The Buckeye Thread

[cvamoca]

No the little one with the white earlobes isn't the toppy I mentioned. That one was killed by a neighbor's dog. The one with Toppy was a beautiful rooster with the feathers coming up out of the head like a crest.
You think the BB Red isn't pure? I've seen other BB Reds and he looks like them. I've been on a couple of Gamefowl pages and was told by other game owners that he was a BB Red or Hatch. When he gets in a scuff with other roosters in the run he will run around the inside of the hardware cloth and just all over the place. Very smart. He is extremely hard to catch. I have to wait until he is on the roost to get him.

He is BB Red in colour, for sure.
As far as being a game-- he might be from fighting stock which I think is a mishmash of different types of game fowl. He's not Old English though. (You never said he is.) But he might very well be from fighting stock, which often don't look much like the Old English, as they are bred to fight not for exhibition. (I bred exhibition birds only)

 

[cvamoca]

Her crop seemed empty last night and she did not want to be away from the flock. She pitched a fit so I put her back with them after getting some meds down her. I'm not sure what was wrong but she seems better this morning. She was in the nest box earlier. I had to go to town so I'm about to go check on her again.

Hope she is on the mend also.
Sucks when you have a good bird sick. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you.
I hold my breath every time I open up my barns, but I'm blessed with very healthy birds overall--some of my Araucanas are 10 years old and still lay. Apparently they "heard" I am really liking Buckeyes, and thought they better step up their game!

 

[cvamoca]

He is BB Red in colour, for sure.
As far as being a game-- he might be from fighting stock which I think is a mishmash of different types of game fowl. He's not Old English though. (You never said he is.) But he might very well be from fighting stock, which often don't look much like the Old English, as they are bred to fight not for exhibition. (I bred exhibition birds only)

That sounded harsh, and I didn't mean it that way.
I've always been interested in genetics of colour in chickens, and the light hackled guy is really neat.I'd like to try to figure it out.

 

[varidgerunner]

The BBR looks like he carries a little more game blood than the other one, but I don't think he is pure, looks like 3/4. I've done a lot of game crossing on utility breeds, you can get some pretty hardy and productive birds at 1/4 to 1/2 game blood. That is why I started reading about the buckeyes they have a game heritage. The old English, in the US is more of a mix that has been bred true to color. The American games have a different body style, more like Spanish Game in many instances. Some lines of Americans date back as far as some lines of Old English, Old English being a relatively new term. While people that used them for sport often crossed the birds they used, but kept pure lines closely guarded from outside blood. The crossing was for the same reason that Cornish is crossed with Rock, you get hybrid vigor and often a more predictable outcome when two pure lines are crossed than the results within one pure line. Some of the pure lines come very true to color, even though the color is not a recognized OEG color. There are a few that even come naturally sex linked different colors at hatching, I've always been surprised that that trait wasn't incorporated into another breed.

 

[valleychicks]

Hope she is on the mend also.
Sucks when you have a good bird sick. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you.
I hold my breath every time I open up my barns, but I'm blessed with very healthy birds overall--some of my Araucanas are 10 years old and still lay. Apparently they "heard" I am really liking Buckeyes, and thought they better step up their game!

That sounded harsh, and I didn't mean it that way.
I've always been interested in genetics of colour in chickens, and the light hackled guy is really neat.I'd like to try to figure it out.

Sorry I was a vendor at a local festival today so I've been busy the last few days. She is better. I think she had a weird thing with her egg laying. She just started to lay about a week ago. The morning after her acting strange I found egg yolk where she had been roosting so I believe she laid just the yolk, no shell. I guess her system is misfiring already. Not a good sign. I will keep an eye on her. I have upped the calcium in that pen.

I didn't take it in a bad way. I can tell when someone is being ugly or just being honest. I love my game roosters even if they are not pure. I have hens too but not sure if they are pure. Is there a good game thread you are on so I could post about them on that thread? I love learning all about chickens and the different breeds. I appreciate your help.

