Hello from Ohio

welcome-byc.gif
from Highland County Ohio!!!
 
We show in Morrow County. This is our first year for chickens, but we've been showing turkeys for the last three, so we know out ins and outs of the poultry barn. I just posted this in the Buckeye thread about showing heritage fowl this year for meat chickens: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/271644/buckeye-breed-thread/3990#post_8501709

What questions do you have?

First of all, do our hens need to be laying in order to have them in the breeding poultry class? They say that we must have them 90 days before fair and on that day they will be doing wing banding, ours will be about 5 days old... is this ok for them?

The fancy poultry class also requires that we have them 90 days before fair, and again our chicks will be 5 days old, but they are coming from Myers and I am not sure if they will stand up to private breeding stock, nor do I know if they will grow out enough in this amount of time to be showable... I am working on getting some chicks now, in the next week, from a private breeder if they prove to be better breeding stock, I found her on craigslist... but will they even be old enough to show as a fancy breed by the 2nd week of August? (Hartford Fair, Licking County)

Thanks for your time, I don't know if you have any answers, but I do appreciate the advice you or anyone else has!

PS I am getting buckeye chicks in June and I can't wait! I hope to develop a line to use as a dual purpose for our family! Let me know how you do @ the fair!
 
Hi there! I'm originally from Crawford County, but now I live in Indiana. Small world! Welcome to BYC!!!

I also have an order in at Meyer. We're going to visit family that weekend and then pick them up on our way home. (At least that was the plan until I saw that gas is $3.99 a gallon! We'll see.)
 
You show at the Hartford Fair? You're practically in my back yard, neighbor. We drive past there on our way to church in Johnstown. A lot of kids in the youth group show 4H there. Most of the folks I know in Licking Co. show pigs, goats, and sheep.

Morrow Co. started a new class this year for Heritage broilers. They give them earlier hatch dates than the Cornish cross. I'm going to try Buckeyes this year since they're billed as dual purpose and should do OK if I pour the feed to them.

I was going to try and show them in laying hens too, but they mature so slowly that I don't think they'll be productive by Labor Day (that's the week our fair is). I ordered some Golden comets from the Animal Station in Centerburg. You might give them a call at (740) 625-5147 or text them at (740) 398-0031 if you want something that will mature faster than Buckeyes. I know TSC is having chick days this week and you should be able to pick up some chicks there if you want RIRs or Leghorns. Most of them get their chicks from Mt. Healthy, from what I can tell, so if you just want a half dozen birds that might be the way to go. If you wait much later, you probably won't have any girls laying by fair time.

The rules for pullets is that they have to be under a year at the time of the fair. Some fairs have an "after Jan. 1" hatch date, but I think most of them have gone with the one year rule. That means if I were wanting to show pullets or large fowl fancy's, I'd have been better off getting a fall hatch. Since this is our first year, I'll chalk that up to learning curve and see how it goes.

I also ordered a dozen Silver Spangled Hamburgs from Meyer, but won't be able to pick them up until April. Not sure if they'll be ready for fancy by fair time, but I figured since they're small, fast growing birds anyway, I might have a chance. And if they're not, I'll just cull down to my two best roosters and a pair or three of hens and see what I can do with a fall hatch and get ready for next year. I'm hoping for a broody Buckeye hen or two since I don't have an incubator and Hamburgs are non-setters.

I don't think you'll be able to have anything to show in the 90 day timeframe if your chicks will be under a week old then. That puts them at under 14 weeks at fair time and that's just too young for both laying hens and fancy poultry. I don't think even the Golden comets would be laying in that short of time. You might want to ask around and see if there's anyone willing to sell you birds that were hatched last fall. The other option is that you can order some broilers and show them. The good thing about that is that they are market birds and you'll be able to put them up for auction at the end of the fair and not have to take them home. I think that's what my kids like best about raising turkeys.

Which leads to the question - how open are you to raising turkeys? Broad breasted whites go for $4.50 per poult from Eagle Nest in Osceola (the cheapest I've seen and they have GREAT birds) and if you can keep them alive the first few weeks, which isn't really all that hard, they are about the most maintenance-free birds I've ever seen. I think that's another reason my kids like raising them. And in our county they regularly go for anywhere from $100 to $400 at the sale depending on where they finish and how cute your kids are on sale day. Little girls with big smiles can really clean up.I've not been to the Hartford Fair on sale day, but it might be worth looking into if this is your first year for poultry. Turkeys are a great place to get started because kids don't have to know as much for skillathon as they do for chickens and there's not a lot of skill to showing other than being able to hoist your bird while the judge looks it over. I'll have to post some pictures from the fair if I can find them.

