The Buckeye Thread

[CanadianBuckeye]

I believe most are descended from Ideal stock at one time (I think that's ALBC) but some breeders have been selecting from them since then. Ideal are the only stock easily available as day old chicks. I am not sure about the ones available from the East coast, I believe they had exhibition quality origins but now it would seem other breeds might have been mixed in and/ or selection to SOP has not been made.
There's a new breeder in Alberta who is very, very serious about her Buckeyes. She has four lines going and plans to cull hard and breed to the SOP. (I have eggs on back order!! for either 2016 or 2017.) So Buckeyes are slowly growing in popularity north of the border.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Offhand, has anyone noticed a difference in feather quality/amount of black in the adults of Buckeyes from slow feathering vs. fast feathering chicks? I just read a paper that implies that having the slow feather gene will reduce the amount of black.
I don't have enough Buckeyes yet to make any decent conclusions. I plan to eliminate the slow feathering gene if possible from my Buckeyes but I want to make sure that there won't be a down side to this. I know that the males are supposed to feather in a bit later than the females, but I am talking about the sex linked K slow feather gene- and perhaps others affecting the rate of feather growth- the Buckeye chicks that seem to have a slow feathering gene(s) are still half naked at 5-6 weeks!

Lousy for the bottom line, when you have to run a heat lamp for that long. I have one Buckeye at 8 weeks old, who I am still not certain is a hen or rooster, it's so slow to feather in. Any thoughts?

 

[BlackBriars]

Out of my small sample of 31 chicks with only six being cockerels, the darkest mahogany cockerels were the slowest to feather by quite a bit. A couple had a bald spot on their backs up to 10 weeks.
They also have the most black feathering.

I didn't have any slow feathering pullets.

They were brooded outdoors and after 2 weeks only had the heat lamp on for a couple hours in the mornings when temps dipped below 67F or so.

There was a period when all the cockerels were feathered distinctly different from the pullets and were very easy to distinguish. Something like 10 days to 3-31/2 weeks.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Blackbriars thanks, those are very interesting observations. I have very few Buckeyes, next year hopefully I will have lots of chicks and I plant to keep careful records of this.

 

[cvamoca]

These are actually decent looking birds from the pictures. I would be checking on the size of the females and using the one closest to SOP weigh (6.5# hens, 5/5# pullets) to keep your line going. The cockerel appears to hold his tail low, but could be just how he is holding it at that time. Overall color is not bad, which seems to be a big hurdle to consider. They SHOULD have black in the tail, so no worries on that with the pullet - black in the tail and in the primaries of the wings, but hidden when folded for the wings.

I had to scratch my head when you said Brahmas having fast growth, I found them to be lanky for quite some time, but I didn't have them around all that long. That is one reason I love the Buckeye so much, they fill out very quickly compared to other supposed Dual Purpose breeds. If I were crossing anything to produce a naturally meaty, quick growing bird, it would be Buckeye male and Cornish female. I have done this cross and they grow very nicely. My only complaint was that some were a bit too long legged for my liking, which I found a bit funny also, two short legged breeds produced some long legged offspring in the F1 cross. The females are pretty hefty birds too.

I like that leg color on your Bucks too. Worth keeping if they meet size.

Not getting any notifications that this thread was moving- sorry!
I got these chicks in early spring as dayolds with 5 Welsummers, 2 Marans, 2 Silver Pencilled Rocks- everything turned out to be male except for the 5 Buckeyes that I WANTED for meat, so I switched gears after realizing how much I like them, and just left them all together this summer to grow out. Was not thinking of cross breed anything- I just can't think of a use for 5 Welsummer males, too light to eat, already ate the Marans cockerel. The female Buckeyes are changing daily, and are really quite pretty. I like the male I kept, even if his tail is low. No idea how correct he is, but I think I will end up with Brahmas and Buckeyes.

Yeah- the Brahmas are a month younger than the Buckeyes and Welsummers- but they are growing rapidly. I expected a much slower growing bird.

