Heritage Large Fowl - Phase II

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Quote: Same here.

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Wisher.....prayers said on behalf of you and your family. May God's grace comfort you as only HE can

 

[Chris Herzog]

Here is a little update on our show to be held at LSU next Saturday November 9th.

We have over 730 birds entered.
Just over 200 Lg Fowl.
Just over 400 Bantams
Right at 100 Jr entries.
And something like 35 Water Fowl!

It's going to be a great first show for our club!!!! Hope to see and meet some of you there!

Chris

 

[Chris Herzog]

I may not be going to the Ohio Nationals, after all.  My Dad is in the ICU and I don't think he will improve quickly.  If he pulls though, it will be a long, slow improvement.  He is 91 and has pneumonia.  All prayers are welcomed.

I'm sorry to here about this I wish him and your family well!

Chris

 

[NanaKat]

Here is a little update on our show to be held at LSU next Saturday November 9th.

We have over 730 birds entered.
Just over 200 Lg Fowl.
Just over 400 Bantams
Right at 100 Jr entries.
And something like 35 Water Fowl!

It's going to be a great first show for our club!!!! Hope to see and meet some of you there!

Chris

Sure hope you will sure some photos!

 

[Chris Herzog]

Will do but I'm going to be real busy until this is all over!
Chris

 

[thedragonlady]

