.

I love my electric poultry netting. It is easy to move when birds need fresh pasture. ere in the northeast I do put up poles for guard wires should we get a lot of snow that can weigh the fence down. I put up the actual guard wires only if the fence sags. When I first got it there was a fox running around it and testing it. We know the fox is around, but he no longer tests the fence. Great stuff!!! It is worth the investment.

 

[seeda]

I'm new and not sure if this is where I I type the question. I am considering getting some Buckeyes because I would like a heritage breed and there is a farm that has Buckeyes nearby which would mean I didn't have to deal with shipping. I live in Northeast Ohio so they climate seems appropriate. I am interested in a meat and laying bird. I have read they are friendly which also interests me. I live in the city and have heard they are a little chattier but would be butchering any roosters as soon as they start to become loud. I used to help my uncle on his chicken farm but he had game birds so I don't know much about other breeds. The breed description mentions these birds do well as a free range bird. Is that because they are a heritage breed or because they really need a lot of room. My coop and run area is not huge. Should I go with a different breed and ship birds and eggs or is it possible to make this breeds work? Opinions please. Sorry if this is posted in the wrong place

 

[larry529]

who has buckeyes in NE Ohio.. Do you have a price and website?

 

[jenjscott]

The breed description mentions these birds do well as a free range bird. Is that because they are a heritage breed or because they really need a lot of room. My coop and run area is not huge. Should I go with a different breed and ship birds and eggs or is it possible to make this breeds work? Opinions please. Sorry if this is posted in the wrong place

My Buckeyes do fine in a pen without free range. As with any large fowl, just make sure you don't overcrowd them.

 

[Marengoite]

I'm new and not sure if this is where I I type the question. I am considering getting some Buckeyes because I would like a heritage breed and there is a farm that has Buckeyes nearby which would mean I didn't have to deal with shipping. I live in Northeast Ohio so they climate seems appropriate. I am interested in a meat and laying bird. I have read they are friendly which also interests me. I live in the city and have heard they are a little chattier but would be butchering any roosters as soon as they start to become loud. I used to help my uncle on his chicken farm but he had game birds so I don't know much about other breeds. The breed description mentions these birds do well as a free range bird. Is that because they are a heritage breed or because they really need a lot of room. My coop and run area is not huge. Should I go with a different breed and ship birds and eggs or is it possible to make this breeds work? Opinions please. Sorry if this is posted in the wrong place

Hi, seeda, and welcome to the wonderful world of Buckeyes.

First off, I would agree with what Jenn said. They will do fine penned up. Last year I let the youngsters range most of the day, but once they got some size, around 12 weeks, I penned all my cockerels just to keep track of them and so they wouldn't tear up the garden so bad. The pullets seemed to appreciate it. They handled pen life quite well and seemed pretty content as long as I'd toss lots of grass in for them to scratch through when I mowed or weeds from the garden.

The main thing about Buckeyes is that because they are dual purpose birds, they are not going to be as heavy-breasted as the Cornish cross and they aren't going to be laying machines like the hybrids (Golden buff, Golden comet, Amberlink, Red Sexlink, etc.) or even some of the production Rhode Island Reds and Barred Rocks. However, for home use, a small pen should give you more than enough eggs to keep a family going. My hens stopped laying when the weather turned really cold and we still haven't run out of eggs after three weeks. I expect they'll ramp up production again in a couple weeks when the weather warms up a bit.

But the whole point of that is to make sure you have solid expectations going in. Buckeyes are very calm, easygoing birds so they will do well in the pen but will also be confident on range. That may be due to the gamefowl in their background. But if you're raising them for meat, expect to get longer, narrower breasts and a lot of dark thigh and leg meat. The other thing that makes Buckeyes superior birds is that they will give you some of the richest, yellowest chicken stock you could ask for, especially if they are ranging. My Buckeyes made excellent companions to noodles, dumplings, and shredded sandwiches. Very flavorful and lots of texture.

I think you will be very pleased with them especially if you're familiar with games. The cockerels have a "gamey" look to them. They aren't out looking for a fight, but when challenged, they don't back down. And they don't often lose. I have some bantam Silver Spangled Hamburgs and they are as game as any bantams. They'll underestimate my Buckeye roo because he's so calm and easy going and try to boss him around. Mistake. He'll tolerate some foolishness, but once the hackles go up, the gloves come off and the Hamburgs find out why it's a good idea not to mess with Buckeyes. They aren't the killers that gamefowl are, but they are muscular boys and aren't easy to push around. Give them a shot, just don't expect the high feed conversion rate of the specialists in either meat or egg production (Buckeyes are pigs with feathers and will eat you into the poorhouse if you feed them only from the mill), and you'll be fine.

 

[Marengoite]

who has buckeyes in NE Ohio.. Do you have a price and website?

I'm south-southeast of you, Larry. If I get my DIY incubator up and running next month, I might have some chicks coming on around March or April. This is my first year at hatching out and I only have two hens I want to breed, so check back with me about three weeks and I'll let you know where I am with the project. I want to do a test hatch of some Hamburg chicks first to make sure it's in good working order, and then I'll see what I can do to cycle some Buckeye chicks through.

 

[Pathfinders]

who has buckeyes in NE Ohio.. Do you have a price and website?

