CSU - Chicken State University- Large Fowl SOP

[normanack]

I have a hatchery BO to post, just need to get the pictures together.

 

[aveca]

There is a lot of pictures in the Orp threads, that is why I'm surprised there isn't that much here..The Old English game bantams are probably the breed closest to perfect. They are also the biggest classes in most shows.

w.

i was hoping we would be treated to a nice variety of orps to learn from..

my buffs are vickies project babies..if she isnt cool with that hen..then i will skip it..total respect..she was good enough to let me have these.and i enjoy every minute of them..i will have a lot of questions down the road..willing to learn for sure..i have a couple of her project babies hatching right now...

 

[thedragonlady]

i was hoping we would be treated to a nice variety of orps to learn from..

my buffs are vickies project babies..if she isnt cool with that hen..then i will skip it..total respect..she was good enough to let me have these.and i enjoy every minute of them..i will have a lot of questions down the road..willing to learn for sure..i have a couple of her project babies hatching right now...

And Granny hen is waiting for photos !

I just put my summer project pen together. ....!/2 English K,who is US type, on 100% English girls. The balance of type is the thing.

Monty's little bro, Max's , chicks are looking good at 4 weeks. These are the result of breeding very round, short backed , Max, to US type girls. Got to keep the keel and the color !

 

[Pozees]

Hatchery bird photos with critiques would be an excellent comparison. This is CSU - we need to see the good, the bad, and the ugly. Bring on the orps!

Hear, hear! Along with that, some advice from Vicki about how to improve the hatchery flocks would be fantastic!

 

[aveca]

And Granny hen is waiting for photos !

I just put my summer project pen together. ....!/2 English K,who is US type, on 100% English girls. The balance of type is the thing.

Monty's little bro, Max's , chicks are looking good at 4 weeks. These are the result of breeding very round, short backed , Max, to US type girls. Got to keep the keel and the color !

wont be long nanna

 

[cluck-cluck]

well Vicki, it's a bit hard to post in your company.... my poor hatchery birds look like a different species next to your beautiful birds.

Hatchery bird photos with critiques would be an excellent comparison.  This is CSU - we need to see the good, the bad, and the ugly.  Bring on the orps!

Exactly what I wanted to say. They will show the general state of orps, and with comparison to Dragonlady's refined birds we can understand the differences better, so please do post! If we ever get to Crevecoeurs, I promise to post my poor quality but beloved pair, LOL

 

[pysankigirl]

Exactly what I wanted to say. They will show the general state of orps, and with comparison to Dragonlady's refined birds we can understand the differences better, so please do post! If we ever get to Crevecoeurs, I promise to post my poor quality but beloved pair, LOL

Me too, with any breed I actually have....

I have been looking at the tails in my birds and all my girls' tails now look pinched to me. but the 3 boys look okay. I am getting educated!

(I am assuming that a non-pinched tail is a mark of any decently bred bird of any breed? are there other things that transcend breed?)

 

[maryhysong]

All right, here are some hatchery buffs for you. I don't know for sure which hatchery they came from, don't think I ever asked....

Here is Meaner. while his hackles are pretty, the rest of him is too light and his underfluff is white. Also brown speckling and spots in the tall. He was a very tall boy and not that wide. Extremely human aggressive, he swam with dumplings.










I had four young pullets at point of lay last fall and lost the two bigger and prettier girls in a dog attack. The two that survived were smaller and lighter colored. This first hen was injured across her back, right in front of her tail. Her feathers still haven't really grown back well. These pics were taken around Jan/Feb. She is laying now and lays a nice but light colored egg. Her color is not very even and she could use some size, although she is larger than the other girl.





I'm not sure I have pics of the other girl; she was very light colored, with white underfluff and pretty small. She got bit in the head, a tooth went straight in at the back of her comb. Thought she would die, and was torn for days about putting her down, any way long story short she survived, but is blind in one eye. She even lays a nice large egg, which started out light tan and then turned nearly white. The other chickens had started bothering her so I sent her to a pet home where I know she will be loved and spoiled.

