The Buckeye Thread

[cgmccary]

Chris - that is what I was thinking ... that once I get a little flock going that is hardy in Vermont - I will use the birds that are older as the parent birds - ensuring they have what it takes in my area .... and then not feeding the medicate starter .... knowing at first I may have a higher loss rate.

What ages do you consider "older" ? I would say for my situation at least living and coming out in good shape from 2 winters ....? but am just forming my ideas on this.

This past year, I used 2-5 year old hens & cocks that were 1-2 years old.

I found I was safe from Marek's past one year -- losses I used have occurred at about point of lay for the pullets and between 7 months and 12 months for cockerels.

I have not used medicated starter for the past 6 years. I also use hens to hatch a good deal of the time too. The hens raise them either out in a pen on the ground or free range outside with them from day one. I have not lost one chick using hens (not even the free range hens & chicks). Chicks hatched and raised inside, also, I rarely have a loss. I keep the brooder as clean as possible and change the water a couple of times per day. Chicks raised outside are healthy, hardy & wise.

 

[taylynnp]

I just weighed all my 12 week olds. Can someone give me some feedback?

I didn't have a high protein starter so I supplemented with meal worms. If the weights are low compared to other Buckeyes, I'll definitely adjust how I feed my chicks next year. I sourced a fish meal feed at 8 weeks and they've also been free ranged since about that time.

Cockerels- the top three were at 4 lbs 8 oz, 4 lbs 5 oz, and 4 lbs 1 oz. The smaller ones were between 3 lbs 12 oz and 3 lbs 6 oz.

Suspected Pullets- top two were 3 lbs 2 oz and then two at 3 lbs 1 oz. Most were just barely under 3 lbs and one itty bitty at 2 lbs 4 oz.

 

[Canieldonrad]

My birds are just shy of 12 weeks, and its cool enough outside. Let me go check them and I'll let you know what I have at the moment. Give me about an hour, I'll edit this post.



Edit - I only weighed the first 7 I grabbed. One of the cockerels fought with the sack enough that he tore one of the holes I use to hook(re-purposed pillow case) onto the scale.

Of the 7 birds I got
3 Pullets:
#1) 2lb 8oz visually and feel wise she seems the smallest in my group of birds. So that is fairly close to your small one. Not something I would concern myself with in the short term, keep an eye open for long term. I will likely show this one, shes proportioned well. Handles marvelously and holds herself the way I would expect a show bird to. She will be underweight, and I have a strong feeling judges will dock points. But I don't think she will miss target by a great deal.
#2) 3lb even
#3) 3lb 4oz
I would say your pullets are on par, I fed mine a turkey starter for 8 weeks, then switched over to a show bird conditioner. I got my birds from Laura and I trust she has fairly accurate weight on her adult birds. I've assessed the parents of my birds myself, they appear up to standard in size and shape.

4 Cockerels, only got my big ones. They were the very slow and clumsy runners. Don't base your overall weights off of these.
#1) 4lb even
#2) 4lb about a half ounce, I'll call it 4lb even.
#3) 4lb 6oz(currently my favorite, he looks and feels nice)
#4) 4lb 10oz, broke my pillow case sack(what.a.fatty). He is also looking to bring out a lot of Cornish characteristics the past couple of weeks. Really beginning to dislike him. But I'll probably take him to Columbus if someone wants to buy him for breeding size(Though I'm not sure how well he compares to other breeder's big babies).
If I had to make an estimate on my others, I'd say they range from low end 2lb 10oz to high end 3lb 14oz


Up until a couple of days ago I had one pullet that was under 1lb 8oz. We dispatched her. Dissected a bit, found a string or something caught around the base of the tongue(deep into the neck). It was heavily infected, and built up so much that she wasn't swallowing much.

