The Buckeye Thread

[CanadianBuckeye]

At what age does a Buckeye cockerel have his adult feathers? I am seeing a fair bit of white in my 17 week old cockerel's primary wing feathers. Is there still a chance this will go away in the next moult? Or does white get worse with age?

 

[stryker]

White? Are you talking about white wing tip feathers?

 

[Minniechickmama]

At what age does a Buckeye cockerel have his adult feathers? I am seeing a fair bit of white in my 17 week old cockerel's primary wing feathers. Is there still a chance this will go away in the next moult? Or does white get worse with age?

Seeing white in the primaries or the tail is not a good thing. If it were just a tip, I would say pull it and see if it comes back with white. If it does, I wouldn't breed it.

As far as adult feathers, I would say 8-months they should have pretty much all their feathers in.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Thanks MCM. He has other faults as well, so he won't be a daddy !
Stryker, yes he has a fair bit of white in his wing tips. It's not just a spot it's a fairly large area on a few feathers- very visible even when the wing is folded. I'll try to get some pictures.

 

[Justso]

I need opinions on color. I have a very nice dark brown pullet. She has black tips on the neck feathers, but how far down is it acceptable for the black tips to extend?
Here's a pic of her back (Her neck is at the top):

She's a richer brown than my other pullet:

(This picture is a little washed out)

 

[Minniechickmama]

Any black other than the tail is not desirable, and if you were showing, it does count off for judging a Buckeye.
So, the second picture is the other pullet?
Also, you are not looking for brown or shades of brown really but RED. Some Buckeyes I have seen do look more brown than red, which is not what you should be looking for in the breed. The SOP calls it a "rich, mahogany bay". Of course, the term 'rich' is subjective, and not everyone agrees on what exactly the shade of color should be, however, darker is better if you can get it without getting black popping out like your pullet in question. I find that my darkest birds have this, especially this year's crop. Ideally, you want a nice even color from head to tail, but I also see a good number coming up with black in the neck that mostly is covered by the time they reach maturity. But all the talk about color is mute if you don't have a good bird as far at type. I wouldn't get rid of a pullet who has a couple black tips if she had very good type and had a male to breed with that might clean up the color. Now, if you breed her with a male who has black showing, your next generation will likely have even more than the parents, or at least a good number of them. Try to breed to a male who has good, clean color and not orangey colored.

Regarding color, if you read some of the history of the breed, Nettie Metcalf stated that the color should be 'so dark as to appear black from a distance'. I have yet to see a Buckeye that dark. That isn't exactly what today's SOP is looking for either, in my opinion. Like I said, the SOP description is somewhat subjective. Now, if I had what I would consider a light colored pullet, she would go find a home where she can lay eggs and not breed. Same goes with any fluffy Buckeyes, the feathering should remain somewhat tight to the body, just not as tight as a Cornish or other Game.

 

[Justso]

OK, poor choice of color description on my part- I understand what you mean by red. RED!

(Again a little washed out because of the sunlight. Will I never get a good photo? This is one of the cockerels). I like the talk of rich color, that helps a lot. The washed out hen picture I provided does not have as rich a color as the other chickens.
How much does color change in maturity? Do you see a difference after the first molt?

By the way, I am happy to say that I am giving a pair of chickens to a girl who will show in 4H.
I'm glad that I could promote the breed, I'm sure she'll learn a lot.

 

[stryker]

Ok, I'm just wondering why my buckeyes are starting to lay more. Last winter, I got an average of 18-25 eggs a day out of 30 hens. They never missed a day. They just started laying back in October last year I believe. This summer, they slowed way down to 5-8 eggs a day out of 20 hens. Now they are starting to increase their egg production by about 3 more eggs a day since last week. Not all of them are buckeyes as I have half buckeyes and half welsummers along with 2-3 other different birds I would have thought that they would have layed more in the summer. They are about 1.5 years old.

 

[Minniechickmama]

OK, poor choice of color description on my part- I understand what you mean by red. RED!

(Again a little washed out because of the sunlight. Will I never get a good photo? This is one of the cockerels). I like the talk of rich color, that helps a lot. The washed out hen picture I provided does not have as rich a color as the other chickens.
How much does color change in maturity? Do you see a difference after the first molt?

By the way, I am happy to say that I am giving a pair of chickens to a girl who will show in 4H.
I'm glad that I could promote the breed, I'm sure she'll learn a lot.

One thing for sure is if there is black showing as a pullet, there will be more after the first molt. They will fade a lot just before dropping old feathers, so don't be alarmed with that. Right now all my hens are either looking like porcupine or they are so faded they look awful, even though with fresh feathers they won't look anything like that. Roosters don't fade as much before molt, but then again, they don't crank out eggs that pull color out of them.
Getting photos of chickens is such a pain, so I know what you mean.

I love sharing with 4-Hers, if we can promote it with youth, and if they like keeping the breed, then it has a long term effect. My kids argued over who got to show Buckeyes the last two years. LOL I had enough two years ago for them to show, but last year barely had enough for one and they weren't as mature as they needed to be. This year, no shows. Oh well.

 

[Minniechickmama]

Ok, I'm just wondering why my buckeyes are starting to lay more. Last winter, I got an average of 18-25 eggs a day out of 30 hens. They never missed a day. They just started laying back in October last year I believe. This summer, they slowed way down to 5-8 eggs a day out of 20 hens. Now they are starting to increase their egg production by about 3 more eggs a day since last week. Not all of them are buckeyes as I have half buckeyes and half welsummers along with 2-3 other different birds I would have thought that they would have layed more in the summer. They are about 1.5 years old.

Are you sure they are the hens laying and not pullets adding to the lot? Mine are dropping off in the hens, but I get a few pullet eggs every day. If you don't have lights on now, you will see them dropping off pretty abruptly, I think. I am seeing the days shortening pretty quick now, so the birds have to be feeling the difference.
I have to replace the timer on the lights this week when it arrives. The one in there now has pooped out on me.