I do have two other pullets from a different source, but no recent pics of them. I also took a chance and bred that rooster to the two older pullets, just to see what I would get. I don't have any pics of them yet tho. Will try and get some up in a day or so.

 

[cluck-cluck]

All right, here are some hatchery buffs for you. I don't know for sure which hatchery they came from, don't think I ever asked....

Here is Meaner. while his hackles are pretty, the rest of him is too light and his underfluff is white. Also brown speckling and spots in the tall. He was a very tall boy and not that wide. Extremely human aggressive, he swam with dumplings.

That took me a moment to understand,

Thank you, this makes an interesting comparison!

 

[thedragonlady]

All right, here are some hatchery buffs for you. I don't know for sure which hatchery they came from, don't think I ever asked....

Here is Meaner. while his hackles are pretty, the rest of him is too light and his underfluff is white. Also brown speckling and spots in the tall. He was a very tall boy and not that wide. Extremely human aggressive, he swam with dumplings.










I had four young pullets at point of lay last fall and lost the two bigger and prettier girls in a dog attack. The two that survived were smaller and lighter colored. This first hen was injured across her back, right in front of her tail. Her feathers still haven't really grown back well. These pics were taken around Jan/Feb. She is laying now and lays a nice but light colored egg. Her color is not very even and she could use some size, although she is larger than the other girl.





I'm not sure I have pics of the other girl; she was very light colored, with white underfluff and pretty small. She got bit in the head, a tooth went straight in at the back of her comb. Thought she would die, and was torn for days about putting her down, any way long story short she survived, but is blind in one eye. She even lays a nice large egg, which started out light tan and then turned nearly white. The other chickens had started bothering her so I sent her to a pet home where I know she will be loved and spoiled.

I do have two other pullets from a different source, but no recent pics of them. I also took a chance and bred that rooster to the two older pullets, just to see what I would get. I don't have any pics of them yet tho. Will try and get some up in a day or so.

From what I've seen of hatchery Buffs in S.C. from 3 different hatcheries, I'd say you lucked out in getting better type than I've seen. You can see the Leghorn influence in the Cock bird in his narrow body and long comb blade. That's where the aggression came from too. A good Buff Cock is a peaceful soul most often. I certainly won't tolerate a mean one.

The hen shows a cutaway breast and a proper colored hackle , but her breast and back feathering are too light, as you know. She may also have a side sprig on the right side of her comb. I'm not seeing the usual wheaten markings on her shoulders and back though. That's a good thing.

The simplest way to improve hens like this is to get 2 really good, closely related cockerels to breed to them. 2 cockerels from the same line will give you lots of genetic diversity to line breed their offspring. This is what I am helping my friend do with her flock, and she started with more problems than your birds show. Her hens were tiny, blotchy colored with wheaten markings, narrow and flighty.

We used a 50% English K on her hatchery Buff hens. The results were amazing. Much bigger, more evenly colored pullets. The wheaten markings were almost gone. I helped her select the first generation to keep. All the Hatchery hens, and their cockerels then went into the pot.

This year we have used the first K's 50% English half brother, by the same sire, back on those pullets she kept. The chicks look a lot more promising. They have deeper keels that fill your hand , and much wider bodies, with good unpinched tails. The juveniles look to be a much improved color too, with ,as of now, no sign of wheaten markings.They will be bred to their grandsire, the first K that was used , this fall. We will cull again, and continue to rotate cock birds.

My friend is interested in having a truly dual purpose breed. She sells eggs and meat. She has been amazed at the fact that the F1 birds laying was improved too. I just lucked up there, having started with heavy laying lines. My English hens tend to want to go broody too often, but crossed on my US birds, the 50% English lay steadily for 10-11 months, starting at 5 months old. We're watching out for any decrease in egg laying in future generations . I certainly like birds with a work ethic , and I want them pretty !