kentucky specks?

[chknbrdr]

They remind me of a game bantam in temperment.

Its funny that there seems to be such an interest in them. I showed some last year at the Green River Show in Kentucky and everyone made fun of me.
They've been very hardy for me.
I haven't had any problem hatching them. The only issue I found is that they can't hold their breath under water for 12 hours! I lost all my breeders last June in a flood, fortunately I was able to get some old eggs hatched late and still have a few to go with for this season. I'm quickly accumulating a list of people who want them next year, so I hope to get a sizable breeding flock of both varieties built up this year.

Matt

 

[L&Schickens]

I e-mailed you about them Matt. I asked if you had sold them to a friend of mine and you said no. My friend is where I got mine from and he got them from someone in KY. But he has had a lot of problems hatching his. But he managed to hatch out some this year and I managed to get 6 chicks from him.
I am planning on showing mine when they are old enough. If I get laughed at, that is ok with me. At least people are taking notice, laughing or not.

 

[chknbrdr]

Yeah, I've never sold any yet, so I don't know where your friend got his.
M.

 

[sugarbush]

That is probably me you saw on craigslist. I have run out of resources locally and am hoping somebody will remember something about them some where. If their is any history anywhere on them it needs to be found and written down.

At this point I am approaching this from a skeptics point of view however. I am leaning more towards them being a more recent addition to the poultry world and whoever developed them made up the story about them coming over the mountians with settlers from somewhere. With the historical significance of the people who developed this frontier I think there would be records of such a chicken IMO.

I have searched several library books on poultry and nothing has materialized out of that either. I have a few more college librarys to check, but for the most part they have the same books. The journals are turning up nothing as well.

I think it should be like Pit Ponys. Nobody knows what you are talking about when you say pit pony, but if you use the term in eastern Kentucky everybody knows what a pit pony was. If these birds did infact originate in this state a couple hundred years ago somebody is still going to know what they are.

 

[sugarbush]

Just another update:

The State Poultry Federation and the Dept of Ag got back to me after a few weeks of research.

They agree with DR Pecatore at the University of Kentucky; that the kentucky speck is not a heritage breed with a lost history. I have been told that the most likely senerio is that these birds where developed in the last few decades by a breeder somewhere and word of mouth has elevated them to some level of mysterious rareity.

They checked with NPIP and they also have no historical evidence of the Kentucky Specks existiance. They all have said that the only places they can find them mentioned is on online forums and other unofficial web sites. There are no mention of them in any poultry publications that they can find.

I am still waiting for a response from the APA.

The craigslist ads run around the state have also turned up zero hits.

 

[L&Schickens]

That is very interesting! So here I have a "Mystery" bird on my hands and can make up what ever I want about it? I wonder if I can create a standard of some kind for them...

 

[sugarbush]

L&Schickens :

That is very interesting! So here I have a "Mystery" bird on my hands and can make up what ever I want about it? I wonder if I can create a standard of some kind for them...

I was thinking the same thing...why not submit them for recognition... Or use the name on some other breed you develop?​

 

[L&Schickens]

Quote:
I was thinking the same thing...why not submit them for recognition... Or use the name on some other breed you develop?

OK, Kentucky Specks, get ready to be recognized!!

 

[pokey]

i thought it was kinda cool for kentucky to have its own breed of chicken-like the buckeye. keep the name, it does sound quite historic!

 

[L&Schickens]

Well, there is more then just me that has these birds, so I may as well keep the name.