 

[cvamoca]

Offhand, has anyone noticed a difference in feather quality/amount of black in the adults of Buckeyes from slow feathering vs. fast feathering chicks? I just read a paper that implies that having the slow feather gene will reduce the amount of black.
I don't have enough Buckeyes yet to make any decent conclusions. I plan to eliminate the slow feathering gene if possible from my Buckeyes but I want to make sure that there won't be a down side to this. I know that the males are supposed to feather in a bit later than the females, but I am talking about the sex linked K slow feather gene- and perhaps others affecting the rate of feather growth- the Buckeye chicks that seem to have a slow feathering gene(s) are still half naked at 5-6 weeks!

Lousy for the bottom line, when you have to run a heat lamp for that long. I have one Buckeye at 8 weeks old, who I am still not certain is a hen or rooster, it's so slow to feather in. Any thoughts?

One of my east coast Buckeyes was naked much longer than that, not just slow feather "k" but probably "kn" really delayed feathering--and while he did feather in by month 3, I culled him for severe stupidity a couple weeks ago. He couldn't find food or get back to the house, and I got sick of saving him. He was darker than my other male. He had black in hackle and tail. As a chick he peeped constantly--so- something wrong from the start. Must see if I can find a picture of him...

 

[cvamoca]

The first one is definitely a pullet.
You lose me on all the color genetic lingo. I have a book here I intend to read this winter, but I get lost very quick on the whole vernacular used by some of you.
I wouldn't be breeding that pullet in the picture with the two Wellie boys. She has some other pattern really messing with her color, looks like some Partridge. I would have to wonder if there is some Welsummer in her or if she has some Chantecler in her. That would be my personal evaluation of her, you can, do what you see fit, of course.

Co-incidently- the Welsummers, Buckeyes, Marans came from the same breeder. Don't think there are Chantaclers there, but hard to say for sure.
I am getting some dark eggs- while I only have 1 Marans in there- a black copper pullet- I'm getting 2 different eggs in a house only housing one Black Copper Marans pullet and 5 Buckeye pullets, was hoping if there is a mixed breed, it would be in favour of darker eggs...

 

[Minniechickmama]

It has been my experience that those very slow feathering males are somewhat retarded acting, and I am not trying to be funny. They do seem to have challenges with doing normal things like finding where the food dish is an such. Once I notice them, I cull them out, it isn't worth wasting feed on them. They are slow about everything.

Normally, the cockerels are just slower and especially at growing tails in. Most of mine don't have back or tail feathers until they are about 3 months old, and I also think that has a lot more to do with how they behave in the brooder too that they just get beat up more that way when their feathers do start growing. Once they are outside it all seems to even out, but who knows if it is being outdoors or the age they are when they go out?

I just got a message from a person who got hatching eggs from me earlier this year. They hatched New Hampshires and Buckeyes, 7 total, and they were shocked that they were all pullets. LOL How many people wish for that and it never happens? They wanted some cockerels, so there was a little disappointment. I can see that, since they were hoping to do some breeding with them.

I think this year I have the biggest idiot Buckeye cockerels. They fight and beat each other up more than any I remember having in the past. They are never aggressive to me, but they pick at each other so much, it is really starting to get on my nerves! There are some who will be culled because I am sick of that going on and them being the cause of it in their group. I hope I can still end up with a reasonably calm couple of males to keep this year.

 

[hellbender]

I have whittled down to 4 Buckeye cockerels. One of them is to be caponized tomorrow because he has been effete from day one, another will be altered because he is lesser quality than the two I'm keeping which are very nice birds for hatchery stock. two are plenty for the job requirement here...(these are essentially my kids' birds but I made the decision, with their approval.

If I were to fault these young Buckeye cockerels it might surprise some. They are too easily pushed around...or...the White Chanteclers are overbearing and a bit abusive.

My real surprise is the fact that so far, my Dark Cornish (all pullet) are pushed around by everyone...at this age of almost 5 months.

I've waited a long time to decide which birds of all breeds to caponize because the job will be a bit more tenuous but I really wish I could take more time with some of the other cockerels...(Chanteclers) because I really don't understand how these birds will mature...this is my first experience with them. At 5 months of age, these are the tallest birds I've ever owned and so much variety in their temperament if not size.

The Buckeyes were much easier to sort through...I just put it off for cooler weather...may have to wait another month for the Chanteclers, for my own peace of mind.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Hellbender, if you caponize a a rooster late that has adult feathers, will he revert to hen feathers in future moults?