The Buckeye Thread

[Blueface]

Pretty sure that there are more than 30 buckeyes entered

 

[slfarms]

Here's a pic of a really nice buckeye comb. It's attached to a 5 month old cockerel that weighs 7 lbs 5 ounces. This bird is showing excellent potential!! He should be ready for the ON and the National meet in TN.

Joe how exactly do you get the deep red color on your birds skin on the face?

I've heard of different methods through the years but would like to know how you deal with paler faces and what might cause it.

 

[fowlman01]

Joe how exactly do you get the deep red color on your birds skin on the face?

I've heard of different methods through the years but would like to know how you deal with paler faces and what might cause it.

Lots of sun works for me.

Walt

 

[slfarms]

...

Lots of sun works for me.

Walt
[/]

So Sun is a component. I know it pinks me up if I let it

 

[Blueface]

IMO, Walt is correct, but overall health also has to be taken into consideration. Healthy birds will usually always have a "pep" in their step so to speak. Ensuring that you fowl are on a regulated schedule to prevent internal and external parasites is recommended. But with that being said, a bird should be able to care for itself adequately if provided the proper environment. As we all should know, without the proper health, top grade poultry are worthless. Common sense should always be taken into consideration. It's sure as heck not using such things as putting cyan pepper up their noses of which I read recently. Your face would turn red too if I shoved a pound of pepper up your nose!! Common sense really has to be taken into consideration.

 

[fowlman01]

Sun is it..... no mystical secret. I don't even dress my combs with anything at the show. Notice how their butts get red when they are molting? If you live where there is no sun or the bird is sick I guess red would be a problem.

 

[poltroon]

Birds don't have receptors for capsaicin like mammals do. That's why they will eat the peppers and disperse the seeds. It's a common addition to birdseed to keep squirrels out.

 

[Blueface]

At any rate, ensuring proper health; additives or powders won't be necessary. I raise various peppers every year and the chickens never touch them.....

 

[slfarms]

Eating them is one thing but sticking it up there noses sounds like animal cruelty. It would burn out the nasal cavities.

I'll stick with genetically sound birds and sunshine.

 

[poltroon]

Typical use of cayenne is to keep rodents out of the feed. Some people think it has antimicrobial/immune benefits... I won't vouch for those and especially not in birds. I doubt there's any science for that. But there are even multiple threads about doing so here on BYC.

I've never heard of someone "sticking it up bird noses" but even if you did it wouldn't be any more irritating than any other powder or dust... birds have no receptor for capsaicin that would make it feel "hot" or painful. It would not have any reddening effect rubbed on the skin, either. (Unlike peppermint extract, which has been advocated by a poultry authority figure to my daughter. We talked it out and agreed that we weren't okay with it.)

You can imagine that the pigments and other chemical compounds in cayenne could be valuable. I know in horses that paprika is now popular as a supplement to enhance coat color in black horses that can otherwise fade in the sun. However, one wonders if you would have enough in any feeding program to make a big difference.

Red skin on the face, wattles, and comb to me seems to be indicating a bird that is in good health and one that is laying well. They tend to get more pink as they go towards a molt. But it doesn't seem to be pigment related.

Feeding definitely is going to have some impact on color. You can see how much darker the egg yolks are if you have birds on fresh grass, just as the most obvious example. The birds can't make pigment out of nothing - they need the chemical precursors to do it.