Heritage Large Fowl - Phase II

[3riverschick]

There is also a special forum at BYC just for questions like this. A lot of folk gather there just waiting for questions like yours:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/15/what-breed-or-gender-is-this
Not trying to run you off by any means just know a lot of folk really like this topic and they hang out over there.

Best Regards,
Karen

 

[bmvf]

Quote: Gotcha, anybody else think the same? That will save me a trip!

 

[Basskids08]

Edited

 

[ocap]

Gotcha, anybody else think the same? That will save me a trip!

Walt is the best at giving you correct information, no need to go any further. I would love to follow him at a show and watch him judge, just too many miles from Missouri to California.

 

[southernmomma]

They look like hatchery birds to me

Walt

How can you tell? Are there certain "go to" characteristics that will give away a strains heritage when looking at photos?
I would love to have a level of understanding for when I'm looking at breeders web pages. For that matter, for birds in the flesh.

Thanks
M

 

[gjensen]

Gotcha, anybody else think the same? That will save me a trip!

I would not waste my time. Not a good place to start.

 

[cubalaya]

I think the whitmore delawares were started from hatchery birds. I had some of those. I never got any of the sandhill delawares to try. another local breeder that had some of the same lines that I had was winning at the shows. I think delawares appealed to me for the large brown eggs and fairly meaty carcass and that they were a Virginia bird at one time(called delmarvas for the Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia eastern shore where these birds fed a lot of people in the 1950's).I have found another bird with a Virginia history in these Manuel Reynolds asils. Reynolds imported these birds from Pakistan to his Radford Va. home many years ago and only a few people have them now in their pure form.

 

[gjensen]

How can you tell? Are there certain "go to" characteristics that will give away a strains heritage when looking at photos?
I would love to have a level of understanding for when I'm looking at breeders web pages. For that matter, for birds in the flesh.

Thanks
M

It helps to be familiar with them and have seen better. Walt can comment better concerning what he saw that would lead him to come to his conclusion. I could write a long list. I simply do not like them and would not start there. It bothers me to see poor birds touted as something good. However, I understand that with rare breeds, you start where you can. Just do not make them out to be what they are not.

Get that Standard, and get familiar with the language. It took me some time and cross referencing to other breeds to get where I could get a good sense of it. Do not get to caught up in the pictures. Some are better than others. They can help give you an idea, but that is about it in some. Some are pretty darn good.

This Delaware is a little better, but it is not a profile shot, which hurts the illustration. There are some points that could be critiqued, but overall is not a bad bird. Something that I would say is a place to start. This is not a project bird, and it is not mine. I hope that it is ok to use it. You can't tell much from it, but you can see enough to note that it is on a different level than the others.

 

[mithious]

How can you tell? Are there certain "go to" characteristics that will give away a strains heritage when looking at photos?
I would love to have a level of understanding for when I'm looking at breeders web pages. For that matter, for birds in the flesh.

Thanks
M

The BEST way I found, this past year, is to read the threads related the breed, breeder threads, and any others you can find on here, that pertain to breeding. Most of those threads have some GREAT breeders, and even Judges for shows. I know the threads are longggg, BUT I have learned a TON of info by reading them through. There are many new things today, that we did not have/do, back when I was breeding chickens. Also, PM some of those good breeders and see if they will be willing to mentor you. Those are my best suggestions for you.

Bob Blosl was my mentor until he went to the big chicken house in the sky.

I miss him horribly! He talked barred Plymouth rocks for HOURS and once in a while, I could get a question in there LOL.

There is a list of BYC breeders also but reading as much as you can gobble up, is the best, IMHO

Those are hatchery birds on that website and the one you are holding is a hatchery bird which means who knows what they crossed to make that bird. Most breeders will NOT let you near their birds for biosecurity reasons.

I started on the thread about diseases, as we didn't have or didn't know that we had them, back when. For instance, mareks used to be called "range paralysis" and no one knew anything about it. You will meet people on some of those threads that also breed.

A mentor can direct you to a breeder of a breed that you want and help you get in touch with that breeder plus answer many of your questions, and if near by, is invaluable, when you are picking your breeders, for a second set of eyes on the birds. Again, IMHO

Not trying to chase you off, just letting you know what I did

It didn't hurt that I love to read and learn

 

[mithious]

It helps to be familiar with them and have seen better. Walt can comment better concerning what he saw that would lead him to come to his conclusion. I could write a long list. I simply do not like them and would not start there. It bothers me to see poor birds touted as something good. However, I understand that with rare breeds, you start where you can. Just do not make them out to be what they are not.

Get that Standard, and get familiar with the language. It took me some time and cross referencing to other breeds to get where I could get a good sense of it. Do not get to caught up in the pictures. Some are better than others. They can help give you an idea, but that is about it in some. Some are pretty darn good.

This Delaware is a little better, but it is not a profile shot, which hurts the illustration. There are some points that could be critiqued, but overall is not a bad bird. Something that I would say is a place to start. This is not a project bird, and it is not mine. I hope that it is ok to use it. You can't tell much from it, but you can see enough to note that it is on a different level than the others.

X2