The Buckeye Thread

[Minniechickmama]

I will do that. I have one Buckeye/Easter egged right now and that's it for Buckeye crosses. I'm thinking its a pullet but it's hard to tell!

The color tells me it is a pullet. How do the legs look compared to others? I too find that the type from Buckeyes do pass on strong to crosses. I have a green legged mutt out here who is out of a Buckeye rooster and if you didn't look at color, you would think she is a Buck.

 

[holm25]

The color tells me it is a pullet.  How do the legs look compared to others?  I too find that the type from Buckeyes do pass on strong to crosses.  I have a green legged mutt out here who is out of a Buckeye rooster and if you didn't look at color, you would think she is a Buck.

She has medium sized olive colored legs. She is the second biggest chick from that batch of chicks but all but two were bantam crosses.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

What is the minimum weight for a 16 week old Buckeye cockerel, if he's going to make the SOP weight requirements?

 

[Minniechickmama]

What is the minimum weight for a 16 week old Buckeye cockerel, if he's going to make the SOP weight requirements?

I don't really weigh mine until they are about 7-8 months and I am getting ready to cull out the ones I don't need. The weight on a cockerel at that time I think is good at 7.5-8.0 SOP says 8.0 for cockerels, but I think they should meet that by 9-months minimum.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

I need some breeding advice please!
Last year I had one Buckeye rooster and two reasonably good hens. They all had faults, I did not have enough stock to choose from, but there were things I really liked about them too. They probably were related, they came from the same breeder in one set of eggs.
I hatched the eggs from the first cross this spring, and now I have one cockerel, and ten pullets. All I can do at this point is breed the cockerel to the best of the pullets. The cockerel is not bad but too small. The pullets could also be bigger. Am I seeing the effects of inbreeding? They seem healthy otherwise. How difficult is it to build up size?

Is there any point in continuing with this exercise? I've read conflicting advice, some say start with what you have, others say that you can breed inferior birds till the cows come home and never get anywhere.

I do plan to get good breeding stock in the future ( once my bank account recovers). Would I learn anything of value if I continue to breed the Buckeyes I have now until then? is it possible that if I continue breeding the best of the best of these (probably inbred) birds I might get somewhere? I don't want to breed for the sake of breeding, is this a futile pursuit?
My next step would be to breed the best daughter back to the father. But don't you only line breed like that when the parents are superior stock? Is there a better breeding strategy that I could follow, if none of the parents are exceptional, and are related?

The reason I'm asking, is that the Buckeye pullets would be fine for some crossbreeding, but I would cull the cockerel if there's no point continuing with him. I don't really want to do any breeding if it's going nowhere.
Any thoughts? This is not an emotional decision for me, it's a pragmatic one, so please don't pull your punches!

 

[Minniechickmama]

I need some breeding advice please!
Last year I had one Buckeye rooster and two reasonably good hens. They all had faults, I did not have enough stock to choose from, but there were things I really liked about them too. They probably were related, they came from the same breeder in one set of eggs.
I hatched the eggs from the first cross this spring, and now I have one cockerel, and ten pullets. All I can do at this point is breed the cockerel to the best of the pullets. The cockerel is not bad but too small. The pullets could also be bigger. Am I seeing the effects of inbreeding? They seem healthy otherwise. How difficult is it to build up size?

Is there any point in continuing with this exercise? I've read conflicting advice, some say start with what you have, others say that you can breed inferior birds till the cows come home and never get anywhere.

I do plan to get good breeding stock in the future ( once my bank account recovers). Would I learn anything of value if I continue to breed the Buckeyes I have now until then? is it possible that if I continue breeding the best of the best of these (probably inbred) birds I might get somewhere? I don't want to breed for the sake of breeding, is this a futile pursuit?
My next step would be to breed the best daughter back to the father. But don't you only line breed like that when the parents are superior stock? Is there a better breeding strategy that I could follow, if none of the parents are exceptional, and are related?

The reason I'm asking, is that the Buckeye pullets would be fine for some crossbreeding, but I would cull the cockerel if there's no point continuing with him. I don't really want to do any breeding if it's going nowhere.
Any thoughts? This is not an emotional decision for me, it's a pragmatic one, so please don't pull your punches!

I believe there are always things to learn from breeding. I don't know how "inferior" your Bucks are, but if they have some good traits, then you can try to improve by pairing what you have and see if those traits will come through. Look for clean color more in the males. Size will come from hens, so use your biggest, best ones to breed to. If you are only looking to build your own flock and not get into selling, then you don't need that many females unless they are all of good quality. Be picky. Then, get the best birds you can next season from another breeder
You can breed daughter to father, but what traits is each bringing and do you believe they will compliment each other? If not, then rethink it. The goal in any breeding should be to produce better stock than the parents. Do you think you can achieve that?

