Pyncheon, What do you know?

[Dannyo]

I really like the looks of this bantam and I am wondering, if anyone has any input on them?

I saw them on http://www.hinkjcpoultry.com and I think we all know how beautiful Lester and his girls are.

So I believe these are good stock, but when you are stuck in the wishing stages you like to see more... and more... and ya know, more.

I'm just looking for any personal experience that someone here may have had raising these neat little birds. Perhaps more history... My Google searches have brought loads of info on anything but chickens

 

[Chickndaddy]

Did you contact Jody or Charlie for more information on the breed? They are the only ones that have any that I know of.

 

[Dannyo]

I think I will, that's part of why I threw it out here. To see who had 'em.

 

[wilds of pa]

Dannyo, If you go to www.feathersite.com their are two other breeders on there in the USA that have them as well, I'm sure a few others as well that got eggs from us or the other folks that have them to... You can also look in my BYC pages for more pics there of them..

See hinkjc's post below she knows of a few others with them as well..

~Wilds~

 

[hinkjc]

My understanding is there are very few of us working on them. I now of 5, including myself. There are a couple other folks on byc with them as well. Some of us have grouped up to share stock to continue improvement and increase fertility, so this breed is not lost. I had recently heard from someone who used to raise them that they lost their whole flock due to fertility issues and they could not reproduce to keep the line going.

This is so critical that we work together to keep this breed alive, which is one reason they are of serious interest to me. They may not be perfect examples, but we are working to improve them, both physical aspects and longevity. There is very little info on the net about them and with so few breeders, it is a challenge to get diverse genetics. I am hoping by working together we can all help each other to keep our lines going.

I have been fortunate that my birds maintain some excellent fertility yet, and will build up a bigger flock this year. In addition, I plan to bring in another rooster from a different 'strain' hopefully to make them more sustainable.

The breed itself is the most wonderful bantam bird I have raised. They are sweet, gentle little bantams and require very little space to raise. The roos do well together and and typically very family (flock) oriented. The hens are little chatter boxes and love to "talk" to you. Just beautiful creatures all the way around. They are not really good layers, which makes it so important to hatch what you can, when you can. They do have broody tendencies as well. They fly very well, but are not flighty birds unless spooked suddenly. Personally, I am not a bantam person, but these little ones are very special to me and I enjoy having them. With their historical value and the fact that they are near extinction, drives me to continue working on them and building their numbers to ensure we don't lose our US pyncheons.

 

[Dannyo]

Thanks for chiming in Hinkjc,

I am thrilled that people like you are in this world to protect a breed as deserving as the pyncheon. When you mention longevity issues you mean they simply don't live long? or are they susceptible to disease and illness?

 

[hinkjc]

We only have our pyncheons a few years and have yet to lose one to illness or anything for that matter, so I haven't seen that issue. I couldn't speak for others who have them, but ours are strong healthwise. My concern is due to close breeding of lines and very limited genetic diversity, they may become sterile or very difficult to propogate. We haven't seen that in our line yet, but I have heard it from others who raise them, so I am preparing for it.

From the one breeder I spoke with, he said the line could not produce fertile eggs and eventually aged until they died, with no progeny to carry on. That is really sad to hear and I am hoping to prevent that by getting the word out about them.

 

[Dannyo]

Oh I see, that is terribly sad. I'm glad I know where to find them when I'm able to start caring for my own little flock. Do you know where the breed originated?

 

[wilds of pa]

I believe they were developed by Hawthorne right in RI..

Heres a lil bit of what i found on-line, think this is something from the book
The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne

In his desire to give thematic relevance to the belief that bad tendencies are handed down from one generation to another, Hawthorne creates the Pyncheon chickens. Like the Pyncheon family itself, these chickens seem to be proud of their aristocracy and are strict about it!

~Wilds~