Buckeye Breed Thread

[bunnibird55]

Ok all you Buckeye owners - I have some three week old Buckeye chicks - is there any way of guessing a bit more accurately as to the sex of these little babies? I am used to seeing combs on my NH chicks and I now realize - there are no combs to speak of to use to pick out the boys! How about feathering? How about tail feathers? Any ideas?!!!! Thanks!

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

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We are not permitted to talk about that...how are your Buckeyes!

 

[Sparklee]

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I hope Arielle doesn't mind ... but I'm going to expand the the question to undedicated Buckeye breeders and just anyone who owns Buckeyes because I would like to know also.

While BuckeyeDave is happy getting rid of his hens at 2 - 2.5 years, there may be Buckeyes out there that do well past that time regardless of what the Uni of Florida might say. After all, that is only one source. And we don't really get any source to speak of on that table. Is it from studies done on backyard flocks by the University of Florida? And if yes, what were the chickens fed? The basic "feed them as low of quality as possible to get an egg out of them" feed or something better? The list of variables would go on and on. Besides that, what breed was used for this study? I think I can quarantee that it wasn't Buckeyes.

Does anyone have a four or five year old hen? Even a three year old that is still laying? Maybe it's in with a flock and you can't tell by the color of her eggs, but maybe you have watched her comb and wattles coloring or have measured her pelvis to see if she's laying?

 

[knittychickadee]

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I also have some 3 weeks old right now and it's becoming pretty apparent who the boys are- their combs are really pinking up and growing wider.

 

[Sagibaro]

It's just been one of those years....

Somebody tattled on me last August and animal control showed up with a "reduce flock size or else" notice -- and the flock size was half of what I thought it was from my glance at city ordinances

. I also found something else out that was very unexpected: I actually have a network I never knew existed, and when I said "HELP, I need to relocate a large number of birds ASAP!" my friends responded like champions. A lot of birds that were originally going to go to freezer camp actually ended with an extended life-span because of this... but honestly, if I'd gotten over my suburbian squeamish earlier and had the chicken plucker done on it's original schedule, I probably wouldn't have been in that got-too-many-birds mess to begin with. Lesson Learned. From now on I shall have the cart on the correct end of the horse and any extra birds will be small in number, the better able to Not Annoy The Neighbors and also better able to get to table quickly just in case I annoy them anyway

.

The down side (yeah, there was even a down-side to the down-side) was that because of the large number of web-feet that I wanted to save, I had no room for my Buckeye flock at all. But I DID have a friend that I had been trying valiantly to talk into Buckeyes. She had raised some frankenchickens and while the birds did everything they were supposed to, she wasn't quite satisfied with them. She was also very interested in heritage breeds and a self-sustaining flock. So when the Buckeyes needed a new home it was win-win-win -- I got animal control off my rump in record time, the Buckeyes got an excellent home, and I got my friend completely hooked on the breed.

Well, a couple of the webfeet just weren't working out -- they turned out to be drakes, and downright ornery drakes at that -- so now I have some job openings for some hardworking hens. And my friend said, "Since you gave me a starter flock" (The hens were just about to start laying when I had to downsize) "I will give you as many hatching eggs as you want!"

Lead me not into temptation, it manages to find me all right on its own :O. I limited myself to just 6 eggs, and it looks like 5 are going to hatch around Tuesday of next week. I used to think that the tragedy would be if they were all roosters...but now I think it would be worse if they were all hens. Which ones to keep? Wait a minute, I have another friend who wants a couple of hens....okay, that'll work out. I'll either have new dinner companions or I'll have another friend hooked on Buckeyes. It could be worse

.

None of us are going to be breeders in any sense of the word, or get to hang a blue-ribbon by the mantelpiece (though I'd love to). I like hanging around this thread because I love the birds and of the small sampling of chicken breeds that I've tried, I keep coming back to this one. If I can only have two, make 'em Buckeyes.

 

[bunnibird55]

Ok so wider is the same as higher in other breeds? How about it, are the boys a little more aggressive as babies? I have a couple that come running over as soon as I put my hands down into the brooder - by the width of their combs - much bigger than some of the others - do you think those are the boys?

 

[Arielle]

Thank you Sagibaro--you made me laugh, how uplifting to meet another that can overcome PITA (pain in the . . . .) neighbors and see the upside. Thank you.

Sparklee, respectfully Buckeye Dave has a legit point. The data is correct. Perhaps the quantities can be increased the first year by picking super egg laying machine types like Production reds, stars and the like; but they are shining stars that burn out faster. Net production stays the same. God only gave us girls so many eggs, and when they're gone, they're gone. Economics dictate cut off at 2.5 years old. That doesn't mean we can't keep the girls or find another way to feed them to reduce grain costs.
Thanks for the support, and I would like to hear from anyone who keeps an older hen for breeding purposes.

I hope Arielle doesn't mind ... but I'm going to expand the the question to undedicated Buckeye breeders and just anyone who owns Buckeyes because I would like to know also.

While BuckeyeDave is happy getting rid of his hens at 2 - 2.5 years, there may be Buckeyes out there that do well past that time regardless of what the Uni of Florida might say. After all, that is only one source. And we don't really get any source to speak of on that table. Is it from studies done on backyard flocks by the University of Florida? And if yes, what were the chickens fed? The basic "feed them as low of quality as possible to get an egg out of them" feed or something better? The list of variables would go on and on. Besides that, what breed was used for this study? I think I can quarantee that it wasn't Buckeyes.

Does anyone have a four or five year old hen? Even a three year old that is still laying? Maybe it's in with a flock and you can't tell by the color of her eggs, but maybe you have watched her comb and wattles coloring or have measured her pelvis to see if she's laying?​

 

[BuckeyeDave]

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I have some old buckeye hens, 4+ years old, I don't even know if they lay eggs anymore. They've been in my production flock since day one, I figure they have paid for their feed over and over, I just don't have the heart to slaughter the old biddies.

No it doesn't make the best business sense, but I'm just a softie.

 

[Arielle]

Another thought provoking question . . .

I recently read that BUckeyes are slow growing late maturing hens. Could someone expand on this and provide growth rates and age at POL????

 

[cgmccary]

I have some older Buckeye hens. I have ONE 5 year old Buckeye hen, FOUR 4 year olds and EIGHT 3 year old Buckeye hens. Each successive year lays better than the older hens did at that age. My 3 year olds are laying big eggs and they are laying on average about 4 eggs per week; their season will be shorter. The 3 year olds are a broody bunch (all will go broody). The 4 year olds are laying but less per week -- the group of 3 year olds were some of the best layers I've had. They are all big hens too with the largest weighing over standard -- at 1 year old one weighed 7.5 lbs (I initially thought she might be a cockerel that was fooling me because her weight at 16 weeks was more like a male.). I like to breed the older hens that are still laying pretty good because I know they are especially healthy & robust -- should be the most resistant to disease too. My 5 year old is laying right now as well.

Everyone can't do it, but I free range my hens I am not breeding during the day & I find that their feed intake decreases with Spring here. I see them coming in with full crops in the evenings & I see them busy, busy way out in the fields and woods during the day when I am home on the weekends. They come in at night and I count them & lock them up. My dog stays out with everything during the day while I am gone.