Oh, something else I forgot to mention about Sussex. They are a close-feathered breed. The old breeders caution against bringing the chicks up in an really warm environment. They discuss how folk wanting the get their chicks on the ground very early in the year would hatch in early Jan., then raise the chicks in really warm environments. They decried this because they said it caused the feathers to develop in such a way the birds became overly "fluffy". Something about the feathers being hollow? Dragonlady can you speak
to that?
Best,
Karen
----------------
Familiar Science & Fancier's Journal - Volumes 3-4 - Page 185
books.google.com/books?id=VuRIAAAAYAAJ 1876 - ‎Read
POULTRY BREEDING FOR PROFIT.
Every breeder of poultry ought to ask himself in which one, out of many directions, he is to look for his profit, and then answer the question plainly and clearly, and thence proceed to work to arrive at the goal marked. Some persons prefer Bantams and take their profit out of their prettiness. Others select handsomely plumaged birds as ornamental additions to their grounds, others pay absorbing attention to the delicacy of the flesh, while many sink everything, and look alone to a large quantity of eggs; and betwixt them there are enough of conjunctions to suit all tastes. But as I find from observation that the practice of keeping a few fowls for their eggs, is largely on the increase, and would receive a tremendous impetus if the popular notion—viz., " that every egg costs a sixpence "—was shown to be the result of utterly injudicious movements, and as, further, I find that as education and knowledge increases, so people become more and more averse to "killing and eating," especially those reared by themselves. I will, with your permission, make some observations on beautiful birds for egg-laying purposes, in the belief that it will be found of interest to the majority of households.
It is a fact which stands out in marked prominence, that in the British climate the black breeds are the best producers of eggs. This arises from the fact that as the amount of sunshine in England is rather scarce, the wearers of black coats profit more therefrom than those with white ones. Inversely, in climates where the heat is oppressive and produces suffering; as, for instance, in Queensland, the white breeds—as for instance, the Leghorns—are foremost. The black breed of cattle in Scotland, the dark chestnut horses in England, and the black pigs of North Europe, are all instances of the fact, viz., the survival and preeminence of the fittest for the climate, for those who in cold climates profit most by the sun, turn up, for a variety of reasons, each contributing its quota, the most profitable to keep. Black poultry, on the other hand, are not in favor with poulterers, who prefer white legs, white feathers, and bodies whose juiciness has not all departed with the eggs laid. Now, as a man cannot serve two oppositely-minded men, he has to make up his mind primarily whether he will go in for eggs or the flesh. Of the black breeds the Spanish lay the largest eggs, but not so many as the black Minorcas. The black Hamburghs lay a rather lesser number of smaller eggs, while the black Cochins lay also a large egg, but not many, owing to not having as yet lived long enough to hare completely shaken off this breed's propensity to properly hatch ail batches of eggs laid.
TIGHT OR LOOSE FEATHERING.
Some time ago I purchased some colored Dorkings, whose grandparents emanated from a luxurious home in an aristocratic quarter, and about the same time I purchased some silver-grey Dorkings, whose grandparent was one of Baily's hens, and hence had lived in open quarters. As to age and size they were about equal, but I do not think if I had tried my utmost, and of set purpose, that I could by any possibility have had two sets of pullets more diametrically opposed to each other, for, while the colored Dorkings were soft and loose, or open-feathered birds, the silver-greys were hard and close-feathered—so beautifully closefeathered that at a little distance it was difficult to distinguish
where one joined another, and as tightly fitting and as close to the body as a lady's glove on her hand. On arrival, and in my ignorance, I admired the colored Dorkings the most; but when the weather began to get cold a marked difference was immediately observable, and which increased. In short, the colored Dorkings in cold weather resembled an East Indian black in the streets of London on a frosty day—blue, shivering, and chattering, and always aiming at warmer quarters, while the silver-greys walked about in utter defiance of slush, sleet, and snow, and as comfortable as English lads frolicking on the ice. The colored Dorkings eat fully one-third more food, and do not lay more than one-fourth of the eggs. Since December, when the silver-grey Dorkings commenced to lay, up to the present time, they have laid every other day generally; besides this they have frequently laid numbers in daily succession, and occasionally I have had more eggs than birds, i. e., two in one day. I do not believe that even the black Minorcas could have beaten the silver-grey Dorkings during the last six months, whatever happens in the other half of the year. These are in truth splendid layers, and their food is plain and substantial, viz., barley, Indian corn, buckwheat, vegetables, and household scraps.
In every respect they fare alike, but notwithstanding that the point of color is in favor of the colored Dorkings, they are the most unprofitable birds that ever belonged to me, while the others, on the contrary, are most profitable, and all the difference lies in the closeness of the feathers. This closeness of feather should not be confounded with abundance of feather, for I have some Cochin hens, and the close-feathered birds lay more than the loose, open, and very abundantly-feathered ones. I now attach more value to close and tightly-fitting feathered birds than to color, and firmly believe by strict attention to that main point (not forgetting the others) to be able to defend the Dorkings against all comers. Modern breeders, in their desire to improve the size and color of the Dorkings, have done it in such a way as to deal a severe blow to the reputation of this splendid breed of fowls. For the purpose of being able to produce large cockerels and pullets at the autumn and winter shows, they have resorted to an artificially created warm temperature, so as to hatch a brood of chickens as near to the 1st of January as possible. This being done for some generations, loose-feathered birds is the result, and a very moderate supply of eggs the consequence. A remarkably large Dorking pullet which I purchased for my best trump card, laid the fewest eggs of any hen I ever had, and ultimately died from congestion or inflammation, produced by moderately cold weather. No bird commencing the summer with a decent constitution could have been more unprofitable, and in the way of food she was a glutton. When this bird arrived, our family circle broke out in raptures, and particularly in this direction: "What beautiful soft feathers 1 like touching some lady's muff!" Being densely ignorant on the matter, I of course was equally delighted, but did not mourn for her when she went the way of all flesh. When I hear (or see in print) some breeders saying that much depends on the character of the soil—dry, gravelly, and chalky, in contradistinction to any other combination of geological materials—whether Dorkings flourish or not, I think of my damp and altogether unlikely place, and my closely-feathered Dorkings, and marvel at the great number of the most diverse opinions which can be held on any given thing, when the real and all-important point is altogether ignored. Of course the best place for birds which are bred up in hot-houses is a tropical country, but if English breeders want the large population of the British Islands for customers, they must breed to suit their requirements, and not for very exceptional customers in the neighborhood of Timbuctoo, which perhaps would have suited the large pullet spoken of. Notwithstanding that the black breeds arc generally the best egg-layers, yet in this climate it is better to have a close feathered white bird than a loose-feathered black one,

