The Buckeye Thread

[cvamoca]

I'm trying to wrap my head around this and post something that will not be taken as offensive but just what percentage of chicken owners attend poultry shows and why do you think that conformation freaks should have such a monopoly on any breed of chicken? Intended with all due respect.

No offence taken. Most people don't show. I used to, and quit because of the potential for serious disease. In our Province ILT vaccinations aren't required to show, anymore.

As for freaks- Depends on what you consider conformation freaks. Modern Games? Well yes, they are freakish. Sort of like what happened to the Arabian horse and the German Shepherd Dog in the show ring- freaks, yes sir or ma'am-- they are.

It pisses me off in general when I spend a bunch of money expecting to get at least 1 pullet, and I get none. Especially if Welsummers are supposed to be sexable, but again- I really thought at first I had 4 females to 2 males when in fact one was a laced Buckeye cross with ???? and the rest were males. So I'm done before I started with Welsummers- a bunch of males with fuzz between their toes, and crow-wings. Not even worth butchering, so now I have a problem.

Maybe I should say- I would like to see poultry bred with the Standard of Perfection in mind and nothing else. Don't sell day olds if you don't know what's in their background or if you do- don't call them purebred. I realize 99% of people just want pretty birds- but for those of us who want to work with and save a critically endangered breed- give us something to work with!

I really like the Buckeyes I have- personality wise they are lovely. They should lay well. But can I breed them and help make them a force to be reckoned with? Not in my province. Not with what's out there. That is disappointing.

 

[hellbender]

No offence taken. Most people don't show. I used to, and quit because of the potential for serious disease. In our Province ILT vaccinations aren't required to show, anymore.

As for freaks- Depends on what you consider conformation freaks. Modern Games? Well yes, they are freakish. Sort of like what happened to the Arabian horse and the German Shepherd Dog in the show ring- freaks, yes sir or ma'am-- they are.

It pisses me off in general when I spend a bunch of money expecting to get at least 1 pullet, and I get none. Especially if Welsummers are supposed to be sexable, but again- I really thought at first I had 4 females to 2 males when in fact one was a laced Buckeye cross with ???? and the rest were males. So I'm done before I started with Welsummers- a bunch of males with fuzz between their toes, and crow-wings. Not even worth butchering, so now I have a problem.

Maybe I should say- I would like to see poultry bred with the Standard of Perfection in mind and nothing else. Don't sell day olds if you don't know what's in their background or if you do- don't call them purebred. I realize 99% of people just want pretty birds- but for those of us who want to work with and save a critically endangered breed- give us something to work with!

I really like the Buckeyes I have- personality wise they are lovely. They should lay well. But can I breed them and help make them a force to be reckoned with? Not in my province. Not with what's out there. That is disappointing.

I can certainly empathize. I have had chickens since I was a kid that were my own ...over 60 years. I started buying a few Buckeyes two years ago and was very lucky to have gotten them from Cackle Hatchery...I generally got about 50/50 and this season, I bought 25 White Chanteclers with 9 cockerels and the balance are pullets.

I got 25 Dark Cornish just Cackle stopped selling them and the ratio was about the same as the Chanteclers. I'm certain not everyone has received the same satisfaction from Cackle as have I but all in all, I'm very p;;eased with them

The Buckeyes from Cackle were far above average but certainly not conformation quality however, I have 4 pullets and 2 cockerels (Chanteclers) that are giving me pause. If they aren't conformation quality, that's fine...but they do fit all the needs I have for a second generation of pure breeding....Within my family, we use a total of 4 breeds to create capons from the F1 generation yet keep pure strains of the parent stock.

Don't know where you got your birds but I'd be talking to them...up and personal if needs be. I did have one little issue with cackle and they sent me a totally new order of birds free...Because I got on the phone and stirred up the sheit until I got satisfaction.

Good luck with where ever you get birds in the future.

 

[cvamoca]

I can certainly empathize. I have had chickens since I was a kid that were my own ...over 60 years. I started buying a few Buckeyes two years ago and was very lucky to have gotten them from Cackle Hatchery...I generally got about 50/50 and this season, I bought 25 White Chanteclers with 9 cockerels and the balance are pullets.

I got 25 Dark Cornish just Cackle stopped selling them and the ratio was about the same as the Chanteclers. I'm certain not everyone has received the same satisfaction from Cackle as have I but all in all, I'm very p;;eased with them

The Buckeyes from Cackle were far above average but certainly not conformation quality however, I have 4 pullets and 2 cockerels (Chanteclers) that are giving me pause. If they aren't conformation quality, that's fine...but they do fit all the needs I have for a second generation of pure breeding....Within my family, we use a total of 4 breeds to create capons from the F1 generation yet keep pure strains of the parent stock.

