The Buckeye Thread

[MunchiesChicks]

When I got home Saturday I bathed well showered the 3 and the water was nearly black. You can't tell me that doesn't affect their coloring and the weight of the feathers etc. The messed up feathers I thought was from the shower was from the transport home. I guess I will find out in December.

 

[Pathfinders]

Here's my two cents on bathing chickens before shows, and IANAE (I am not an expert), but I did show for six years before taking three off:

Some breeders seldom wash their birds. Some bathe everything. When I was new to showing, I asked Matt Lhamon (who is a judge, longtime breeder, and now President of the ABA) if I really needed to wash all my birds before a show. His reply was "Only wash the ones you want to win."

Think about that now.

I think that judges can probably tell if a bird has been recently washed. Their feathers are cleaner, their vents are cleaner, scales on legs are smoother, the whole nine yards. And they smell better! So I think if a judge was waffling between two birds (no two birds are exactly the same, of course), he might (and Walt can correct me if I'm wrong) take the fact that one bird had been washed and one not into consideration in the final hair splitting decision.

An exhibitor that takes the time to wash his birds shows that teeny tiny bit more of, what do you want to call it, dedication? Persnicketiness? I dunno. I could be completely wrong. But I have since become superstitious about it, and will wash birds I want particularly to win, (usually do them all, but it's much easier with bantams, I assure you!)

I do know if I am going to two shows a week apart I'll wash before the first one but not the second one. And many exhibitors will add a little fabric softener to the second rinse to make sure the soap they're using doesn't strip the oils from the bird, if they are washing close to the date of the show.

And my experience matches Chris's with regards to finding that washing birds calms them down a lot too. I waffle about cage training before shows. I worry that tails will get shredded and I won't be able to take a nice bird because he messed up his tail. So generally I don't do it. And with Buckeyes it's my experience that usually you don't need to. I decided not to do so this fall, we'll see if that turns out to be a problem or not. But I will be washing (and folks, when washing large fowl, be prepared to get soaked, because there's always that one darned bird who flaps his wings just at the wrong time and covers you and the room with soapy water!

If you all haven't seen this pic before, it's a cute one of three Dutch birds all wrapped in towels waiting to be blown dry (chicken burritos!):

 

[slfarms]

I don't know if just their legs being bathed would have the same effect. When I am weighing birds, I clean their legs and feet so my scales don't get filthy. Probably, the young cockerel, being under water with just their head exposed, calms him.  I know the first time I bathed a chicken, I thought it was very difficult, but it got easier with practice. Sometimes I have not had the time to bathe or had to substitute so they did not get a bath.

4-h teaches the kids a washing technique prior to bringing them into a show. For our oegb we wash four-five days prior to show to allow for the natural oils to return. Those were silver duck wings so it was to clean the white areas. For the bucks we don't wash prior to showing.

 

[AinaWGSD]

Munchies about 10 yrs ago I had a flock of about 24 older Australorp hens processed for soup; they came back to me shrink wrapped and frozen. Picking little black pinfeathers every time I thawed one drove me nuts lol.

I haven't had too much of a problem with dark pinfeathers in the buckeye cockerels I've processed. They don't clean up quite as nice as a white feathered bird, but I manage to get most of the pinfeathers. My husband accidentally killed our rooster (ok, 10 month old cockerel) last weekend and I was very impressed with how well he cleaned up. When I was done plucking there were hardly any pinfeathers at all! I seem to remember the younger cockerels (I want to say they were 4 or 5 months when we processed) having more pinfeathers when we processed this spring. Then again, I have no idea how plucking by hand compares to automated plucking that a processor would use.

 

[MunchiesChicks]

I haven't had too much of a problem with dark pinfeathers in the buckeye cockerels I've processed.  They don't clean up quite as nice as a white feathered bird, but I manage to get most of the pinfeathers.  My husband accidentally killed our rooster (ok, 10 month old cockerel) last weekend and I was very impressed with how well he cleaned up.  When I was done plucking there were hardly any pinfeathers at all!  I seem to remember the younger cockerels (I want to say they were 4 or 5 months when we processed) having more pinfeathers when we processed this spring.  Then again, I have no idea how plucking by hand compares to automated plucking that a processor would use.

We skin our birds during processing. It's like taking off a coat. We never cook our chickens with skin even before we owned chickens.

 

[Minniechickmama]

I am glad to see the thread open again. Thanks to the moderators.

I did want to comment about bathing birds before shows. I have bathed some of my show birds, and some I have not. I have not shown enough or have enough experience to notice whether it makes a difference in showing or not with the Buckeye. I would think it would make a bigger difference with a white bird (or a lighter colored bird that showed dirt OR a visibly dirty bird).

