The Buckeye Thread

[Minniechickmama]

I'm no pro but from my short experience, at two weeks, the cockerels seem to have a blunt, squared-off tail that is shorter than the pullet's. This has worked out almost 100% for me but it may have been a coincidence.

Or no tail at all on the cockerels for a few weeks.

 

[Shellz]

Here's some of my Buckeyes at 3 1/2 weeks old now. Have little time to take them out of brooder for pics as I just had a broody call duck hatch her babies on the weekend.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Shellz they are lovely!! Look at all those spots!!
Hellbender and Miinniechickmama I am going to take a very close look at my chicks' tails to see how many of each sex I have. I am hoping for 4 pullets and 2 cockerels but I have a feeling it's the other way around.
I was wondering if you had some pullets that were too light, would it help to keep a cockerel with a lot of black, like goodb's, to cross with ?

 

[Minniechickmama]

Though it is true that the male will have a lot more influence on the color, you still want to watch the amount of black that is going to be showing. Even that one of goodb's won't have as much black showing once he is adult, it will still be too much. It isn't an orange plus too much black makes dark red, and it may just screw up the color more. You want to look for dark but clean color. I don't normally see that much of the 'spots' on the wing tips, and when I do it usually means some patterning in the color that is not desirable, so you want to keep an eye on that. But....give them time. Chickens go through 7 molts before they reach their adult plumage, and things will change with each. Until you have hatched and raised enough to know what colors as juvies will turn into what as a adults, don't get too anxious about deciding who is good or bad. By point of lay for the pullets, you should see what they have to offer and then cull appropriately. Sometimes people starting out will need to accept some undesirable traits to achieve the desired end result down the road. You need a good, solid bird that has the body and type you want before you get too hung up on details of color. I am not saying ignore the color, but that is somewhere you may want to make some concessions, depending on what the bird looks like for type.
I have bought Buckeyes and gotten rid of all of them, from two other breeders. They didn't have anything that I believed would improve what I already had, and when you introduce another line, you may set your project back even further because you don't know how the two lines will blend and if they will produce better birds, which in my opinion is the reason to breed - to make the next generation better.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Minniechickmama thanks, that's great advice! You've saved me from having to clean up generations worth of mistakes already!

I will post some pictures of my 7 week old buckeyes (all 3 of them), can you have a look when I do and tell me what you think?

 

[Minniechickmama]

Honestly, 7-weeks is a sketchy age to evaluate anything. Around 3-months I would say to start looking more closely at them.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Ok thanks. I am trying to get a feel for what to expect as they grow older. I only have the three so there isn't much to compare.

 

[goodb]

Here are a couple pictures of my best cockerel so far I have coming up. I like his even coloring though it seems to red, he even has the bar of slate! 14 weeks old this coming Friday.



Another picture



then that classic Buckeye glare!



A caveat for the male Buckeyes I have. I have 2 roosters and neither has attacked myself, my daughter, my nephew nor my dogs. They are assertive and loud but not aggressive. Refreshing as I previously had 3 different cockerels from a hatchery and they were aggressive. Scared my nephew so much that he no longer wanted to come over. Long live the good Buckeye breeders.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Very nice! And good temperament is an absolute must in my list of must -haves too. That's an interesting pen you have them in, is it a tractor?

 

[Shellz]

That's great, goodb!

I've had experiences with aggressive roosters before. No kids here, just an uninterested teenager, but I definitely prefer roosters that are more assertive & not aggressive. There's a fine line there & I've been fortunate to have roosters that have the right stuff! Those that didn't, got culled.

All that being said, I'm only keeping Buckeye pullets for eggs from now on. Trying to simplify.