- Jan 14, 2008
- 5,644
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I'm back in the Old English Game business!
Several years ago I sold my whole flock of Brown Red & Lemon Blue Old English large fowl to Superior hatchery. I thought at the time I could always order some chicks from them if I ever wanted to get back into games. Little did I know that a lot of birds went into Superior but very few ever came out.
When Superior went out of business I contacted Roland Romig, who was handling the dispersal, and asked if the had any Brown Reds from my line remaining.. Initially he said no but he called a few days later & siad they found 4 hens but no males. I said I'd take them & Roland brought them to Bath, NY where I picked them up. Much to my surprise they were all wearing NY Pullorum bands; they were some of my original hens. I checked my records & determined that 2 were 6 years old & 2, 8 years old.
I got a cock bird from a local breeder & hatched a few chicks the first year. It wasn't a good mating. All the chicks had poor leg colour &^were culled. In June someone offered me a cock bird from the same blood line as my original birds. I mated him to the only remaining, now 11 year old hen. She had laid some eggs early in the year but it had been awhile since she'd laid any. After a few days with the new male she started laying again, laid a clutch of 9 eggs & went broody. Yesterday all nine eggs hatched, the chicks look great & all have good leg colour. Not bad for an 11 year old hen.
That's part of the beauty of Games. They live & remain productive for a long time.
Several years ago I sold my whole flock of Brown Red & Lemon Blue Old English large fowl to Superior hatchery. I thought at the time I could always order some chicks from them if I ever wanted to get back into games. Little did I know that a lot of birds went into Superior but very few ever came out.
When Superior went out of business I contacted Roland Romig, who was handling the dispersal, and asked if the had any Brown Reds from my line remaining.. Initially he said no but he called a few days later & siad they found 4 hens but no males. I said I'd take them & Roland brought them to Bath, NY where I picked them up. Much to my surprise they were all wearing NY Pullorum bands; they were some of my original hens. I checked my records & determined that 2 were 6 years old & 2, 8 years old.
I got a cock bird from a local breeder & hatched a few chicks the first year. It wasn't a good mating. All the chicks had poor leg colour &^were culled. In June someone offered me a cock bird from the same blood line as my original birds. I mated him to the only remaining, now 11 year old hen. She had laid some eggs early in the year but it had been awhile since she'd laid any. After a few days with the new male she started laying again, laid a clutch of 9 eggs & went broody. Yesterday all nine eggs hatched, the chicks look great & all have good leg colour. Not bad for an 11 year old hen.
That's part of the beauty of Games. They live & remain productive for a long time.