 

[johnyreb1776]

I have a question about my Buckeye chicks I got from Myers. A couple of caveats before I ask my question. It is my first time raising chickens and I have been reading this site for awhile. I am originally from Ohio but now living in North Carolina and was directed to the Buckeye breed by my brother who is studying Sustainable Agriculture at Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute. When I initially started my research and ordered chicks from a hatchery I had not fully explored all the possibilities of obtaining chickens and their related quality and purebred differences from ordering from a hatchery versus a breeder. I got a straight run of 4 Buckeyes with the other chicks I ordered shipped on 7/15/2013. One Buckeye died during shipping. All three of the remaining buckeye chicks look very different from one another, I know they are still young and their feathers are coming in but are the variations because they are from a hatchery or is this a standard expectation/experience with the breed? One is what I would expect and have seen from pictures of Buckeye chicks, one is very light colored, almost blonde but is otherwise like the other except it has been the smallest from day one. The third one has a blackish stripe one its head and middle of the back and it's wing feathers are totally different than the other two. I don't know if this is based on sex, but what I have read it is very hard to sex buckeye chicks. Pictures are below:

#1:



#2.




#3.






All together:












Thanks.

Jonathan

 

[Pathfinders]

Hi Jonathan,

I have heard Myers sells Buckeyes, but we haven't been able to find out from whom they got their stock originally. As I have said before, hatchery birds are not a terrible thing, they are a good way to determine if you want to continue with a breed, and so it's just fine that you got yours from a hatchery, no one will look down their nose at you because you did, so don't worry about that.

The thing about hatcheries though, is that they don't spend as much time as a dedicated breeder would looking at type and color in order to set up breed pens with specific birds to address any issues their stock may have. A breeder will do that, and spends a lot more time assessing what goes into what pen, and what feature in their birds might need to be corrected and so on. So there are advantages to buying from a dedicated breeder.

When looking at your photos, the thing to bear in mind about Buckeyes is, there is sometimes quite a lot of variation in chick down, and it's not something to worry about too much. As long as your birds wind up with proper type and color, you'll be ok.

Here are some of my chicks from this past spring, at ten days of age:




Have fun with your new birds!

Cheers,

LH

 

[knittychickadee]

Jonathon, my last hatch of the year is the exact age of yours. Here's a brave one that didn't scatter when I stuck my cell phone down there to snap a quickie . They were a little nervous because they moved to a bigger space today-




Mine have had a crazy couple weeks. First they went through a terrible heat wave with heat indexes over 100 for most of a week. They had no heat lights at all, in fact I was having trouble keeping them cool even without them. I was changing ice water for them every couple hours and they were panting pretty good for several days. Then an electrical storm came through and dropped the temp down to 50 in one night, but also took out the electric for over 7 hrs. I was afraid I'd lose some that night with such a huge change in temps, but every time I went out to check them with a flashlight they were sleeping nicely next to each other and seemed comfortable. Tough little buggers!

 

[motherochickens]

Susie, my buckeye

 

[JoAnn_WI_4-H_Mom]

Banner was an Urch Chick February 2012, took American Breed Champion at 2012 county fair, took American Breed Reserve Champion 2013 Fair.
He is the bird we take out for little children to pet, and he guards the broiler pens at home.



Rose is Banner's Feb 2013 daughter and took American Breed Champion at 2013 county fair.
Rose inherited her father's people-friendly attitude. Not the best pose, I know.

This is a small county fair. I am wondering how are my sons and I doing? What do you think?

 

[cgmccary]

Banner was an Urch Chick February 2012, took American Breed Champion at 2012 county fair, took American Breed Reserve Champion 2013 Fair.
He is the bird we take out for little children to pet, and he guards the broiler pens at home.



Rose is Banner's Feb 2013 daughter and took American Breed Champion at 2013 county fair.
Rose inherited her father's people-friendly attitude. Not the best pose, I know.

This is a small county fair. I am wondering how are my sons and I doing? What do you think?

Congratulations! Your birds look real nice!

 

[JoAnn_WI_4-H_Mom]

How important is the pea comb for showing? My roosters tend to not have the defined three ridges, rather more like a small cushion comb. Should I look for a different roo?

I like the mild manner of my roos, but the Buckeye flock as a whole does not forage well, and I think the laid back attitude is responsible.