The Buckeye Thread

[Blueface]

Do the Buckeyes lay eggs naturally in the winter? When I say naturally I mean,without being feed Pellets. I have a few hens but only my Golden Laced Wyandotte lays naturally in the winter.

I'm getting about 18-24 eggs a day out of 30 females (both hens and pullets)

 

[Minniechickmama]

Do the Buckeyes lay eggs naturally in the winter? When I say naturally I mean,without being feed Pellets. I have a few hens but only my Golden Laced Wyandotte lays naturally in the winter.

Not sure what you mean exactly by 'naturally'. If you mean, do they need to feed during the winter, yes if you live where you have snow cover in winter, therefore not giving them things to forage on. How else would the obtain food in winter? If you mean without light added, most chickens slow or stop laying during the short days of late Fall and early Winter.

 

[Blueface]

When selecting broodstock to breed with, it is important to make sure your selections are of standard weighs: cock 9 lbs, hens 6.5 lbs, cockerels 8 lbs, and pullets 5.5 lbs. you want to maintain the APA standard as well as Mrs. Metcalf's desired weights/sizes. Anything larger or small is not doing the breed any justice. As a matter of fact you would breeding away from the standard.

 

[goodb]

Cute chicks, some of my best Buckeyes have looked like those. Some may say that striping is bad but you have to look back at what made the breed......its not uncommon for games in general to have that striping. If someone thinks differently; they are sadly mistaken! Good luck with them

<Applause> to you!

 

[Arielle]

When selecting broodstock to breed with, it is important to make sure your selections are of standard weighs: cock 9 lbs, hens 6.5 lbs, cockerels 8 lbs, and pullets 5.5 lbs. you want to maintain the APA standard as well as Mrs. Metcalf's desired weights/sizes. Anything larger or small is not doing the breed any justice. As a matter of fact you would breeding away from the standard.

I was under the impression that the weighs are an average so to speak, with 20% up or down as acceptable. Is this not applicable to the buckeyes too?

My 12000 post! whoot!

 

[Sarplaninec]

What I mean by "naturally" another words hens that will lay eggs in the winter without being feed pellets and without having heat lamps. So do the Buckeye hens lay in this naturally way?

From all my breeds of hens I have, only my Golden Laced Wyandotte lays in this naturally way in the winter (New York).

 

[sumi]

Are you asking if they'd lay in less than 14 hours daylight (the average daylength hens need to stay in production) and without being able to forage and without being fed a layer ration? The Buckeye owners here will be able to tell you more about their winter laying during the shorter days. What I'm concerned about is the feed, or "pellets". As JoshU said in a previous post they need a good quality feed and if they are laying they need a good quality layer feed, or another type of formulated chicken feed with a calcium supplement, such as crushed oyster or eggshell, offered free choice. Hens do have calcium stores, but once those are depleted they cannot produce hard shelled eggs and you may end up with end up with egg laying related problems, soft shelled, shell less eggs, etc. Most hens, if they do not get the required nutrition from their feed, will stop laying completely. You may get away with not feeding layer feed during the summer months, IF your hens have access to good pasture to forage in and can get the nutrients they need naturally, but it's a gamble and I would not recommend it. During the winter months, when everything is under snow and your flock is reliant on your feeding them, you will have to feed them properly if you want to keep them healthy and expect them to lay.

I hope that answers part of your question

 

[Greenspur]

The large black flecks in the plumage are definitely a defect to breed away from, but I would be more concerned about the apparent white on the tips of the main tail feathers. It may be the photo, but if those tail feathers are tipped with white, that would be a greater defect. Solid white feathers in the plumage would be a DQ.

 

[AinaWGSD]

What I mean by "naturally" another words hens that will lay eggs in the winter without being feed pellets and without having heat lamps. So do the Buckeye hens lay in this naturally way?

From all my breeds of hens I have, only my Golden Laced Wyandotte lays in this naturally way in the winter (New York).

No. It's unreasonable to expect any chicken to produce eggs in the winter without adequate food intake, and in New York in winter there's no way you have enough forage for your chickens to find enough food on their own. Egg laying is a reproductive function, and birds will only reproduce when their bodies feel they have enough resources to feed their offspring. Lighting is important, egg laying slows down during the shorter winter days because a chicken's body thinks there isn't enough time during the day to procure adequate food to care for growing chicks. The availability of food is essential. If there is an abundance of food, birds feel it is safe to breed as there is enough to feed the adult birds and the offspring of the flock. If food is sparse, like it is naturally in the winter, they will not lay eggs because there is barely enough food for them to feed themselves let alone chicks. Also, if they are not getting the proper nutrition they require, they won't have the proper building blocks to produce eggs. Or at least not very many of them.

Heat lamps are unnecessary for egg production. Temperature doesn't factor into egg production the way that food supply and lighting does. I also don't like them because they are often a fire hazard in a coop. Buckeyes are plenty cold hearty on their own and really don't need heat lamps (except of course in the brooder).

 

[Minniechickmama]

What I mean by "naturally" another words hens that will lay eggs in the winter without being feed pellets and without having heat lamps. So do the Buckeye hens lay in this naturally way?

From all my breeds of hens I have, only my Golden Laced Wyandotte lays in this naturally way in the winter (New York).

What I am getting is you want to know if they need something extra, like Calf Manna? Here is my experience:
Nearly all my birds stop laying around Halloween. This year I had a couple of Buckeye hens/pullets laying through the holidays, but only a couple per week. This surprised me, to be honest. My breeders birds are confined from November 1st on through breeding season (June). I feed them lay ration only because it is already formulated with enough calcium to not need oyster shell (says so on the bag to NOT feed supplemental calcium). The only other feed I give is either scratch or cracked corn that is tossed around in then pen to give them a little boost of energey on the very cold days, and their scratching around for it helps them move around and warm up a bit later in the day before it cools down more. Otherwise, I might get some winter squash or apples or other produce on occasion to give them a treat.
I have over 12 breeds of chickens and some crossbreeds. When the short days hit, when molting season hits, I don't expect eggs from my girls. I give them a rest at that time so they can last longer for me.
I know that some breeds/hybrids are able to lay through Winter, but there aren't many. Those ones also seem to be the ones people keep in a warm barn, no in a coop without heat. I broke down and put a heat lamp over some Silkies this year only because two of the hens started molting at Christmas. Now that their feathers are coming in good, the lamp will be turned off.
I don't know if that helps you or not. I will add though, before I added a heat lamp, I would put a white light on a timer in the coop if I wanted eggs.