Euskal Oiloa ( Basque Thread)

[Maggiesdad]

Awesome Meg!

Congratulations!

Still knocking around here... the garden is coming on strong, I put up 30 1/2pints of cherry preserves, and went to the beach with the family.
Plus hatched 11 of my first F2 EOs this week, and set 45 more tonite.

Be back with pics after I build the next coop...

 

[Meg2000000]

My chicks came from ronott1 on BYC. He's so awesome!

Thanks MaggiesDad! Can't wait to see pics of the coop and eventually the little chicks!

 

[ronott1]

My chicks came from ronott1 on BYC. He's so awesome!

Thanks MaggiesDad! Can't wait to see pics of the coop and eventually the little chicks!

I am working on getting the EO Basque established in California. Megan is going to breed and hatch hers. Papa Brooder has both Skyline and Green Fire Farms EO Basque, so the plan is to share with him next year to keep genetic diversity going. I will be hatching and selling chicks and eggs next hatching season.

Once Chicken keepers around here see how well they do, there should be a lot of interest in them. Megan's have already taken to her. They are the best!

Ron

 

[buckabucka]

I only have a handful of young Basque and I admit I have not read through this whole thread, so I hope I am not repeating others' questions.
I have 4 roosters and will be selecting 2, as long as they get along okay. I have read briefly about trying to establish a standard, so I had 2 roosters in mind that fit the description best. But a third rooster, I find very beautiful (does not fit the standard feather pattern).

My question: Is the Basque a landrace chicken? Is there an advantage to working toward a standard? I did not even know what a "landrace" chicken was, but came up with this from GreenFire Farms on my google search: http://greenfirefarms.com/2011/08/playing-the-landrace-card/
After reading it, I'm not sure what to think.

Should I just pick the roosters I find attractive, or will I be undermining some important project with this breed? Not that I plan on selling these or anything, so it probably doesn't matter, but I am wondering what people have as a future vision for these birds. Sorry if you guys already discussed this at length!

 

[Maggiesdad]

I've only kept chickens since last fall, so I'm pretty green. I was drawn to the Basques primarily because of the work Skyline and Skeffling had put out on the net to get the word out about what a great chicken this is. One of the poultry books i picked up said something to the effect of "there will always be a 'next' greatest chicken breed that's just been discovered".



For me, the Basque Chicken is aptly described as a landrace. There is a Spanish SOP, but they are not recognized here. It matters not to the chickens or to me if they are "recognized' by some association. This chicken stands on it's own two feet for it's production characteristics, and I reckon word of mouth will take care of the rest. I like the fact that just a few short years ago, this bird was doing it's job rustic farm style, not bred for feathers and color or washed and fluffed for some poultry show. These are the genes that have caught my attention, and fit my needs, and that's what I will be working to preserve. My stewardship, if you will.

Glen

 

[1muttsfan]

When a breed is first being established and there is a small population, it is best to select individuals based on important traits like size, good physique, temperament, egg laying, and carcass quality. that means that some individuals may not strictly follow the standard of beauty, in particular things like feather pattern and leg color. To qualify for admission to the APA there will need to be a standard developed and show birds will need to exhibit the visual aspects of that standard to do well in the show world. However there are many of us who keep chickens for other reasons, and want the best individuals for production, personality and beauty. If you have a rooster that is sturdy, a good size, temperamentally sound, with good feathering, then you should keep him if you like.

 

[ronott1]

When a breed is first being established and there is a small population, it is best to select individuals based on important traits like size, good physique, temperament, egg laying, and carcass quality. that means that some individuals may not strictly follow the standard of beauty, in particular things like feather pattern and leg color. To qualify for admission to the APA there will need to be a standard developed and show birds will need to exhibit the visual aspects of that standard to do well in the show world. However there are many of us who keep chickens for other reasons, and want the best individuals for production, personality and beauty. If you have a rooster that is sturdy, a good size, temperamentally sound, with good feathering, then you should keep him if you like.

I am going to give you a thumbs up for this post. We will be able to see this rating soon.

The Roo I am keeping is the friendliest little thing. Luckily he does have yellow feet, a good pattern and is the biggest at 8 weeks. Freindliness is more important to me than the way they look and I picked him to keep before I noticed how he looked.

Pick what you like and like was said previously here and on other Heritage threads, you need to build the house before you paint it. That means you need to build size, shape, personality, egg laying, meat production(if dual purpose) and such.

We do not want to lose the behavior aspects of this breed to SQness(which has not been set yet).

Ron

 

[ronott1]

I've only kept chickens since last fall, so I'm pretty green. I was drawn to the Basques primarily because of the work Skyline and Skeffling had put out on the net to get the word out about what a great chicken this is. One of the poultry books i picked up said something to the effect of "there will always be a 'next' greatest chicken breed that's just been discovered".



For me, the Basque Chicken is aptly described as a landrace. There is a Spanish SOP, but they are not recognized here. It matters not to the chickens or to me if they are "recognized' by some association. This chicken stands on it's own two feet for it's production characteristics, and I reckon word of mouth will take care of the rest. I like the fact that just a few short years ago, this bird was doing it's job rustic farm style, not bred for feathers and color or washed and fluffed for some poultry show. These are the genes that have caught my attention, and fit my needs, and that's what I will be working to preserve. My stewardship, if you will.

Glen

Hi Glen,

Yesterday I was helping someone find local Breeder chickens and I found a person selling Bresse chickens for $1200.00 for a breeding trio. $199.00 per day old chick and coming soon, hatching eggs for $500.00 per dozen. The French won't let anyone use their name, so these were called:
Northern California Poulet Bleu

I am sure they are great chickens. Next year they will be a quarter of the cost that they are now. Green Fire is selling them for more than this now, so the cost will always go down. When they are at a reasonable price, I will get some of these to see if the meat is really that good.

Ron

 

[Maggiesdad]

Hi Glen,

Yesterday I was helping someone find local Breeder chickens and I found a person selling Bresse chickens for $1200.00 for a breeding trio. $199.00 per day old chick and coming soon, hatching eggs for $500.00 per dozen. The French won't let anyone use their name, so these were called:
Northern California Poulet Bleu

I am sure they are great chickens. Next year they will be a quarter of the cost that they are now. Green Fire is selling them for more than this now, so the cost will always go down. When they are at a reasonable price, I will get some of these to see if the meat is really that good.

Ron

Well there you go!

Another reason my hat's off to James at Skyline for getting the birds out to so many people for such a reasonable price.

Kudos and attaboys all around!

 

[Meg2000000]

I am VERY new to chickens (as in, I've had my little Barnevelder chicks for 3 or 4 weeks and just added the Basque's on Monday!) My 8 week old Basques are AMAZING! As a first time chicken owner I was excited and really scared of them when they came home! All I could imagine is that if I touched them they would freak out and bite me and I'd never go near them again. I've now had them for 3 days and they are the friendliest animals. It only took 1 day to know I was in love with these guys! I was shocked! The kids I nanny for are 3, 8 and 12 and have never been near chickens. They go in the coop with the Basque's and pet them no problem! They are friendly with my dogs too which is a HUGE bonus! I originally wanted these guys because they are from the Basque region in Spain and my long-time boyfriend is from Spain. Now that I have them and know what awesome animals they are, I am going to promote them as much as I can. I hope to have fertile eggs in September and do some hatching of my own! This breed will not be left behind due to "the next greatest thing" because in reality, they are the greatest! I would love to mix in some GreenFire stock as well to my little flock eventually but will look into that later (unless I can get a pullet or two now for a reasonable price)!