The Buckeye Thread

[alana124]

WOW! Nice looking babies.--you have 12 Buckeyes total? How many pullets/hens do you have, need to set a nice amount of eggs? I ask because only 3 of the 5 pullets I have with my rooster produced eggs nice enough to set (and waited for without them getting being too old).

 

[autumnhearth]

Adorable chicks and beautiful birds everyone! I find it interesting that Buckeyes seem to be slow to develop tail feathers, ours is two weeks and still just a fluffy bottom (and it looks like the three week olds above are still without) whereas all her brooder sisters have at least some feathers, three of them quite pronounced. Her wings are more compact too, like they are folded over thenselves several times, some of her sidters wings are longer than their body just laying flat. She is the smallest of the bunch, she looked like she was getting bigger than everyone on day three, starting to get some good definition then she slowed down and everyone shot passed her. I'm guessing she is just taking her time building up her muscles. She is also the whiniest and most high pitched of our girls (she cried for days when we raised the ecoglow warmer and she could no longer jump on too of it and she often cries at lights out, she also yells at her sisters when they fly on top of the feeder or waterer jars to get down and sometimes jumps and flaps at the other girls. However she is very clever and friendly.

Pic with the egg is just shy of two weeks, pic with the wings is at around one week

 

[Minniechickmama]

Honestly, Autumn, the slow tail feathers are a sign of being a cockerel. Did you purchase them as pullets?

 

[Blueface]

Nice pictures guys!! Thanks for sharing.

 

[autumnhearth]

They were all sexed as pullets from Meyer, yes. We'll see.

 

[sumi]

Lovely pics, everyone! It's nice to hear and see how this year's hatches are coming along. What would be very interesting to see is how these guys grow out, if possible, could some (all?) of you post some more pics of them at different stages? Say at 6 weeks, 10 weeks, etc?

 

[alana124]

I tend to agree with Minniechickmama--slow tail feather on a Buckeye leans toward chick = cockerel, but I'm stating this from my experience only since that's how mine ended up. I like the article written by Don Schrider http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/6-3/determining_sex_in_chicks/ since it helps further one's ability to sex their chicks. Just from reading his article as well as past Buckeye chick experience, I am 93% sure that my chicks are 4 pullets and 3 cockerels. haha! Give it a try

 

[Minniechickmama]

I discovered the method I used in sexing Buckeye chicks after observing a couple hundred of them that I hatched about 3 years ago. The tail normally grows in faster on the pullets, and the cockerels do not catch up with their tails until about 2 months of age. The biggest difference I see though is that the SHAPE of the wing at about a week is distinctly different. I don't try to count rows of feathers, because just looking at the chicks standing in the brooder, I can see the difference. I can't change anything about how many I get, but it does help if I need to cull some extra cockerels while they are still small and haven't expended much feed.
I would say I am darn close to 100% using this method of sexing.
But I will add that there are those breeds like Welsummers that should be auto-sexing breeds. BUT I have had some sneaky cockerels hatch out with some of the features you should see in the pullets and have fooled me. That is a breed though that you can't use this feather sexing method that I use on the Buckeyes. Some breeds both sexes feather out the same way at the same rate, and you then have to look for alternate ways of telling the difference. Those breeds with large single combs and large wattles, the males normally start showing red with larger of these features fairly early on, like around 2-3 weeks. But with most things, there are exceptions to this too. Sometimes a male will be a submissive or subordinate to others who are more dominant and/or aggressive, so those more subordinate ones may have surpressed maleness and continue to look more hen-like until they hit breeding season. However, I have never seen this with my Buckeyes, only other breeds that show more aggression.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I discovered the method I used in sexing Buckeye chicks after observing a couple hundred of them that I hatched about 3 years ago.  The tail normally grows in faster on the pullets, and the cockerels do not catch up with their tails until about 2 months of age.  The biggest difference I see though is that the SHAPE of the wing at about a week is distinctly different.  I don't try to count rows of feathers, because just looking at the chicks standing in the brooder, I can see the difference.  I can't change anything about how many I get, but it does help if I need to cull some extra cockerels while they are still small and haven't expended much feed. 
I would say I am darn close to 100% using this method of sexing.  

But I will add that there are those breeds like Welsummers that should be auto-sexing breeds.  BUT I have had some sneaky cockerels hatch out with some of the features you should see in the pullets and have fooled me.  That is a breed though that you can't use this feather sexing method that I use on the Buckeyes.  Some breeds both sexes feather out the same way at the same rate, and you then have to look for alternate ways of telling the difference.  Those breeds with large single combs and large wattles, the males normally start showing red with larger of these features fairly early on, like around 2-3 weeks.  But with most things, there are exceptions to this too.  Sometimes a male will be a submissive or subordinate to others who are more dominant and/or aggressive, so those more subordinate ones may have surpressed maleness and continue to look more hen-like until they hit breeding season.  However, I have never seen this with my Buckeyes, only other breeds that show more aggression.

I will be hatching some Bucks soon, if plans go well, and am interested in what you see in the wings that is different for males and females.

To anyone else...when/how can you tell male from female in this breed.

Lady of McCamley

 

[SkeeterBaGaw]

Buckeyes are amazing chickens and so much fun to have in my backyard flock. I have two hens - both around 8 months old, currently. Very gentle dispositions and all around 'sweet' chickens. Much more mild-mannered than the other hens I have! They are curious chickens and are not shy to come close to people to see what treats we have brought them. In fact, my buckeyes were the first hens to ever approach me when when I am in their run; after the other hens saw that the buckeyes were getting all of the treats, the other hens eventually joined the pro-human band wagon! Buckeyes are phenomenal insectivores and have a keen eye for spotting bugs almost anywhere. They are also excellent free ranging. Because they are not typically afraid of people, you can easily capture one if it strays too far. They are social and usually are quite content sticking close to the run, just scratching for bugs. They are great layers and their eggs are medium sized and very light brown (almost beige). Their yolks are a lighter color than those of the other hens I have in my flock. Buckeyes are in general just amazing birds and I am considering breeding them because I'd love more of these glorious chickens! I hear that even the roos are pretty mild!