 

[cvamoca]

I need some breeding advice please!
Last year I had one Buckeye rooster and two reasonably good hens. They all had faults, I did not have enough stock to choose from, but there were things I really liked about them too. They probably were related, they came from the same breeder in one set of eggs.
I hatched the eggs from the first cross this spring, and now I have one cockerel, and ten pullets. All I can do at this point is breed the cockerel to the best of the pullets. The cockerel is not bad but too small. The pullets could also be bigger. Am I seeing the effects of inbreeding? They seem healthy otherwise. How difficult is it to build up size?

Is there any point in continuing with this exercise? I've read conflicting advice, some say start with what you have, others say that you can breed inferior birds till the cows come home and never get anywhere.

I do plan to get good breeding stock in the future ( once my bank account recovers). Would I learn anything of value if I continue to breed the Buckeyes I have now until then? is it possible that if I continue breeding the best of the best of these (probably inbred) birds I might get somewhere? I don't want to breed for the sake of breeding, is this a futile pursuit?
My next step would be to breed the best daughter back to the father. But don't you only line breed like that when the parents are superior stock? Is there a better breeding strategy that I could follow, if none of the parents are exceptional, and are related?

The reason I'm asking, is that the Buckeye pullets would be fine for some crossbreeding, but I would cull the cockerel if there's no point continuing with him. I don't really want to do any breeding if it's going nowhere.
Any thoughts? This is not an emotional decision for me, it's a pragmatic one, so please don't pull your punches!

I hear you loud and clear, CanadianBuckeye. I have similar problems, only worse luck.
Last year I started with 5 pullets and 2 cockerels. Culled one male as he was "dumb--like something was really missing "upstairs" and he had a super slow feathering thing going on. Bought another pair from the same breeder. Had to cull 2 pullets, one just this week. Lost the other male--he just disappeared out of a barn he never left--magically gone. My other cockerel, well I guess he's a rooster now--has a 3 inch chunk of white in his main sickle. I have 3 hens left.

I'm out.
I raised no Buckeye chicks this year as the hens were constantly broody--and while I had thought about using them either as a meat cross with Brahmas, I much prefer my annoying incorrectly coloured Buff Brahmas overall. I have 2 crossbred Buckeye cockerels who'll be going in the freezer shortly. They are quite beautiful, SilkieXBuckeye and male, fast feathering and large as the original Buckeye male.

I know how much and how hard you wanted to succeed, and how hard you've tried. It's a beautiful breed, and it's an important breed that's so often overlooked because it isn't as flashy as some. All I can tell you is this often repeated phrase--"Breed the best to the best, and hope for the best".

 

[Turk Raphael]

I hear you loud and clear, CanadianBuckeye. I have similar problems, only worse luck.
Last year I started with 5 pullets and 2 cockerels. Culled one male as he was "dumb--like something was really missing "upstairs" and he had a super slow feathering thing going on. Bought another pair from the same breeder. Had to cull 2 pullets, one just this week. Lost the other male--he just disappeared out of a barn he never left--magically gone. My other cockerel, well I guess he's a rooster now--has a 3 inch chunk of white in his main sickle. I have 3 hens left.

I'm out.
I raised no Buckeye chicks this year as the hens were constantly broody--and while I had thought about using them either as a meat cross with Brahmas, I much prefer my annoying incorrectly coloured Buff Brahmas overall. I have 2 crossbred Buckeye cockerels who'll be going in the freezer shortly. They are quite beautiful, SilkieXBuckeye and male, fast feathering and large as the original Buckeye male.

I know how much and how hard you wanted to succeed, and how hard you've tried. It's a beautiful breed, and it's an important breed that's so often overlooked because it isn't as flashy as some. All I can tell you is this often repeated phrase--"Breed the best to the best, and hope for the best".

@cvamoca I strongly disagree with one of your points. In my opinion, the Buckeye can be extremely flashy if you cast your eye on the right stock.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

I believe there are always things to learn from breeding. I don't know how "inferior" your Bucks are, but if they have some good traits, then you can try to improve by pairing what you have and see if those traits will come through. Look for clean color more in the males. Size will come from hens, so use your biggest, best ones to breed to. If you are only looking to build your own flock and not get into selling, then you don't need that many females unless they are all of good quality. Be picky. Then, get the best birds you can next season from another breeder
You can breed daughter to father, but what traits is each bringing and do you believe they will compliment each other? If not, then rethink it. The goal in any breeding should be to produce better stock than the parents. Do you think you can achieve that?