There's a great list of breeders on the newly redesigned American Buckeye Poultry Club website here:
http://www.americanbuckeyepoultryclub.com/Breeders.html

I've been working on the website over the past week or so, anyone who hasn't seen it since I published it yesterday might want to go check it out! Still a few little bugs and tweaks I need to make, but it's coming right along.

 

[Fentress]

I use my Buckeye hens, and I also use game hens. With the Buckeye hens, I have to pen up the hen and chicks. The game hens hatch theirs whereever they made their nest (barn, blackberry patch, tractor pit) & they raise them outside (i.e. I don't have to pen them). This year, I have a couple of Buckeye X Game pullets. I want to try them as broodies hoping they will be larger, able to cover more eggs and chicks but will have the game instinct.

I prefer the game hen since the chicks can free range. The games seem to have the smarts and are fiercely protective -- I highly recommend them as broodies.

Which game breed do you use? Does it matter? I am thinking about Kraienkoppes because they don't have the same aggressive reputation that an Old English Game has. However, I also want a broody that can protect the chicks from the rest of the flock soon after hatch and I am not sure if a Heritage breed will do that or maybe there are some Heritage breeds that won't be aggressive to the chicks? I should be more patient, my first flock is 9.5 months old, but I don't want to waste several years trying to find the right formula for broodies.

thanks in advance, Mark

 

[AinaWGSD]

More chick pics! I felt like we needed a nice spring-y picture for the desktop on the computer at work, so I set up a little photo shoot with some of the chicks last night.


The one on the front right was the first to hatch. Looking at this picture, it seems his legs really are thicker than some of the other chicks. We're actually really hoping that this one is a cockerel. He sure stands like one!


The little booger in the back bit me 4 times while I was handling them during the photo shoot! Twice before I even got him out of the brooder, even jumped up to nip my fingers.


But then he made himself quite comfortable in my hand and fell right to sleep.

 

[cgmccary]

Which game breed do you use? Does it matter? I am thinking about Kraienkoppes because they don't have the same aggressive reputation that an Old English Game has. However, I also want a broody that can protect the chicks from the rest of the flock soon after hatch and I am not sure if a Heritage breed will do that or maybe there are some Heritage breeds that won't be aggressive to the chicks? I should be more patient, my first flock is 9.5 months old, but I don't want to waste several years trying to find the right formula for broodies.

thanks in advance, Mark

When I speak of Game hens, I am using Old English Game. Any of the game breed hens would probably suffice. I have used and currently have both Bantam & Std OEG hens. My Bantam OEG hen can cover only about 4 Buckeye eggs. I also have some Game X Buckeye pullets I plan to try for broodies this season. My Game hens have hatched them up on a shelves in the barn, under the front porch of the house, in the blackberry patch, beside the house under a bush, under the tractor rail and when moved to pens until hatching. I have used them to hatch & rear Buckeye chicks & Guinea keets. I have had a Buckeye hen care for as many as 24 chicks but don't know how many would be too many.

Buckeye hens make good broodies too, but they do not attack like a game hen so I cannot let them roam free range with their chicks. A more dominant hen will sometimes pick on the broody Buckeye hen. The Game hens can be problematic in that they are very aggressive with the Buckeye hens that are free ranging. The free ranging Buckeye hens do not /would not harm the chicks, but the Game hens treat them as threats nonetheless & do things like run hens off feeders so the chicks can eat exclusively. I wouldn't pen up a game hen and chicks with other hens in any kind of close quarters as she will attack them. {the other thing is that I like to feed Buckeye chicks a higher protein starter so I put that in the range feeders outside when the chicks are running loose. Inside the coops, I use just a 19% feeder (non-layer) when chicks are about so if they eat any of it (and they do), then it does not contain the higher %s of Ca that would harm young birds. All these matters have to be thought out. Free ranging chicks in the Springtime are eating a portion of feed and the rest they are eating insects, snails, lizards, grass, seeds, etc. (I've seen the game hens catch lizards and tear them up for the chicks.)

I will also tell you that I have some friends about 25 miles from me who can't let their game hens out with chicks because they still lose chicks to cats, hawks and dogs -- I have not had this problem but I also now have an excellent dog outside who keeps all manner of predators off my place. My Game hen will run off my cat when she is out (& the buckeye hens do that too) and also, when I have fostered puppies until they have homes (which happens sometimes), she has attacked them (and they leave the chicks alone thereafter). In other words, I have not lost a chick out free ranging in the rural area where I live now. When I lived in the city, I lost some chicks to a oppossum once but I witnessed the game hen attacking the opposum in the dark when I arrived (she just couldn't see it very well). Of course, I dispatched the opposum but not in time to save the chicks.

All creatures on my place flee from my Toulouse geese who usually attack as a pack (except my donkey -- she does not flee from anything & the geese give her a wide berth). One time though, I heard a goose honking in obvious distress. I ran outside and found my Game hen with chicks on the goose's head pecking her, attacking her -- I assume the goose had tried her usual bully tactics and did not have any back-up on that occasion (the other geese were not with her but in another part of the yard). Normally, the game hen steers the chicks clear of the geese but this goose had the game hen cornered with newly hatched biddies -- so nowhere to run . . . and new chicks aren't as fast, she attacked the goose. I had to help the goose get away as they were in the tractor pit.

Chris