The Buckeye Thread

[Amy Sue]

Trisha dusil in iowa.

i found her on facebook thank you!!

 

[slfarms]

Hello everyone!!
I am new to this site, but not so new to raising laying hens, just new enough to not know everything!!  I wanted to share a story, and had a few questions:
 Last fall I had an attack on my coop- killing my year old Rhode island red rooster (meant to be a hen), Mr. Burns, leaving me with just my Barred rock hen, Miss Evel (Kinevel). I picked the barred rock because of the personality and easy temperament, beauty. etc.
I realize this is a Buckeye thread- im getting there!!
I loved my barred rock- she was friendly, would come to me when i talked to her, let me pick her up and pet her- laid the BEST speckled brown eggs very regularly, etc etc.. Anyway- after my hen was left alone, a friend of mine had his flock attacked as well- the only survivor was a BEAUTIFUL buckeye pullet.. I was completely unfamiliar with her breed, and it actually took me a minute to find out what she was- I'm not sure if she is crossed with another breed, because she has the buckeye feathers, and the comb- the temperament, the mousing ability- I JUST watched her kill a mouse the other day and it was amazing!!!- but her rear end is COVERED with grey fluff-down.. this is how she acquired her name : Miss Fluff Butt.  I haven't seen another Buckeye with this characteristic, and i was wondering if it is, in fact, just her winter fluff?? or is she a cross breed?? 
Anyhow- She would follow Miss Evel everywhere, including up into the trees to roost at night, since Eve was still traumatized from the coop break in, and Fluff Butt became the lower end of the pecking order.  Sadly, when Miss Evel met her demise by tree roosting so far up i couldn't get her down one night, she disappeared- I'm sure becoming a quick meal to some vermin.. And now All i have is Miss Fluffy- she has since become her own hen- she is friendlier, and much more curious and personable.  Just the other day she sat down and let a complete stranger - an 8 yr old boy- pet her for about 20 minutes! On the nights when it is particularly blustery or raining, she has developed the habit of jumping up onto our concrete window ledges outside the living room windows, and pecking the glass until I come out and CARRY her back to the coop- I have fallen in LOVE with this breed- and now I want more!! Miss Fluff Butt gets a bit broody in the spring, and I would love to grow my flock with more Buckeyes. I can't seem to find fertilized eggs, or a rooster (since I'm open to both options) around my area (Illinois Iowa Quad Cities) and online, im striking out with fertilized eggs- they are all sold out, or i have to order 15 at a time- i realize not all eggs will hatch, but i only want 8 TOPS, to grow my flock by 2-3 hens , given the natural selection, sexing, etc.. SO.. i just need a few lines to some good strong Buckeye breeders- any ideas?
Thank you! and I hope to have many more stories about the adventures of Miss Fluff butt, my beautiful Buckeye.

Welcome! Contact minniechickenmama and she can help you with chicks this spring. Most breeders are letting the hens relax and recover from molt this time of year.

 

[Amy Sue]

Welcome! Contact minniechickenmama and she can help you with chicks this spring. Most breeders are letting the hens relax and recover from molt this time of year.

i completely understand- miss fluffy is also molting currently, last year she went almost straight into a brood after molting, which i found interesting, but we also did not have a harsh winter with barely any snow last year- idk what caused the behavior- i am in contact with her, thank you very much for your reference!!

 

[slfarms]

I do enjoy that Hobby Farms "Chickens" magazine and will be looking for the Buckeye issue.  In the Nov-Dec issue they published a letter to the editor from me about using egg overabundance, with the recipe I use for southern pound cake.  "Chickens" used to publish only quarterly but has gone to bimonthly.  It is not available by subscription, but I am lucky in that besides Big R, all of our big grocery stores and a local bookstore carry it along with all manner of other hobby farm and back to the land magazines.

For that pound cake... go to youtube and search for Sweet Melissa's Catering.  Instead of using 12 whole eggs as she does, I use 14 yolks plus 5 whole eggs.  I also like to use lemon or orange extract, or lemon or orange concentrated flavoring oil, or Fiori de Sicilia instead of vanilla.  For the 14 leftover egg whites, I then use 12 for an angel food cake (I use the Traditional Angel Food Cake from King Arthur Flour's website) and the remaining two in Seven Minute Frosting.

I had to grab my copy to check out your recipe! I had purchased it for the DIY feed recipes they did a write up on.

Now I will be trying your recipe

 

[vmdanielsen]

I will take a few and share with you. Of course I might share more than buckeyes as I have a wish list of birds I find fascinating and always take pics to compare and decide if I want to tackle more breeds.

Is there any other breed you'd like to see besides Buckeyes?

Any other breed that strikes your fancy or tickles your heart. Surprise me!

 

[slfarms]

Any other breed that strikes your fancy or tickles your heart.  Surprise me!

Ok I will

 

[vmdanielsen]

Ok I will

Thanks!!!

 

[AinaWGSD]

Don't dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energies on moving forward toward finding the answer. Denis Waitley
So with that in mind when is everyone going to fire up the incubators?

We haven't decided yet. We recently moved (this summer) and the house we are in now gets terrible drafts and is heated by an old converted coal furnace and a franklin stove (so, not very well or consistently). I'm kind of scared to fire up the incubator because all I have is a cheap styrofoam incubator we bought on a whim the weekend after the neighbors made us get rid of our first rooster. When we've run it during transitions in outside temps we've had a rough time keeping the temperature, and to a lesser extend the humidity, regulated. Plus I have no place to brood chicks right now, even though I have plenty of space to grow them out once they are feathered in. We're hoping to be moving again in a few months, and if we do it will be to a house that has better thermo-regulation and a huge garage we can use to brood chicks. If we move sooner, we can start hatching sooner. Otherwise it will have to be this spring before we can start up. But since we've decided that 6 months seems to be a great time to process, I'm hoping we can have eggs in the 'bator by April.

 

[homeworkin]

Guilty of still running an incubator.

I have BLRW too and they do look stunning with Buckeyes.

So, this will be the first winter I have multiple roosters. I sm scared to mix them but it sure would be warmer combining some groups. How do you safely mix roos?

Edited by Staff

 

[slfarms]

Guilty of still running an incubator.

I have BLRW too and they do look stunning with Buckeyes.

So, this will be the first winter I have multiple roosters. I sm scared to mix them but it sure would be warmer combining some groups. How do you safely mix roos?

You will have a pecking order that will happen but they will calm down in a few days. As long
as there are enough hens for both they will get over it quickly.