Buckeye Breed Thread

[Pathfinders]

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!

Welcome to the world of Buckeyes! I predict you'll love them.

If you can, I would wait to cull until your birds are at least 16 to 18 weeks. I know that sounds older than most folks would like. Ideally, if you can separate your males and females out into two pens, giving the youngsters time apart, that will let the pullets grow out without being harassed by the cockerels as they start to mature sexually.

And the other thing about Buckeye males is (and Chris will agree I think), in my experience a male who looks one way at 18 weeks, if given more time to develop might look quite different at 24 or even 30 weeks. Some males that have been culled too early go on to do very well indeed. So if you have the space, do by all means hold onto as many birds as you can for as long as you can before doing any culling, to give them adequate time to grow into their frames.

In terms of how to cull, I have yet to find a better set of guides than those created by the ALBC, found here: http://www.albc-usa.org/documents/ALBCchicken_assessment-1.pdf

Scroll through the whole document, heck print it out and take it with you when doing your assessments! I have found it very valuable indeed.

Some other good ALBC docs include: http://www.albc-usa.org/documents/ALBCchicken_assessment-3.pdf

And http://www.albc-usa.org/documents/ALBCchicken_assessment-2.pdf, among others.

 

[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.

 

[uphilljill]

Really great info! certainly makes the process more approachable to know what points to look at first. thx all!

 

[Squirrelgirl88]

We have four Buckeye hens purchased last year from Meyer Hatchery in Ohio. I recently lost my Buckeye Rooster to illness. He was purchased from an individual that said he was from Jeff Lay. Anyway he was beautiful and will be missed greatly.

I have an incubator full of eggs from my little flock and I'm hoping to hatch a new little roo to replace his daddy. I know the Buckeyes are a little slower to mature, but when can you tell male/female with these chicks?

I've also read some negative comments about hatchery bred Buckeyes. Has anyone ordered Buckeyes from Meyer before? I'm pretty happy with the four girls we ordered last year. If the eggs don't hatch well I plan on ordering more from Meyer. Does this make my chickens "less desirable"? I'm not looking to breed to sell chicks, or hatching eggs. We don't show our animals. But being Ohio natives we thought this would be a good breed for us to focus on.

 

[cgmccary]

We have four Buckeye hens purchased last year from Meyer Hatchery in Ohio. I recently lost my Buckeye Rooster to illness. He was purchased from an individual that said he was from Jeff Lay. Anyway he was beautiful and will be missed greatly.

I have an incubator full of eggs from my little flock and I'm hoping to hatch a new little roo to replace his daddy. I know the Buckeyes are a little slower to mature, but when can you tell male/female with these chicks?

I've also read some negative comments about hatchery bred Buckeyes. Has anyone ordered Buckeyes from Meyer before? I'm pretty happy with the four girls we ordered last year. If the eggs don't hatch well I plan on ordering more from Meyer. Does this make my chickens "less desirable"? I'm not looking to breed to sell chicks, or hatching eggs. We don't show our animals. But being Ohio natives we thought this would be a good breed for us to focus on.

I hope I have never said anything negative about Buckeyes from hatcheries, per se. Certainly, I have never meant to imply the same. Actually, the pictures I have seen of Buckeyes from hatcheries, such as Meyer's, have been decent Buckeyes. If your Buckeyes are close to standard weight and type, then it does not matter where you got them from. I do not believe that they probably selectively breed like some of us -- I have mentioned that before. I do not know their breeding methods.

What I have always been curious about is the source of the Meyer Buckeyes-- I do not believe they have ever revealed the original source of their birds, if they know. What may be unique about the Meyer Buckeyes is that they may represent an entirely different strain -- we just don't know. Has anyone got any information on the source of Meyer's Buckeyes?

I am also curious about whether feeding Meyer chicks a high protein starter for the first couple of months will improve their grow rate. If you do that, could you let us know how they turn out on rate of growth and size?

 

[LeBlackbird]

Update! Sorry, it's been a while and I know it's late

 

[Pathfinders]

I know the Buckeyes are a little slower to mature, but when can you tell male/female with these chicks?

I generally find I can start to determine gender at or around 12 weeks or so, sometimes earlier. A good way to try to determine males from females is to look for saddle feathers. Hold a bird with the head facing you, looking down on it so you can see its back. When you look at the feathers just in front of the tail, which are called the saddle feathers, are they pointy, or rounded?

Pointy saddle feathers mean it's a male bird, or cockerel. Rounded saddle feathers mean it's a female bird, or pullet. Same thing with hackle feathers.

As well, hackle and saddle feathers of males will be glossier than females, whose feathers will be more dull and less shiny.

Cockerels generally have thicker shanks, bigger redder combs, and are generally larger and heavier than pullets of the same age.

 

[cgmccary]

I generally find I can start to determine gender at or around 12 weeks or so, sometimes earlier. A good way to try to determine males from females is to look for saddle feathers. Hold a bird with the head facing you, looking down on it so you can see its back. When you look at the feathers just in front of the tail, which are called the saddle feathers, are they pointy, or rounded?

Pointy saddle feathers mean it's a male bird, or cockerel. Rounded saddle feathers mean it's a female bird, or pullet. Same thing with hackle feathers.

As well, hackle and saddle feathers of males will be glossier than females, whose feathers will be more dull and less shiny.

Cockerels generally have thicker shanks, bigger redder combs, and are generally larger and heavier than pullets of the same age.

I agree. I notice the redder combs on the males -- first thing I see. Also, if you weigh them at 8 weeks; generally, the males will weigh a good lb more; however, you will have the occasional small male or large female that will fool you on weight -- if you have one of those, go with your first clues (combs, saddle feathers, etc. as those will be more accurate).

 

[Squirrelgirl88]

My Buckeye chicks were my first ever day old chicks, so I have nothing to compare them to. They did start laying a little later than expected (per the books anyway) but they turned 20 weeks old just as October was coming to Ohio. they started laying consistently at 26 weeks. I fed them Purina Medicated chick feed for the first 6 weeks, then Purina Flock Raiser for the next 14 weeks before starting Purina Layer pellets at 20 weeks. I read that they could not have the layer feed until laying age, so I switched the whole flock to the flock raiser. I also have three red sex link hens that I inherited from a neighbor.

The Buckeyes all lay well. Four hens give me 2-4 eggs per day. They are much larger than the reds, but they are submissive to them if they get pushy. I was not prepared for how noisy they are. I swear as chick they were NEVER quiet. This can be a problem when brooding in your kitchen. They still "talk" constantly.

My incubator eggs are on day 12. I hope at least a couple hatch and at least one little roo. But I was very happy with Meyer's chicks last year and have no fears about ordering from them again. As far as my little flock meeting the breed standard, I only know they are healthy, beautiful, happy little free range hens. And I think that in itself would make Nettie Metcalf happy.

Thank you for the advice on "sexing" any chicks that hatch. If for some odd reason I wind up with all girls I'll be looking for another rooster I guess. We "rescued" the last one from the freezer. I'm sure another single guy looking for a flock will come along.

 

[Canieldonrad]

It has been a while since the show, and I can't really recall if any others had birds there. But I'm wondering if anyone else had one of these.






This plaque is one of the many reasons I have taken interest in getting back into Buckeyes.