Another point: I raise my birds free range, and I have always felt like my younger birds were wilder acting than they should be for a show (especially the cockerels). I worried about this at my first show in 2009. ( I envisioned my birds jumping and bringing down the cages.) However, I noticed a bath seems to calm them down a bit. {I am told the wildlife rehab centers bathe birds of prey as soon as they arrive at the center because of the calming effect of a bath. Several times, I have rescued hurt birds and taken them to the center in Birmingham.} My birds dig in cow, donkey and mule manure so their legs sometimes are covered or stained with the black poop. A bath thoroughly cleans them.

If you do choose to bathe your bird for a show, then you should do so about a week before a show. Otherwise, their feathers won't recover the natural oils if done close to the show date. Also, if I bathe a bird once then show at more than one show, I do not bathe the bird a second time. I noticed one time when I did this, it made the bird look ragged.

I am curious to hear other's opinions & experiences and am open to differing points of view.

I too put my birds out to range in a pasture and they get dirty, especially after getting 4" of rain in one day

So, I will be washing my birds in the next few days. I was concerned at one time that getting the feathers wet would ruin them and make them look beaten up, but I know now they do recover. I am also concerned that yes, my birds sometimes get little critters crawling around on them, so I want to kill those off too. I know that rinsing in vinegar water after the wash helps to bring out the shine in their feathers. Someone suggested that it just strips the feathers of the natural oils, but I didn't notice any dryness of the feathers when my kids showed their birds after doing this, and the Black Cochins especially shined for weeks after.

I am going to take note of whether this helps calm the birds or not because again, my ranging birds are not of the cuddly sort, they would just as soon scream and run away than be held for the most part until they have been handled a bit. If washing works to calm that, I am in your debt for the tip.

 

[007medic]

Hey Aina,

We have an E-Z Plucker 150. We process at 20-30 weeks (depending on work schedule- sometimes I have to take weekend call). I've noticed that if I've a proper scald on the bird, there's not a single pin remaining. Scalding at a temp of 135-145 degrees seems to be the magic numbers for me, then a 20-30 second whirl in the plucker. Yes, I said seconds. THAT is why I forked over all the dough for the dern thing and it's delivery. And for all the others quietly wondering, the skin stays intact, the meat not bruised, and once in a blue moon, a head will come off or a leg will get disjointed between the thigh and shank- both things that are about to happen anyway. The shear HOURS this machine saves me allows us to enjoy our hobby that much more completely. We haven't purchased a single commercially raised bird in 4 years now. Every year our selection process produces greater satisfaction at slaughter time and informs our decisions in who gets paired with who when we set up the breeding pens.

 

[alana124]

Aww! They look adorable

...

 

[alana124]

Hi all, I'd like to ask a couple of questions...my Buckeye angels passed their 20 weeks of age on 10/10..I have 2 roos, and one unfortunately is showing some white on the TIP of his tail feathers (mail tail or sickles) and white tip on a secondary wing feather (one side only). Will he lose this as he ages? And he acts like a big, big scared baby, and is always cooing under his breath that sounds like: "oh worra worra worra, ohh, oohhh" (it's funny to listen to, really). BUT having the character of a big "chicken" isn't a reason to cull, right? He's really big, but, I don't know how much he weighs since I don't own a scale to weigh chickens.

So can anyone give me some recommendations on the type of scale to use and to purchase?
Will this particular roo lose those white tips?
And, when do the females start laying? February? They're under 14 hours of lights, and still no eggs--should I cut it back if they're still too young?

I absolutely love my birds, and most are beginning to show signs that they'll be true to breed when mature..I'll post pics soon.

Thank you--as always-- for your wonderful and experienced advice

(I apologize if I posted this in the wrong section...)

 

[alana124]

Hey Aina,

We have an E-Z Plucker 150. We process at 20-30 weeks (depending on work schedule- sometimes I have to take weekend call). I've noticed that if I've a proper scald on the bird, there's not a single pin remaining. Scalding at a temp of 135-145 degrees seems to be the magic numbers for me, then a 20-30 second whirl in the plucker. Yes, I said seconds. THAT is why I forked over all the dough for the dern thing and it's delivery. And for all the others quietly wondering, the skin stays intact, the meat not bruised, and once in a blue moon, a head will come off or a leg will get disjointed between the thigh and shank- both things that are about to happen anyway. The shear HOURS this machine saves me allows us to enjoy our hobby that much more completely. We haven't purchased a single commercially raised bird in 4 years now. Every year our selection process produces greater satisfaction at slaughter time and informs our decisions in who gets paired with who when we set up the breeding pens.

Us too! My husband built me a Whizbang plucker and I swear I wouldn't process chickens without it. I think plucking by hand would totally turn me off from slaughtering and butchering--too long, and really messy. We use a galvanized garbage can for the scalder (my husband epoxied the edges so no water leaks out) and it works fantastic. I was able to process and dispatch 2 birds every 15 minutes...well worth it!