 

[valleychicks]

The BBR looks like he carries a little more game blood than the other one, but I don't think he is pure, looks like 3/4. I've done a lot of game crossing on utility breeds, you can get some pretty hardy and productive birds at 1/4 to 1/2 game blood. That is why I started reading about the buckeyes they have a game heritage. The old English, in the US is more of a mix that has been bred true to color. The American games have a different body style, more like Spanish Game in many instances. Some lines of Americans date back as far as some lines of Old English, Old English being a relatively new term. While people that used them for sport often crossed the birds they used, but kept pure lines closely guarded from outside blood. The crossing was for the same reason that Cornish is crossed with Rock, you get hybrid vigor and often a more predictable outcome when two pure lines are crossed than the results within one pure line. Some of the pure lines come very true to color, even though the color is not a recognized OEG color. There are a few that even come naturally sex linked different colors at hatching, I've always been surprised that that trait wasn't incorporated into another breed.

I do love Gamefowl and when I found out that the Buckeye had Game in their background I was not surprised. This made me love the Buckeye even more. They are big, beautiful and smart. All traits that are very important to me. I hope to always have Game and Buckeyes in my chicken raising future.

 

[BlackBriars]

Chicks are almost 17 weeks old now. Last pic is of their faithful protectors!

Feel free to critique everyone.

 

[cvamoca]

Sorry I was a vendor at a local festival today so I've been busy the last few days. She is better. I think she had a weird thing with her egg laying. She just started to lay about a week ago. The morning after her acting strange I found egg yolk where she had been roosting so I believe she laid just the yolk, no shell. I guess her system is misfiring already. Not a good sign. I will keep an eye on her. I have upped the calcium in that pen.

I didn't take it in a bad way. I can tell when someone is being ugly or just being honest. I love my game roosters even if they are not pure. I have hens too but not sure if they are pure. Is there a good game thread you are on so I could post about them on that thread? I love learning all about chickens and the different breeds. I appreciate your help.

If she managed to lay/drop the egg and the white, hopefully she'll be ok. If some of the egg is retained inside they can get peritonitis, which is usually fatal. Sucks.

I don't visit all the different breed threads as I no longer breed Old English--but the games as a whole have so many interesting and neat varieties, they were an obvious choice when I was learning about genetics. And as for purebreds or not--some of the neatest birds bar none, are crossbreds. There is something to be said for hybrid vigour. My steady laying flock is made up of crosses-- from Araucanas and Marans, making for lots of great coloured eggs. So, don't feel bad about not having a pedigreed bird--I would LOVE to capture that light hackled cockerel's colour reliably. He's really handsome.

Hope your Buckeye makes a recovery- if you have antibiotics it wouldn't hurt to give them. If you see any egg fragments around her vent, carefully pull them out.

 

[Minniechickmama]

Chicks are almost 17 weeks old now. Last pic is of their faithful protectors!

Feel free to critique everyone.

I love the dogs!

One thing I see on the females is an excess of fluffiness in the back, which may be contributing to their tails being at a lower angle. I would like to see some tighter feathering overall on the females. Some could use a bit more width in their heads. I do like the cockerels head and now it is coming on, and the comb and wattles are of good size, eye color is coming in good.
Overall, they look decent, and they aren't done developing, so in about 8 weeks, look at them again closer.
Color is always hard to gauge in photos, but overall the color appears clean, not spotty or seeing much black popping through.
Keep them going.

 

[BlackBriars]

I love the dogs!

One thing I see on the females is an excess of fluffiness in the back, which may be contributing to their tails being at a lower angle. I would like to see some tighter feathering overall on the females. Some could use a bit more width in their heads. I do like the cockerels head and now it is coming on, and the comb and wattles are of good size, eye color is coming in good.
Overall, they look decent, and they aren't done developing, so in about 8 weeks, look at them again closer.
Color is always hard to gauge in photos, but overall the color appears clean, not spotty or seeing much black popping through.
Keep them going.


Thank you very much Minniechickmama and everyone. I read all your posts in this thread and learn a lot.
I have several outliers color wise, of the 23 pullets remaining that I saw no need to post. One has heavy lacing with a light colored breast, she is a good forager. A couple have heavy splashes of blue green throughout their bodies. Both of them like to visit with me everyday, especially when I sit, they will come running just to hang out. I'll post them again in early Dec.