If you're in Licking Co. there are lots of folks in Knox, Licking, and Pickaway Counties raising chickens. I think up here in my neck of the woods it seems like every third house has at least a few chickens. That means you shouldn't have any problem locating someone with some nice birds to sell you. My personal preference is to raise them from chicks, but that's also a crap shoot whether you'll get anything show worthy. Hatcheries are great for market birds and pullets because production birds is where they shine, but it's hit or miss on fancy. For that, you're better off contacting a breeder.

If you don't mind my asking, where are you getting your Buckeyes from? I've hooked up with a couple breeders in southern and western Ohio, some of whom did really well at the Ohio National last year (which was a great place to meet breeders, by the way). If everything works out, I'll have two separate batches of Buckeye chicks that share the same line that took Reserve Champion and Reserve Best of Breed at the Ohio National last year. I'm pretty excited about that.

One other thing (if you're still reading after this huge long post), the Bi State Poultry Youth Clinic is 3/24/2012 in Wooster. My son and I will be heading up there along with the kids who were on the Ohio Avian Bowl team that won the national championship last year in Louisville. If you are interested in attending, you might contact John Anderson at the OSU/OARDC, (330) 263-3753 or e-mail him at anderson.37 (at) osu.edu. The clinic is only $15 and that includes lunch, but it's up in Wooster, so plan on a little travel time.
 
You show at the Hartford Fair? You're practically in my back yard, neighbor. We drive past there on our way to church in Johnstown. A lot of kids in the youth group show 4H there. Most of the folks I know in Licking Co. show pigs, goats, and sheep. Wow! Small world! We have shown goats and dairy feeder calves, and this year we are again taking the dairy feeder calves, hogs, and hopefully the chickens... can you say busy? LOL

Morrow Co. started a new class this year for Heritage broilers. They give them earlier hatch dates than the Cornish cross. I'm going to try Buckeyes this year since they're billed as dual purpose and should do OK if I pour the feed to them. At our fair we can only buy the Cornish x that the fair board selects and then sells to the kids. Not a bad deal, everyone starts with the sameish birds, they can control the hatch date, etc. although you never know what you are going to get..

I was going to try and show them in laying hens too, but they mature so slowly that I don't think they'll be productive by Labor Day (that's the week our fair is). I ordered some Golden comets from the Animal Station in Centerburg. You might give them a call at (740) 625-5147 or text them at (740) 398-0031 if you want something that will mature faster than Buckeyes. I know TSC is having chick days this week and you should be able to pick up some chicks there if you want RIRs or Leghorns. Most of them get their chicks from Mt. Healthy, from what I can tell, so if you just want a half dozen birds that might be the way to go. If you wait much later, you probably won't have any girls laying by fair time.

The rules for pullets is that they have to be under a year at the time of the fair. Some fairs have an "after Jan. 1" hatch date, but I think most of them have gone with the one year rule. That means if I were wanting to show pullets or large fowl fancy's, I'd have been better off getting a fall hatch. Since this is our first year, I'll chalk that up to learning curve and see how it goes. Interesting, I did not know that, see why I have become addicted to BYC? It has taken me less than 5 hours to get an answer to a question I asked the "experts" weeks ago...

I also ordered a dozen Silver Spangled Hamburgs from Meyer, but won't be able to pick them up until April. Not sure if they'll be ready for fancy by fair time, but I figured since they're small, fast growing birds anyway, I might have a chance. And if they're not, I'll just cull down to my two best roosters and a pair or three of hens and see what I can do with a fall hatch and get ready for next year. I'm hoping for a broody Buckeye hen or two since I don't have an incubator and Hamburgs are non-setters. When are you going to Myer? this is funny because I am picking up my first set of chicks there on April 30. In my first order I am getting 3 Buff Orph, 3 RIR, 3 Barred Rock,20 Cornish X, and 1 Myer Meal Maker (surprise free chick). These are the ones that I would have for her to choose from for the "fancy" chicks, and also the ones that will be 5 days old when it is time to go in for tagging at the fair. I did not choose them on the basis of fast growing, so I will have to look more into that and see if they might be developed in time... ( My pick up in June will be 2 EEs, ! Sam Favorelle Roo, 2 Buckeyes, 2 Sam Favorelle hens, 3 light Brahma, and 1 more Myer Meal Maker...)