I hear you loud and clear, CanadianBuckeye. I have similar problems, only worse luck.
Last year I started with 5 pullets and 2 cockerels. Culled one male as he was "dumb--like something was really missing "upstairs" and he had a super slow feathering thing going on. Bought another pair from the same breeder. Had to cull 2 pullets, one just this week. Lost the other male--he just disappeared out of a barn he never left--magically gone. My other cockerel, well I guess he's a rooster now--has a 3 inch chunk of white in his main sickle. I have 3 hens left.

I'm out.
I raised no Buckeye chicks this year as the hens were constantly broody--and while I had thought about using them either as a meat cross with Brahmas, I much prefer my annoying incorrectly coloured Buff Brahmas overall. I have 2 crossbred Buckeye cockerels who'll be going in the freezer shortly. They are quite beautiful, SilkieXBuckeye and male, fast feathering and large as the original Buckeye male.

I know how much and how hard you wanted to succeed, and how hard you've tried. It's a beautiful breed, and it's an important breed that's so often overlooked because it isn't as flashy as some. All I can tell you is this often repeated phrase--"Breed the best to the best, and hope for the best".

I hear you loud and clear, CanadianBuckeye. I have similar problems, only worse luck.
Last year I started with 5 pullets and 2 cockerels. Culled one male as he was "dumb--like something was really missing "upstairs" and he had a super slow feathering thing going on. Bought another pair from the same breeder. Had to cull 2 pullets, one just this week. Lost the other male--he just disappeared out of a barn he never left--magically gone. My other cockerel, well I guess he's a rooster now--has a 3 inch chunk of white in his main sickle. I have 3 hens left.

I'm out.
I raised no Buckeye chicks this year as the hens were constantly broody--and while I had thought about using them either as a meat cross with Brahmas, I much prefer my annoying incorrectly coloured Buff Brahmas overall. I have 2 crossbred Buckeye cockerels who'll be going in the freezer shortly. They are quite beautiful, SilkieXBuckeye and male, fast feathering and large as the original Buckeye male.

I know how much and how hard you wanted to succeed, and how hard you've tried. It's a beautiful breed, and it's an important breed that's so often overlooked because it isn't as flashy as some. All I can tell you is this often repeated phrase--"Breed the best to the best, and hope for the best".

I agree, I think there has been a little unsupervised crossing of breeds in that line! But I agree with you, Buckeyes do make excellent crosses. I'm extremely pleased with my Buckeye/Cornish and Buckeye/production red crosses. I'd be very tempted to cross one of those Brahmas with a Buckeye.
In a year or two, I'll have some more experience which will definitely help, and I will source some more very good Buckeyes and have another go.

I believe there are always things to learn from breeding. I don't know how "inferior" your Bucks are, but if they have some good traits, then you can try to improve by pairing what you have and see if those traits will come through. Look for clean color more in the males. Size will come from hens, so use your biggest, best ones to breed to. If you are only looking to build your own flock and not get into selling, then you don't need that many females unless they are all of good quality. Be picky. Then, get the best birds you can next season from another breeder
You can breed daughter to father, but what traits is each bringing and do you believe they will compliment each other? If not, then rethink it. The goal in any breeding should be to produce better stock than the parents. Do you think you can achieve that?

I would say that the F1 cross is not as good as the parents :-( . The pullets are better than the cockerel, he is too light boned, his colour is a bit light but otherwise nice and even- the pullets too- but all the pullets have the excess fluffiness and cushion.
So what I will do, is just be patient, muck about with some crosses just to learn how to select for traits and see how good my breeding bird selection ability is- and then start over with some new Buckeye stock in the future.

Thanks MCM and cvamoca!

 

[cvamoca]

@cvamoca I strongly disagree with one of your points. In my opinion, the Buckeye can be extremely flashy if you cast your eye on the right stock.

I don't mean they aren't flashy--I absolutely ADORE my rooster--he looks like he's been polished--his sheen is phenomenal. He's gorgeous, except for that frigging white in his sickle. I'm not going to get rid of them--I couldn't. But I don't have the best stock, and all I've had with them was trouble--broody hens and an aggressive male who tries to kill everything that isn't superior to him in the flock. He reminds me a great deal of a Cornish in attitude and looks--in fact one of the wives even had lacing.
CanadianBuckeye and I got our birds from the same breeder, and they have problems with type and color, and cushion and size...she's no longer breeding them.