SandHill Preservation review

[The Moonshiner]

Mr Drowns having a tendency to experiment with breeds.

This explains some things.
I see no problem with experimenting but why let those resulting offspring out to the public without disclosure?
SMH at doing that and using "breed preservation" as a selling point.

 

[Finnie]

This explains some things.
I see no problem with experimenting but why let those resulting offspring out to the public without disclosure?
SMH at doing that and using "breed preservation" as a selling point.

I agree. When I ordered Mille Fleur Leghorns and Redcaps from Sandhill, none of them ended up looking like MFL or RC.

 

[Molpet]

unfortunately, I didn't save the packing list. I am aware of the feather sexing flaw, but we did it for fun. So we shall see. I have two brooders and separated them by sex to see how we do. I have emailed Sandhill but it will be days before I hear. Of course we'll raise all the chicks to see what's what.

Right now I've some Silver Deathlayer chicks that I thought surely would be white/yellow but they're not. Surprise!

I am aware of the barred gene? I ordered Barred Cochin and 7 our of 9 are boys. (Cackle hatchery).

I've had a friend in Missouri send a box of Barred Rock chicks, though I don't remember how that went.

I haven't been on since my wife died 6 yrs ago. So I'm not even sure many of the folks from back then are still on or even alive.

Thank you for your input.
Rancher

Sorry about your wife. I do remember seeing some of your posts.

 

[trenace]

I have been very happy with Sandhill. 90 chick order received in three shipments, pretty close representation of my requests with variations matching the substitutions I said were fine.

One does need to realize that Sandhill is not a conveyor-belt hatchery where on the same day any particular combination of chicks can be provided. It's just not possible for a very small operation to match a complex order exactly. There will never be a day of the year when everything requested hatched.

Also if expecting every bird will be ready for exhibition when paying $5 each (typically) and again such a small operation for so many breeds, well, not likely. E.g. some of my Leghorns don't have yellow legs.

If you ordered 25, could you breed desired show birds from them? I expect so.

To me what mattered is they are bred to live outside and are healthy birds in that environment. I have had zero losses or issues past the first couple of days or shipment.

 

[dheltzel]

I agree. When I ordered Mille Fleur Leghorns and Redcaps from Sandhill, none of them ended up looking like MFL or RC.

Not every line of chickens is SOP all the time, especially from any hatchery, even Sand Hill. Redcaps are probably functionally extinct in the US. I would not be surprised to find they are nearly extinct in the UK as well. I wish I knew of any breeders of quality Redcaps in the US. Perhaps I will find that breeder some day. I am on the fence about the need to preserve every breed of chicken. On the one hand, I admire Sand Hill's efforts to do their best and keep them available, even if largely "in name only". OTOH, I think some breeds are basically destined to die because they are no longer functional according to their original purpose.
I perfect example of this are Barred Hollands and California Greys. They were created about the same time to meet the same market need (lots of white eggs). The creator of Barred Hollands submitted them to the APA and got them accepted for showing. The creator of California Greys did not care about that. When white eggs fell out of favor with small egg producers, Barred Hollands were dropped from all the hatcheries, but Cali Greys were kept by Privett and they continued selecting for high productivity and very white eggs. I have kept both, Barred Hollands from Sand Hill and Cali Greys from Privett. They difference in egg production is day and night. I still keep Cali Greys because they consistently out lay every other breed I keep and have versatile genetics for making blue egg laying black sexlinks. But Barred Hollands probably should just die out, they lay small, cream colored eggs, and not nearly as many as the CG's. If it were not for being listed by the APA, they would be gone completely. In my opinion of course.
Sand Hill no longer lists Redcaps, I presume they were lost to predators or creeping weaknesses that kept them from continuing the line.
As for the Mille Fleur Leghorns, I had them in the past also. The Mille Fleur color and pattern is not easy to get right. Mine were more like "Jubilee" than Mille Fleur, as they had a lot of mahogany. I eventually replaced them with other breeds, as my interest was not enough to work with them for the long term. This is not an established color in Leghorns and I would still consider them a "project color". They are not bad birds for egg production and pleasure, but not really ready for the name they have.

 

[SnackMeat]

Just because they came up as a topic and I just happened to take pictures of 2/3 of my SH mille fleurs (may 12 bday.) the third one is on quarantine for a respiratory thing, however it's pattern is much more messy. I'll try to take a picture of it but it has more reddish and orangish feathers interrupting the mille fleur pattern. Still very striking, but maybe more like a red leghorn (the red part. I've seen the orange part but it was on a mixed Cockerel that might have been red Leghorn/Brahma mix, or Easter Egger/Brahma.)

Anyway, these are two recent ones. Wish I had gotten hens, but sadly looks like either all I got in MF were cockerels, or one of the early ones I lost was the lone female.

 

[The Moonshiner]

Just because they came up as a topic and I just happened to take pictures of 2/3 of my SH mille fleurs (may 12 bday.) the third one is on quarantine for a respiratory thing, however it's pattern is much more messy. I'll try to take a picture of it but it has more reddish and orangish feathers interrupting the mille fleur pattern. Still very striking, but maybe more like a red leghorn (the red part. I've seen the orange part but it was on a mixed Cockerel that might have been red Leghorn/Brahma mix, or Easter Egger/Brahma.)

Anyway, these are two recent ones. Wish I had gotten hens, but sadly looks like either all I got in MF were cockerels, or one of the early ones I lost was the lone female.

Mille Fleur?

Those look like something with barring. Not a MF pattern at all.

 

[h2oratt]

Just because they came up as a topic and I just happened to take pictures of 2/3 of my SH mille fleurs (may 12 bday.) the third one is on quarantine for a respiratory thing, however it's pattern is much more messy. I'll try to take a picture of it but it has more reddish and orangish feathers interrupting the mille fleur pattern. Still very striking, but maybe more like a red leghorn (the red part. I've seen the orange part but it was on a mixed Cockerel that might have been red Leghorn/Brahma mix, or Easter Egger/Brahma.)

Anyway, these are two recent ones. Wish I had gotten hens, but sadly looks like either all I got in MF were cockerels, or one of the early ones I lost was the lone female.

Very pretty

 

[SnackMeat]

Mille Fleur?
View attachment 4208934
Those look like something with barring. Not a MF pattern at all.

The neck definitely reminds me more of crele. But in person the white spots really do look like white spots rather than barring. But then I'm a newb who just likes pretty chickens so it works for me either way.

 

[SnackMeat]

My third millefleur though since I got red Leghorns as well in the same shipment I suppose it could be a bad quality red Leghorn. But the red leghorns I got from sandhill were the worst temperamentally, and Millhouse the "mille fleur" one of the best so I kind of doubt it.