The Buckeye Thread

[cvamoca]

99 percent of the people calling themselves breeders are not breeders in any sense of the word.

Walt

And there is the rub. Anyone can build a webpage.

I've bred Araucanas for a bazillion years and I know what's in their backgrounds because I've had the mothers, grandmothers, sires, grandsires, great grands and many very old birds are still alive on the premises and still producing. Mostly so I could get a handle on genetics. And I never sell them, if they don't make the cut they make soup. Or just go into the layer flock.

I'm sad about the Welsummers because I wanted Black Breasted Red birds, and brown eggs. And really would have liked a couple pullets.

The Buckeyes, I wanted to do my part in keeping an endangered breed going. But that means having breedable, SOP geared birds. Again- I can use the pullets- it occurred to me to breed the pullets to my Brahmas to get a quicker growing meaty type bird. But I do not want anything mixing with the Brahmas until I have chosen my breeders, because they will always be here- at the end when all the other breeds have died of old age- there will be Brahmas. And Araucanas.

We will see about the Marans. The male won't be any good because of his very yellow bald legs- but I do have a Wheaton pair, and hopefully they will be ok. Hard to say but the pullet will be laying in the next few months, the Black Coppers should lay anytime now. So I will know what the future holds for the Marans soon enough.

Personally- I HATE buying chicks. A chick is a chick usually- I don't know what I'm getting until it feathers in and I can judge it's conformation and colour against the Standard of Perfection, which is where I am now looking at the Buckeyes and Welsummers and Marans. The 2 SP Rocks are nightmares of conformation and colour-- so they are only good for soup.

 

[hellbender]

The day will come soon when chicks/chickens will NOT be shipped through the mail nor perhaps any other way except by doing things like they did during prohibition. That's not a joke and it could happen sooner than anyone expects.

I'm preparing for that eventuality.

That is all...

 

[cvamoca]

The day will come soon when chicks/chickens will NOT be shipped through the mail nor perhaps any other way except by doing things like they did during prohibition. That's not a joke and it could happen sooner than anyone expects.

I'm preparing for that eventuality.

That is all...

I'd like to see chickens sold only at exhibitions but unfortunately with AI in Canada and the USA, I can't see what's the best course of action. Many people misrepresent mutts as breeds- there are a lot out there being sold as one thing when in fact they are genetic soup.

My flock was totally closed for 8 years, to prevent disease. This year I decided- do it once, get all you want once and be done with it. So, a mixed bag of new blood, nothing really useable except the Brahmas who are beautiful from another breeder, and the rest all came from the Buckeye breeder. So I'm closed again, probably for good.

 

[hellbender]

I'd like to see chickens sold only at exhibitions but unfortunately with AI in Canada and the USA, I can't see what's the best course of action. Many people misrepresent mutts as breeds- there are a lot out there being sold as one thing when in fact they are genetic soup.

My flock was totally closed for 8 years, to prevent disease. This year I decided- do it once, get all you want once and be done with it. So, a mixed bag of new blood, nothing really useable except the Brahmas who are beautiful from another breeder, and the rest all came from the Buckeye breeder. So I'm closed again, probably for good.

I'm trying to wrap my head around this and post something that will not be taken as offensive but just what percentage of chicken owners attend poultry shows and why do you think that conformation freaks should have such a monopoly on any breed of chicken? Intended with all due respect.

 

[Justso]

How about some more pictures?
I am impressed with the fine pictures that have shown up on this post. I went out today to take some shots and most of what I got was headless hind end or blurry head with hind end. Nearly ever other picture had Sparty in it . He's my biggest cockerel (and will stay until he starts to crow too much). He's in everybody's business!!
These pics look a little dark, their true color is more like the picture above- a nice brown. The wing feathers coming in are exceptionally shiny brown.


Here's Spartacus. I have to say, there's something special about a rooster with good personality.


And my two girls (there's Sparty in the back):

I'm on my way out to the country this weekend to see friends and will find out if anyone can take some of the boys off my hands. They have better access to processors out there. Maybe I can do a good job selling the breed and convince one of them to start a satellite flock for me!

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Yeah but I got 6 Welsummers as day olds- all are male. Same with the Silver Penciled Rocks- 2 males. The only luck I had was the Buckeyes. All came from the same hatch as day olds from the breeder.

That's a real shame, it's so disappointing when you don't get both sexes especially if you get no pullets. If it's 50-50, you need a minimum of 8 to guarantee with 99% certainty, at least one of each sex- but it seems to me with chickens way more cockerels hatch than pullets.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

@CanadianBuckeye- I also have 7 from that same breeder as posted above. Lots of black in hackles and tails, and for roached back- she's had a Marans and Barred Rock who are totally rumpless. So it could be a mixed bag of spaghetti...
My Welsummers have feathers between their toes, and a Marans with clean legs and the wrong leg colour. It happens...

I think that I will keep these ones out of the breeding pen then, if it's possible that they are crossed it would set me back pretty far. On the plus side, I might get some nice dark eggs out of my hens if they are marans crosses.

gotta make lemonade I guess.
Here's my mixed flock, supposedly all Buckeyes but could have happened at the source or the custom hatcher's. Some roosters have already been culled, a white one with a pea comb,(How did that happen???) a nice big beautiful buff one with a single comb and a sour temperament, and some orangey red ones with black tails and single combs.


Do any of these look like Buckeye crosses? Most are clearly crosses of some sort but it would be nice if they had some Buckeye in them. Some do have feathers on their legs too. There are 3 "Buckeyes" in the bottom picture but they are hard to see. Only the Buckeye- like chickens have pea combs. Some of them have poor tail feathers-I will have a closer look at my Buckeye rooster tomorrow and see if it's just slow tail feathers or if there is a structural failure!!!!

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Justso That's a nice flock- it's too bad you can't keep the rooster though! How old are they in the pictures?

 

[Justso]

Justso That's a nice flock- it's too bad you can't keep the rooster though! How old are they in the pictures?

Looking back at my notes, hatched May 9th.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Same age as mine!