The Buckeye Thread

[Sydney Acres]

Thank you Sydney Acres for all that great information! I will be sure to share it with my husband as the dorking was his pick We've read two books and lots of articles on raising and brooding chickens and will be taking a class at a local nursery at the end of March, so hopefully we'll be well prepared. I will look into mixing a little of the meat and game starter feeds for hand feeding to the two. And fish would be great, my husband and son are not big fish fans (unless its breaded) but I like it and could use someone to share with

You're welcome. You may find some conflicting information in the books and in the class. Don't be too worried about that. There are hundreds of different ways to brood and raise chicks successfully. Most of the information won't take specific breed differences into account either, and that's ok. You just need a basic foundation and then will adjust as needed as you go along.

 

[Minniechickmama]

I have about a dozen breeds here at all times, and I have always brooded my breeds together in the past. This year I am hoping I can arrange some separation as some breeds get pecked at more than others. Buckeyes seem to be one of those that are victims of pecking rather than the peckers. I run a 22% chick starter until they are out on pasture at 3 months, then everyone gets an 18% meal lay formula. I don't treat my Buckeyes any differently that any other breed here and they do just fine. In fact, my my Buckeyes easily meet the standard weights or exceed them. Surely, that is mostly due to genetics.

If what you are looking for is an interesting backyard flock, it sounds like you are getting that, but don't be surprised when those Buckeyes turn out to be your favorites

Welcome to the breed!
Theri

 

[autumnhearth]

Thank you for that perspective and the welcome

 

[slfarms]

Good morning all.  I'm relatively new to BYC, joined at the beginning of February.  My husband, son and I will be raising our first small flock of hens this spring.  We've ordered six chicks from Meyer Hatchery, due to hatch April 7th.  We are started off with six individual breeds and went with Meyer as we were able to get a variety of breeds on the same day and can drive to pick them up.  We are not looking for show quality birds nor raising for meat at this point.  We just wanted friendly, cold hearty, decent layers for the backyard, a sort of pets with benefits situation.

The Buckeye was the last breed we chose when placing our order, originally I wanted a Salmon Faverolles but after reading so often that they get picked on and that the hens can be loud, I decided to wait till we could have a few of them and be in place where were not so close to our neighbors.  The Buckeye seemed like a great choice, friendly, very cold hearty, American Heritage Breed developed right here in my home state, with a good personality and beautiful coloring.  So we added it to our order, very excited about having a Buckeye.  

I then read about them doing best on extra protein.  No big deal I thought, I can work with that, extra meal worms, high protein pecking treats maybe some crickets and they can forage.  Then I saw this blog entry on Better Hens and Gardens on feather picking and got really worried: http://www.betterhensandgardens.com/2010/11/24/feather-picking-chickens/  One of the things that made me feel so positively about this breed was another BYC member saying that their Buckeyes were really non-aggressive and didn't peck each other, just raised their wings and ran stopping short and not touching.   I understand the feather picking above is different than aggression, its protein deficiency. 

So now I'm wondering if I really can make this work, having an organic feed for the chicks that is somewhat high in protein, but not as high as turkey or game bird and supplementing protein treat for the Buckeye chick, maybe even getting a small bag (if they even come in small bags) of very high protein feed and allowing her to hand feed a few times a day.  Could some of the issue with the feather picking in the above article just be that they were started so high and then switched to a non-meat protein?  Might I be fine if I started her lower?  I'm not raising meat birds but I do want a happy healthy hen that is able to lay a few eggs a week and not be picking at her sisters feathers.

What do you all think, is it feasible?  Is it responsible?  Or should I wait to raise Buckeyes separately sometime down the road?  Just fyi we are getting a Silver Grey Dorking, a Black Copper Maran, a Buff Orpington, a Golden Buff (Gold/Red Sex-link) and an EE for my son.  Any advice would be very much appreciated!

Feather picking is normally caused by over crowding and boredom. Give them plenty of space and bedding to scratch in. I've not had the issue but have read about it in the past.

Protein for buckeyes- I normally run protein at 24% on mine. You can accomplish this by using a 18% layer, add half a bag scratch and for animal protein I use cat fish feed pellets.

 

[Sydney Acres]

Cat fish feed pellets. Interesting idea, haven't thought of that before. I need to look into that option.

 

[Minniechickmama]

I had looked at the catfish pellets, but steered away because their main ingredient was poultry feathers. I don't feel mine need more protein, so I didn't worry about it. The thing I have read to watch for with using cat food though is the sodium content in it.

 

[Sydney Acres]

I had looked at the catfish pellets, but steered away because their main ingredient was poultry feathers. I don't feel mine need more protein, so I didn't worry about it. The thing I have read to watch for with using cat food though is the sodium content in it.

Oh, I'm not even sure that all the protein in feathers is metabolized, so might think you're getting the benefit of higher protein when you're just getting filler. OK, no catfish pellets.

 

[slfarms]

I had looked at the catfish pellets, but steered away because their main ingredient was poultry feathers.  I don't feel mine need more protein, so I didn't worry about it.  The thing I have read to watch for with using cat food though is the sodium content in it.  

I'm not sure which brand you looked at but the one I buy doesn't contain feathers?!?!?

How are you getting yours in the right percentages protein wise with just layer feed?

 

[Minniechickmama]

There were two brands I checked on that the TSC here carries and the protein listed was poultry feathers. I don't recall the brands since I just passed on getting them.

I use an 18% lay formula that works well for me. My Buckeyes fill out quite nicely with it and ranging on pasture all Spring, Summer and until about end of October/early November. I am still getting mine well within the SOP weights.

 

[JoshU]

I feed my chicks a half mix of chick and turkey starter. The tend to need higher protein in the first 8 weeks. After that they go on a 19% grower then 17% layer. The issue as far as protein goes for grown birds is they seem to do better with animal protein than they do with vegetable protein. I add pork meal to their layer ration. I add enough to bump their percentage to 18%. The new fad about no animal protein in feeds is a joke as far as I'm concerned. They need it. They are omnivores after all. And I have made comments about cat food before. I will NEVER feed it to my birds. It says on the bag not for human consumption for a reason. And I eat my culls and their eggs.