and which is the reason why, here and there in this country, we hear of white Dorkings, Cochins, Leghorns, and Minorcas, laying better than darker-colored birds. I am very sorry, indeed, to see breeders virtually sacrificing closeness of feather for the sake of having early broods in some cases, and large birds in others, by resorting to an artificially-produced warmer climate, for closeness of feather once gone, or more properly a shunt having been given towards looseness of feather, cannot be again, in my opinion, attained by the same stock. To obtain closeness of feather, such breeders would have to commence dc novo with stock birds already possessing that indispensable qualification towards abundance of eggs. If we take two boys, one black and one white, and expose them to the influences of very cold, frosty weather, when stark naked, and for a number of days in succession, they will both die with, perhaps, a day's difference between their ends; and this quite irrespective of whether the one stood on a dry, chalky soil, and the other on damp ground. And what I am astonished at is, that the infinitesimal should be made so much of, and the momentous should be ignored as something of very little value. .—J. F. D., in Live Stock Journal.

My Buff Orps are noticeably closer feathered than English Orps. I've found that my chicks do not require nearly as much heat even,at a week old,as other breeds I have raised over the years. This is probably due to the density of their down.My babies go outside at 4 weeks of age with just a 100 W. bulb in their sleeping house that is left on 24/7. They almost never go in during the day, unless it is very cold and rainy, but I leave it on to make sure their straw bedding stays dry.This breed is not a hot house breed. They are bred to range out with their mothers in the cold English climate.You can see photos of JOHNN's Orps on the Orp photo thread on BYC doing just that.

 

[thedragonlady]

Hee, Hee. My best layer ( May-hatched) is laying right thru her molt. The pullets have started to lay, as has the 1/2 sis to my best layer ( she is a March-hatched hen). We are getting 4 eggs a day and as soon as the other pullets start cranking them out next month, no more buying eggs! Yeah!
Went to Wal-Mart today. They were selling their pumpkins for 1 cent each. I bought 16. Cut a couple in half and spread them thru the several coops...and the girls went wild!! Also switched to 20% Purina Flockraiser and bought BOSS to supplement it. Have to wait on the Calf Manna as they no longer sell it in the small bag here. Only 40-50 lbs. I will look around and see if anyone else has the smaller bags. Threw out the Flock Block.
Best,
Karen

TSC carries smaller bags.

 

[cbnovick]

Here is a little update on our show to be held at LSU next Saturday November 9th.

We have over 730 birds entered.
Just over 200 Lg Fowl.
Just over 400 Bantams
Right at 100 Jr entries.
And something like 35 Water Fowl!

It's going to be a great first show for our club!!!! Hope to see and meet some of you there!

Chris

Congrats in advance...going to be a nice show i bet, Chris!! Please post highlights when you have a chance.

 

[Wisher1000]

Quote:
I have almost (97%) resigned myself to the fact that it is not going to happen. It is more important for me to stay here. My family needs my support. I haven't been able to bring myself to cancel my hotel reservations or to call Duane, yet, but I will before or on Monday.

Nobody in my IRL family or friends knows or understands how disappointed I am. They can't begin to understand, but I know you all do. I have already bought five breeder Silver Campines from Urch who is planning to deliver them to Ohio. I have them entered in the show so that I can have them judged and use that info to help me get started on pairings and such. This has been nearly two years in the making beginning with deciding on that breed, researching what few sources there are in the US, clearing wooded land and building a new breeder barn, and planning and prep for the 10 - 12 hour drive up and then hauling them back. I was so excited about the only chance I will probably ever have to go to a show that big (close to 6000 birds) since we have nothing to compare to that in the south. I know of no one else in Alabama that is going. It will be easier on everyone, I think, to just have Duane ship them to me when it is convenient.

I feel a bit guilty for grieving over missing that show when my Dad and my family are the most important considerations and everything else, work, rest, and chicken shows, are a very distant second. But I know you all understand.

I am so grateful for all the prayers for my Dad. Prayer works.