I don't think you'll be able to have anything to show in the 90 day timeframe if your chicks will be under a week old then. That puts them at under 14 weeks at fair time and that's just too young for both laying hens and fancy poultry. I don't think even the Golden comets would be laying in that short of time. You might want to ask around and see if there's anyone willing to sell you birds that were hatched last fall. The other option is that you can order some broilers and show them. The good thing about that is that they are market birds and you'll be able to put them up for auction at the end of the fair and not have to take them home. I think that's what my kids like best about raising turkeys. I have attempted to contact a couple of breeders, one for Buckeyes and another in Johnstown but have not gotten a response from either of them on getting just a few (3) birds. As I already have 50 coming between April and June I just know that I don't have enough room for any more than that. We have already double our original coop size and redesigned it so that I can keep the two different sizes of chicks. I am seriously thinking that maybe she should wait till next year to show chickens, that way we can see what we get and go from there for a fancy.

Which leads to the question - how open are you to raising turkeys? Broad breasted whites go for $4.50 per poult from Eagle Nest in Osceola (the cheapest I've seen and they have GREAT birds) and if you can keep them alive the first few weeks, which isn't really all that hard, they are about the most maintenance-free birds I've ever seen. I think that's another reason my kids like raising them. And in our county they regularly go for anywhere from $100 to $400 at the sale depending on where they finish and how cute your kids are on sale day. Little girls with big smiles can really clean up.I've not been to the Hartford Fair on sale day, but it might be worth looking into if this is your first year for poultry. Turkeys are a great place to get started because kids don't have to know as much for skillathon as they do for chickens and there's not a lot of skill to showing other than being able to hoist your bird while the judge looks it over. I'll have to post some pictures from the fair if I can find them. I don't know if I am so sure about having turkeys. Someone else in our 4-H group did it a few years ago and they had a rough time of it... the fair board also makes you choose these from a selection that they order, and make you get a minimum of 6 I believe... I am just not sure that I would want to start out with even more birds that I originally planned for. That means another house and more run space... We live on less than 2 acres, most of which is pine trees, and we only have pasture for the calves because of a generous neighbor who does not like to mow the field between the two of us... lol. I will certainly think about it though!

If you're in Licking Co. there are lots of folks in Knox, Licking, and Pickaway Counties raising chickens. I think up here in my neck of the woods it seems like every third house has at least a few chickens. That means you shouldn't have any problem locating someone with some nice birds to sell you. My personal preference is to raise them from chicks, but that's also a crap shoot whether you'll get anything show worthy. Hatcheries are great for market birds and pullets because production birds is where they shine, but it's hit or miss on fancy. For that, you're better off contacting a breeder. Maybe I will use craigslist to find someone in the area?

If you don't mind my asking, where are you getting your Buckeyes from? I've hooked up with a couple breeders in southern and western Ohio, some of whom did really well at the Ohio National last year (which was a great place to meet breeders, by the way). If everything works out, I'll have two separate batches of Buckeye chicks that share the same line that took Reserve Champion and Reserve Best of Breed at the Ohio National last year. I'm pretty excited about that. Wow! That will be great! Perhaps we can work together and come up with something great between the two of us. That is, if you would connect me to the breeders you are speaking of. I am very interested in the Buckeyes and ordered them from Myer before I did my homework and realized that they probably would not be show quality. Although, I did see where a Myer Buckeye or two have done pretty well in the ring, so who knows??

One other thing (if you're still reading after this huge long post), the Bi State Poultry Youth Clinic is 3/24/2012 in Wooster. My son and I will be heading up there along with the kids who were on the Ohio Avian Bowl team that won the national championship last year in Louisville. If you are interested in attending, you might contact John Anderson at the OSU/OARDC, (330) 263-3753 or e-mail him at anderson.37 (at) osu.edu. The clinic is only $15 and that includes lunch, but it's up in Wooster, so plan on a little travel time.
I saw this clinic mentioned on our 4-H web page and was not sure if it would be something that I would like to attend, but on second thought, with all of the questions that I need answered it might just be the right place for me! I will have to budget my funds this month and make the trip!

Thank you so much for your information! I am so glad to have found a resource close to home. I know that several people around here have chickens, I just had no idea how to approach them and ask questions or if they would just look at me like the crazy chicken lady I am turning into... I know I stalk the BYC pages several times a day just trying to absorb as much info possible so I will hopefully do things the right way from the start... Sometimes this all seems a little daunting and the chicks aren't even here yet! I am hoping it will all pay off in the end and I can help others the way I have been helped.

Thanks again for all of the info!
 

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