The Buckeye Thread

[CanadianBuckeye]

He's a very handsome fellow indeed. Looks very solid.

 

[Blueface]

Week 2 in the books, great hatch

 

[Blueface]

A lot can change in 7 days.....Buckeyes are noted for their fast growth.

 

[Blueface]

Strong healthy Buckeye chick.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Blueface you are going to have to stop posting pictures of those lovely, lovely chicks! I'm trying very hard not to fire up my incubator........... you aren't helping!

I bought a new-to-me Sportsman- I'm just trying to figure out how to run it now, but it seems to be ready to go. Can't wait!

 

[Minniechickmama]

I just candled my first batch a couple of days ago. The fertility wasn't as high as I had hoped, but understandable with the cold we had at the time they were collected. But I have some very nice sized eggs coming out of all the girls, young and old, and I like seeing that. I will have more going in later today.

I talked with the State Poultry office yesterday about testing and AI stuff yesterday. Hopefully that will be all set within a few days and I will be ready to start shipping eggs out again. It was a sad state of affairs last year with the outbreak, but is looks like it is a green light for getting things caught up this year.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Minniechickmama I'm really, really hoping there's no avian influenza outbreak this year too!

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

We are having a cold snap, last night I vaselined all the combs and wattles- hopefully that will help with frostbite- and while I was at it I tried the pubic bone/ depth test. According to that my Buckeyes and Cornish should be laying as well as my red sex link crosses........ which they are not. So I concluded that you can't compare across breeds, only birds within the breed to determine egg laying ability. (?)
I checked my Buckeye rooster too- he's pretty narrow between the pubic bones, only a finger and a half distance, but has good depth (six fingers and a very nice broad back (way bigger than my hand). I suppose he will pass on the narrow pubic measurement to his female chicks? I only have one rooster so it's tough to tell how he compares to other Buckeyes- if anyone has a good laying strain rooster, have you measured the distance between pubic bones/ depth? I'd appreciate knowing, thanks.

 

[Blueface]

Minniechickmama I'm really, really hoping there's no avian influenza outbreak this year too!

There has already been 11 cases of AI in Southern Indiana, but it was a different stain. 1 case was of the highly contagious variety and the remaining 10 were of the low variety. A total of 400,000 birds were killed.but seems to have been stopped.

 

[Blueface]

We are having a cold snap, last night I vaselined all the combs and wattles-  hopefully that will help with frostbite- and while I was at it I tried the pubic bone/ depth test. According to that my Buckeyes and Cornish should be laying as well as my red sex link crosses........ which they are not. So I concluded that you can't compare across breeds, only birds within the breed to determine egg laying ability. (?) 
I checked my Buckeye rooster too- he's pretty narrow between the pubic bones, only a finger and a half distance,  but has good depth (six fingers and a very nice broad back (way bigger than my hand).  I suppose he will pass on the narrow pubic measurement to his female chicks?  I only have one rooster so it's tough to tell how he compares to other Buckeyes- if anyone has a good laying strain rooster, have you measured the distance between pubic bones/ depth? I'd appreciate knowing, thanks.

Sexlinks are a hybrid strain of fowl bred particularly for eggs, to my understanding. Cornish and Buckeyes are different, buckeyes only slightly. Nether breed will lay quite as well from what I've observed.
As far the the pelvic width of female vs male.....based on my experience, you can't compare the two....a wide pelvic width on a male only means that he is fat. I breed males that have a longer breast bone.....this prevents males that are short in back and coupled up front. This also prevents males that tend to narrow in width down he body. A buckeye needs to be of equal width from back to tail and many have become to wide up front and narrow to the back. This is a result of breeding overly for a wide chest. This trait inturn is passed to the female offspring and allows for greater egg production. This trait also allows for more breast meat capabilities in future generations.