The Buckeye Thread

[sumi]

Quote: That depends on the hen. Some will give up after a few days if you keep taking eggs, some will continue sitting on this air and steal whatever eggs they can find. If you give her eggs to sit on, she'll stay put and I have seen really determined broodies sitting on infertile eggs for up to 3 months. It really is better for the hen if you can break her broodiness asap, unless you want her to hatch some eggs for you. Keep taking the eggs away for a few days and see if that helps, if not, put her in a wire bottomed cage with only food and water, no nesting materials, until she snaps out of it. This method takes on average 3 days to work.

Broodiness and hatching chicks is all about hormones and instinct for hens. I wouldn't say for sure they know what to expect when they sit on the eggs, especially first time broodies. I remember my first ever broody mom, when her first chick hatched, she flew off that nest like a jet fighter. I had to go pull her out of a tree and return her to the eggs and the poor chick, who was thankfully unharmed. She turned out to be a wonderful mother, but that first birth experience scared the hay out of her.

 

[sumi]

Quite a few pics of our Buckeye at the beginning of the album, they turned one month yesterday.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/g/a/6727084/first-chicks-day-31-one-month/

Those are lovely pics, thank you for sharing!

 

[Blueface]

Just to let you know what kind of guy he is, I heard he loaned out Brinsea incubators to schools so I checked with him and he brought a Brinsea up from Miamisburg to Columbus along with two dozen eggs for the kids in our local school in Sparta to hatch. If all goes well, they should have a bunch of chicks hatching out next Tuesday. I paid for a dozen Buckeye eggs and he tossed in a dozen assorted eggs for free. On top of that, I didn't have any chicks to sell this year and when I got a call from a lady here in Marengo looking for some, Jeff brought up a half dozen for her, so he was able to get this marvelous breed in the hands of some new chicken owners just down the street from me. I can't say enough good thing about him. 

If he's not real careful, he's going to lose his "reputation". I spent about an hour at his house yesterday afternoon after I had my car serviced. We sat drinking special brew Belgium "spirits" discussing current events, stories on BYC, Facebook and laughing about how a lifetime membership to the APA offers some people more "rights".......it was a real good time. We discussed our buckeye breeding pens and where we want to take the breed. Heck the best part about raising buckeyes or birds in general has to be the discussions and time spent with people that just enjoy poultry!!

 

[Blueface]

I was out weighing my young birds (12-13 weeks old) this morning. It's always nice when you have birds at this age that will walk right up to you and you can just pick them up. The buckeyes are such a docile breed from day 1. I weighed a couple cockerels and pullets. The cockerel weights were very consistent at 4.14, 5.1, and 5.1 (lbs.ounces) and the pullets 3.15, 4.2, and 4.1 (lbs.ounces)......the great thing is that they are still only 3 months old and have several more months for finish out their weights. They are growing very nice and are looking to achieve their standard weights as early as 7-8 months old. The bonus is that they are already getting that beautiful dark plumage and the undercolor is great on every bird! I was contacted by a couple judges that were wanting to come out and check my flock out here is a couple months because they were wanted to begin raising buckeyes or add to their own personal flock. This is a great thing and hopefully word will continue to spread and we'll begin to see more judges looking favorably at this breed as they currently do with others such as the RIRs Rocks, and Wyandottes. There are great things to come!!

 

[OHhappychicks]

Just south of Dayton in Miamisburg, right of of 75. I don't think he has any extra pullets but it never hurts to ask.

Oooo! That is only about 45 minutes from me!!! Is he on byc, or how do I get a hold of him?

 

[Blueface]

Oooo! That is only about 45 minutes from me!!! Is he on byc, or how do I get a hold of him?

check out the second link in my signature line....there is a breeders directory.....he'll be in there; or look up Crain's Run Ranch and that is his site. Nope, he's not on BYC......yet

.

 

[OHhappychicks]

check out the second link in my signature line....there is a breeders directory.....he'll be in there; or look up Crain's Run Ranch and that is his site. Nope, he's not on BYC......yet

.

Thanks! Will check it out!

 

[007medic]

It's so encouraging to see folks who are able to get their chicks and hatching eggs locally, you should always support your local breeders. Once upon a time and in other parts of our nation Buckeyes are not so common and folks have to order their eggs or chicks shipped. If you're one of the unfortunate few that don't have a local breeder, be sure to ask after their shipping methods. Hatching eggs should be individually wrapped and double boxed, chicks should be shipped express mail to ensure 2 day delivery. Request gro-gel to be included in their box in case there's an unexpected delay. I heard a sad story today of some poor soul who received chicks shipped priority instead of express. It took USPS 3 full business days to deliver (there's no guarantee of delivery time) and every poor little chick was DOA.

 

[Blueface]

It's so encouraging to see folks who are able to get their chicks and hatching eggs locally, you should always support your local breeders. Once upon a time and in other parts of our nation Buckeyes are not so common and folks have to order their eggs or chicks shipped. If you're one of the unfortunate few that don't have a local breeder, be sure to ask after their shipping methods.  Hatching eggs should be individually wrapped and double boxed, chicks should be shipped express mail to ensure 2 day delivery. Request gro-gel to be included in their box in case there's an unexpected delay. I heard a sad story today of some poor soul who received chicks shipped priority instead of express. It took USPS 3 full business days to deliver (there's no guarantee of delivery time) and every poor little chick was DOA.

That is a shame! Sorry to hear that. That's why I'm a big advocate of people securing mature or started fowl and breeding there own fowl. When older birds are shipped, they aren't as fragile plus you can get a better idea of the quality of the fowl. The downside is that shipping costs a little more. I agree that local breeders should be contacted first but make sure the fowl suit your expectations and your needs. I'm sure the breeder that sent out the chicks will ensure that the customer is taken care of, if the breeder is worth are darn.

 

[Minniechickmama]

I think the fact that chicks can be shipped is a wonderful thing. For the mere fact that not all breeds are available in all parts of the country, leaves options of either getting hatching eggs, getting day-old chicks, or getting started or adult stock. Most people who just want to enjoy a good breed want more for their money that one or two birds, they want a few, and so I am happy to ship chicks their way if I have what they want. I have had great success with shipping Priority and have had only a few DOAs, the worst being when I was foolish enough to ship them during July. I stop hatching in June, so that won't be happening again, and I watch the weather closer now too.
I will ship Express if the buyer wants to pay for it, but normally Priority gets them they by the second day, and if I think it might be a longer trip than that, say to one of the furthest corners of our beautiful country, then I put a few extras in for good measure if the box is big enough for it.
It is sad to hear of a box of Deady Bettys, but that could have also had something to do with who was handling and where they were putting them en route.
But as BluFace knows, even shipping Express isn't a guarantee. I shipped birds down his way in December and they took 3 days due to the incompetence of someone in the postal system. But those two ladies were fine and one even laid an egg en route.

Power to the Buckeyes!
Sometimes, there just is no other way than to ship those chicks.