Don't know where you got your birds but I'd be talking to them...up and personal if needs be. I did have one little issue with cackle and they sent me a totally new order of birds free...Because I got on the phone and stirred up the sheit until I got satisfaction.

Good luck with where ever you get birds in the future.

I would love to learn to caponize, but it's quite the art, and my older eyes don't see well enough for fine surgery.

It wasn't a hatchery, it was a breeder in Canada with 6-7 different breeds. She made it clear that they do not sex their chicks, even the Welsummers (because obviously they do not sex correctly). I also understand that as a chick it's a chick- it's not till it becomes adult that you even have a clue what you have. Which is why I like to grow out my birds so I know what I'm looking at.

I'm going to add a couple pictures of my Buckeyes now and in the ongoing days. I will keep them if they are workable as a breed- I love the pullets. Chanteclers would have been my next pick because they are Canadian and endangered, but white birds don't do well here- too visible to predators, and I haven't seen any really good type other varieties of Chanteclers in standard size, though I did have some nice bantam whites at one time.

One of the pullets here- she only has a bit of black in her tail. Terrible picture, but she's a busy one.



Another pullet- she also has a tail, it just doesn't look like it!





I culled the other male a couple days ago because it had a retarded feathering gene- and was just wrong, he was stupid/retarded, something very amiss.

This guy above has 2 thin longish sickles and he does have a full tail, just not a good photographer here. He's a pretty guy, just have no idea if he's any use for breeding. If not we can eat him and keep the pullets for laying, and try to get better stock next year.

For the Welsummers, they will be eating birds I guess. I'll stick to pea combs, except for the Marans- which have yet to prove they are Marans- I'm waiting for eggs. May keep one Welsummer who's friendly for a flock rooster.

Then there are my Brahmas- totally different breeders, and whether they are good enough or not...I can only hope they are as I really like all of them. Will have to post some pictures in the Brahma thread...most are quite clean marked but I hear they are likely too red. So we'll cross that bridge after they mature a bit more...

 

[hellbender]

Caponizing can be fairly easily learned. I have some very serious visual limitations that are overcome with what is essentially a visor-light with a jeweler's loop. I could otherwise hardly be able to see the chick, much less the testes. I caponize chicks (youngsters) at about 6 weeks but have also performed the operation with birds as old as 6 months.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/210041/how-to-caponize-a-rooster-warning-graphic-pics

 

[Metella]

I've heard mostly really good things about caponizing .... I guess I will have to join you all in this process ....

 

[hellbender]

Like anything, caponization takes practice and no little dedication but the rewards are enormous.

 

[cvamoca]

That's excellent- coincidentally, I made jewelry, and happen to have both a Jeweller's loop, an eye visor AND light! I am going to read that thread. I happen to be a nurse so it's not outside the realm of possibility as long as I don't kill them! It's a shame to have to waste them otherwise. I'll do surgery on a dead one first...it freaks me out a bit but it's probably a good option...

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

hellbender, I had a look at the caponizing thread

and let me tell you, I am very glad that I want my chickens for the eggs!!! I think I could do it if the chicken was unconscious, but to have it look at me wide awake through that procedure.......... naaa............eeeek!

 

[cvamoca]

I believe this above pullet and cockerel are full brother and sister. I like this girl- originally thought to be a cockerel until she failed to grow any saddle feathers.

What I can see by looking at these Buckeyes if genetics hasn't changed, these birds are Columbian Restricted (co) which restricts black to neck and tail, the same pattern seen in Brahmas, Sussex, etc. Also, they have Db (dark brown- as in Rhode Island Reds and New Hampshires) which adds the brown in their bodies. The same also perhaps explains why they have a light coating of the same red down their outer legs. Not the above pullet... they also have the pattern gene Pg. They started as eb (partridge) chicks with typical partridge markings

Ok- reading the SOP- they need to have tails 30 degrees above horizontal. Most of these Buckeyes are pretty much horizontal. They do have the correct comb- a very neat pea comb in most of the females, and not overly large in the one cockerel. Correct eye and leg colour, I think.











I take pictures of this girl a lot because she's always around. Disregard the Welsummer cockerels in the pictures.
I can see where some look somewhat more like Cornish in the face, Cornish have a particularly "serious" face, like an eagle does!


Looking at an old SOP, I guess they really aren't too bad, and certainly could be allowed to grow and mature more.

 

[cvamoca]

hellbender, I had a look at the caponizing thread

and let me tell you, I am very glad that I want my chickens for the eggs!!! I think I could do it if the chicken was unconscious, but to have it look at me wide awake through that procedure.......... naaa............eeeek!

I don't think I could do it, either. If I could knock them out first...but not awake.