The Buckeye Thread

[Arielle]

My bad....make sure they are not fat. Missed a word. I've noticed with my aseels, Cornish and my bucks that overweight hens don't lay as well. Heck, with my aseels and Cornish; they won't lay at all.

I butchered a couple cornishx at well over the normal age, and I was shocked to see the innards stuffed with fat---barely enough room for the organs. I do have 2 laying now-- guess they are not too fat.

 

[Minniechickmama]

I butchered a couple cornishx at well over the normal age, and I was shocked to see the innards stuffed with fat---barely enough room for the organs. I do have 2 laying now-- guess they are not too fat.

I believe that is fairly common with the CRX, and perhaps the reason some have heart attacks before they get to the processor?

 

[Arielle]

Quote: THe cornish are the only "fat" birds I have experienced; all the others whether from a breeder of quality chickens or hatchery stock, all these are a much leaner carcass without the huge deposits of fat. The 2 groupd live a different lifestyle here. THe corish didnot free range becuase they would have fed the hawks or coyotes; the other birds free range at will. So I'll thow in lack of exercise too.

Would take a bit of trial and error to learn how to best feed cornish X given the dramatic differences farm to farm in management.

 

[Minniechickmama]

THe cornish are the only "fat" birds I have experienced; all the others whether from a breeder of quality chickens or hatchery stock, all these are a much leaner carcass without the huge deposits of fat. The 2 groupd live a different lifestyle here. THe corish didnot free range becuase they would have fed the hawks or coyotes; the other birds free range at will. So I'll thow in lack of exercise too.

Would take a bit of trial and error to learn how to best feed cornish X given the dramatic differences farm to farm in management.

What you are experiencing with the CRX is pretty much how they live and die. They are pretty much freaks, and don't behave at all like other chickens. They want to eat ALL the time and don't like to move very far from the food. I attempted to free range them the first year I had them and they wouldn't go 5 feet from the feed trough and just plop down. There are different approaches on how to feed and contain those birds. I feed limited amounts of grower ration in a crumble form once they are about 3-4 weeks. I butcher at 8-9 weeks. I know other people around me get larger birds from feeding 24/7, but I don't believe they should need that to achieve the weight I want. I like mine around 5# dressed weight and that is what I get. I don't find that mine are excessively fat, but they do have more than any purebred or cross I raise and butcher. The CRX do what they are supposed to, eat and grow fast.

 

[mpg0613]

That's a great idea to use colored zipties. I was looking for a way to tag hens by year and that would work great.

That being said, this is all new to me. I am looking to start a flock (my first foray into chickens) of buckeyes.

Are there any breeders/farmers in South-Eastern Michigan/North-West Ohio? I am looking for 6-8 hens (chicks or pullets) and a cockerel, or maybe a dozen straight-run. (Hopefully i said all that right)

thanks all.

 

[poltroon]

Now that we finally got a bit of rain, our grass is coming in and I opportunistically got some great pictures of our hens out enjoying the sunshine:














This particular hen is in the laying flock rather than the breeding flock, but she sure looks pretty out in the yard.

(What we don't like about her is the topline and the one white-tipped feather she's developed.)

 

[chickadoodles]

Your hens are very pretty.

 

[Arielle]

That's a great idea to use colored zipties. I was looking for a way to tag hens by year and that would work great.

That being said, this is all new to me. I am looking to start a flock (my first foray into chickens) of buckeyes.

Are there any breeders/farmers in South-Eastern Michigan/North-West Ohio? I am looking for 6-8 hens (chicks or pullets) and a cockerel, or maybe a dozen straight-run. (Hopefully i said all that right)

thanks all.

You might look into toe punching-- I find zip ties all over. I only use zip ties for temporary marking. THere is a code that goes with toe punching as each foot has two spaces to punch.

 

[Sydney Acres]

Quote:
You can also get colored, numbered plastic leg bands. They come in numerous colors, and I use a different color every year. The numbering is great for breeds with look-alike birds, so I can tell each one apart (sometimes that's the only way I can tell them apart). They come in various sizes for different types of birds. I put one on each leg, as they can come off, but very rarely on hens, and only occasionally on roosters (and much more likely with free ranging than with penned birds). I would recommend only using them with birds that are checked every day, and checked in a way that a major limp would be noticed. While it is rare, I have had one band go up high on a leg into the feathered area and cause a major limp until it was removed (and it couldn't be seen readily, as it had worked its way into the feathers), and another go down a foot and get stuck around the foot itself, so they shouldn't be used on birds that aren't observed while walking around at least once daily, or in birds that can't be caught, because both those incidents could have caused major problems if they hadn't been corrected in a timely manner. But other than those two times I've had no problems with them, and have used hundreds. I've had maybe 6-8 bands lost off hens, which is why I band each leg. The roosters do lose them more frequently (every rooster has lost at least one), but with the way those guys run around, up and over stuff and sliding and fighting through the woods and pastures, I'm surprised that they don't lose toes. Essentially, they lose less bands than toenails, so the bands really are pretty effective, especially when you put one on each leg.

 

[AinaWGSD]

My limited experience with the plastic numbered bands is that they don't stay on as well as the zip ties. I think I have one of 6 hens that still has hers, and one of 3 roosters who hasn't managed to loose it. However, have not seen any problems with the bands impeding circulation like I have seen with zip ties applied before the bird reached maturity. I have seen locking numbered plastic bands though, and have considered giving those a try.