Buckeye Breed Thread

[MeanV2]

It could be guessed now with a greater than 90% accuracy by weight & comb redness but for a "no-brainer," I would say 14-16 weeks old.

Thanks Chris!! I was watching them when I let them out last night and just going by redness of comb, size, etc. I was guessing I have 4 cocks. I'd say if that turns out the case I was pretty fortunate.

Dan

 

[Canieldonrad]

Wondering if any of you name your birds. Or if you just refer to them by leg band. I never made it much of a point to name my birds as a kid but I really want to have a couple of Roosters and name one Lothario. Figured with feeding them high protein starter I would jokingly name one Zyzz but I would doubt many, if any, would get the reference.

 

[AinaWGSD]

So far we've named all of our birds. The buckeyes are slightly different, as we are preparing for a move and won't be living on the same property (they're going to a family member's farm). But we did pick the cockerel that we're keeping last night and have dubbed him Pepsi. I don't know that any of the girls will get names though.

 

[ocap]

Wondering if any of you name your birds. Or if you just refer to them by leg band. I never made it much of a point to name my birds as a kid but I really want to have a couple of Roosters and name one Lothario. Figured with feeding them high protein starter I would jokingly name one Zyzz but I would doubt many, if any, would get the reference.

I rarely name mine since they could end up in the crock pot

 

[MeanV2]

I rarely name mine since they could end up in the crock pot

Winner Winner! Chicken Dinner!!

Dan

 

[ocap]

Winner Winner! Chicken Dinner!!

Dan

Dan,
does that mean that the "breeders" are named winner and the culls are named dinner?

John

 

[atief1253]

Hi - we started with buckeyes last year and love them - they are friendly, curious and sweet. Are they prone to health issues or can we be having a streak of bad luck? Last year one died at one week. A few weeks ago, one died at seven months - someone thought she was egg bound. We bought three on April 1 - they are almost 2 months old and one has an overhanging top beak. Not scissor beak - her mouth aligns perfectly, but at the end of both the top and bottom beaks, there is a piece of beak overhanging. Someone said to clip it with dog clippers. Is this safe? Will it hurt them? She eats and drinks fine. I hope these are not too many questions but I really would appreciate your advice. Thanks.

 

[MeanV2]

Dan,
does that mean that the "breeders" are named winner and the culls are named dinner?

John

I am sure to them it does!!

Dan

 

[Canieldonrad]

Heh, I wouldn't name culls. Not unless they had a unique trait to keep as a pet separate from the rest of the flock.

Lothario would ideally be the name of main breeding rooster. Because I mean, come on, who wouldn't want to name their breeder after that famous character from Don Quixote.

 

[AinaWGSD]

What a busy busy weekend we've had! Yesterday we put 3 buckeye cockerels and 10 6 week old broilers in the freezer. We've decided we definitely need to invest in a turkey fryer for scalding, the buckeyes didn't quite fit in our large (6 or 8 qt) stock pot! Their feet stuck out while we scalded the top, then they looked like they were taking a dip in the hot tub when we flipped them over and did their feet. We also practiced caponizing on them before scalding, and I'm glad we decided to start on carcasses. It'll be a while before we're half way decent enough to even consider trying it on a live bird! Of the 8 cockerels we practiced, we only got both testes on one of them.

Then, today we had buckeye eggs in the incubator start hatching! We still have a bunch that haven't hatched yet, but so far we're up to 10 fluffy chicks with one partially zipped and at least 4 more pipped. We have had a few casualties already, two that died after they pipped but before they zipped and one that hatched with intestines outside the abdomen which then got caught/torn on the floor of the incubator. But again, the ones that have hatched have all popped out nice and healthy!