Buckeye Breed Thread

[Pathfinders]

Mrs. Metcalf's buckeyes, they were all descendants to hers, aren't they....



I guess no need to post pics now.

Well, some are, some aren't. Those that add in other breeds can't claim their birds come from Nettie. And goodness, who knows what was added to the breed in the 110+ years since Mrs. Metcalf created them?

So sorry we won't be seeing your photos of your unfading birds. I was quite looking forward to it.

 

[cgmccary]

Mrs. Metcalf's buckeyes, they were all descendants to hers, aren't they.......it's just a shame that some breed them so light in color.


Well thank you Mr McCary for illustrating my point clearly. I guess no need to post pics now. It is up to the breeder whether they breed birds that are light, dark, have the undercolor or not. And it seems if you don't like the outcome of such breeding or to CYA, you can always just blame the sun, the person you got the birds from 5 years ago, so on and so forth. Or you can take ownership of what you produce and be happy with the outcome. Any bird that fades quickly whether it be the sun or not, does not reproduce here. That's part of my overall plan. Each person has their own plan. But I won't give my birds excuses or my breeding program excuses. They breed, lay eggs only, or they get the ax. Mine is simple.

When I see "DarkRedBird," I think of Rhode Island Red because the color of a RIR is "lustrous, rich dark red" per the SOP. Do you breed RIRs too? Of course, the Buckeye color is not a "dark red" but a "rich mahogany bay." There is a difference between the color of the two breeds.

 

[Metella]

Why no need for pics now ?

I would like to see the variations. You want use newbies to learn - but you are not going to share what you consider to be the best ? So then how can I compare ?

Please share your pics.

 

[DarkRedBird]

This is an excerpt from Poultry Success October 1917, History of the Buckeyes By Nettie Metcalf herself.

"Many names for my new breed suggested themselves, and year after year they bred truer to the type I had in mind, which was a modified Cornish shape, with the very darkest of red plumage, hens containing some black not being objectionable to me so long as the males kept that dark red shade I admired."

It starts on page 8 if anyone would like to educate themselves on the actual writings of the originator and the standards I set for my flock. All of which still happens to fit into the SOP today.
http://books.google.com/books?id=cc...nepage&q=Poultry Success October 1917&f=false

Whatever anyone thinks of when they see Dark Red Bird, I cannot control. I got my name from the ORIGINATOR herself. There are many many more instances she called them DARK RED if you put a little time in to researching the history of the breed. BUT some people like to make up their own history. And I also have stated before that anyone with a little effort and a heavy ax can breed them dark and they can have all the heart girth their little heart desires AT THE SAME TIME.

 

[DarkRedBird]

Why no need for pics now ?

I would like to see the variations. You want use newbies to learn - but you are not going to share what you consider to be the best ? So then how can I compare ?

Please share your pics.

I never said any bird was better. I only stated that the color does matter. It's about the table and the yard. There are plenty of pics of dark birds on here. I do not have perfect birds. I am just sick of people stating that you can't breed color and type at the same time or that color does not matter alltogether. You can look at the links on my signature and you will find some great illustrations of both good and bad color and good and bad type. And for that matter, type is not only about heart girth. Snake heads are not good type. They should resemble the cornish more than a snake.

 

[Canieldonrad]

This is exactly why I stopped coming to Backyard Chickens, people want nothing but to create conflict.


Breed your birds, if you don't agree with another breeder then mind your own business and don't use their birds for your matings. Don't come here trying to stir up a swarm of hornets. No one benefits. Go beat your keyboard against someone else on another website(or preferably don't do it to anyone, anywhere). If you can't promote the fancy and all you can do is bash someone you don't belong in the show community. I'm sick and tired of this, when I grew up in the show community it was about fellowship of breeders who enjoyed birds. This is nothing like the show community I grew up with 20 years ago. This is toxic, this is why show poultry is dying, if you ignore the fact that people are turned off by this you are ignorant.

 

[Metella]

Your two links were not helpful - they were just club heavy info. I don't want to do heavy research - I just want to learn as life goes along.

So I guess I will enjoy looking at some birds with various shades of red and come up with my own definitions of red. ha ha ha ha ha

I don't know if it was your intention DarkRedBird, but it seems you took a stiff and narrow interpretation of me asking to see pictures of what you consider birds with the best color. I am not going to show - but I am going to buy .... but I certainly will not be buying from you next spring. You got stiff and borderline nasty fast .... and all I have is a fuzzy chick, just one, starting to color in. A hatchery bird whose spunky spirit caught my fancy and caused me to join this thread to learn more - but with no interest in showing or breeding.

I really love pictures and real stories .... so I hope to see pictures posted soon - I can't get enough of the real anecdotes.

 

[DarkRedBird]

Metella, I am sorry if you took offense to my post, that is not my intention. I am straight forward and don't beat around the bush. I don't sell birds. I breed them, put them in the layer pen, or I eat them.

Here is the link to pics. It is a club site, but this one is all about pics and understanding the whole SOP. http://www.americanbuckeyeclub.blogspot.com/p/understanding-sop.html

 

[NYREDS]

When I see "DarkRedBird," I think of Rhode Island Red because the color of a RIR is "lustrous, rich dark red" per the SOP. Do you breed RIRs too? Of course, the Buckeye color is not a "dark red" but a "rich mahogany bay." There is a difference between the color of the two breeds.

There's a difference in the descriptive terms used in the Standard to describe the two breeds but the actual colour of the two differs little.

 

[PA Farmer24]

Laura thank you for posting what you have written for the PP. I find some of what you are saying to be true regarding the sun bleaching. As we all know that the UV does break down items over time regardless if its feathers or some other component. But, what really gets to me is and please don’t take this as a personal attack, just my opinion, is the reference to the SOP of the past. That to me is an in-direct poke at the ABC for trying to recreate what Nettie had envisioned. While I understand that standards do change over the years and that when revisions are issued by governing body that not all areas (in this case breeds) change. Some may and some may not. Some may change in big ways and others may change slightly. Some might change in just clearing up wording to make it easier to understand while in most cases this does cause problems in itself. I do believe that the SOP from the beginning has not changed so drastically with the Buckeye that the content regarding slate undertone has been revised. It might have been the wording more so than what was required.


As for birds that are lighter in color from one line/strain with little to no slate and the outer color being on the light side well that would make the bird a DQ for meeting the SOP or a bird who would have more redder/ deep mahogany color with no slate undertone that too would be a DQ for meeting the SOP . A bird having deep mahogany color and slate undertone would be meeting the SOP right on the money. But have said that the first two could still meet the SOP as the word “should” is used and as a non-mandatory requirement. That is the interpretation that would be coming out by the judge. A judge not fully understanding how word usage is needed is not doing his/hers job correctly. Now we get to the subject of these birds with different coloring and then bring in the sun. A bird who is lighter tells me that his genetic make-up was always on the light side and would fade faster than any other. A bird that is rich in color and has good undertone color would keep his/her color longer as the undertone color helps in the color appearance and help it look darker longer.


As for the sexing of young birds I am not real familiar with the technique that you described for the feather patterning. But I do know about the comb and shank and agree with you on that. As for trying spices to help with color, I’m with you on that as well. Don’t know and not really sure I would want to try it on my flock.

Here is a picture of my Rooster. I believe that he is a fine specimen of the breed and meets the SOP. Though he is not perfect, I feel he’s perfect for me.