The Buckeye Thread

[stryker]

So there I was,,,,, LOL....

Let me tell you a little about my chicken history...I got some genuine buckeyes earlier this spring/summer from a good friend. I only have hatchery buckeye hens and most are very small compared to standard so I really didnt know what a real buckeye is until now.

OK, back to.. So there I was, trying to count my spring buckeyes that I bought ensuring that nothing ate them. They are quieter than the other buckeyes. I then noticed one buckeye bird with this stocky build that sort of walks like those cornish hens. Talk about a wonderful feeling looking at the future addition to my flock's gene pool...

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Stryker please post some pics!

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Here is my oldest buckeye rooster (19 weeks I think) and one of the hens. This hen has the single comb. One hen with a pea comb is downright ugly, the other is shy and I'm having a hard time getting her picture but she looks very similar to her sister except for the proper comb.

I'd like to learn how to pick correct body type. Is the hen too fluffy? The hens seem to have good rich even colouring, I am pleased with that (looks darker in real life than what I see on my monitor). The rooster has a lot of white in his primaries (you can see that), I think his comb and wattles are too big. What other faults do you see? Anything that's right? I'm trying to spot faults/good things. The rooster is just growing in feathers on the back of his neck and that's why he looks bald. Is he correct for fluffiness? He has a weird thing going on with his saddle feathers along his back. They have improved, but they used to stick up on his back. I don't think he has a roach back, it's just the way the feathers lie, but I am not sure.

Thanks.

 

[stryker]

Stryker please post some pics!

Will try to send some tomorrow.

 

[Minniechickmama]

Here is my oldest buckeye rooster (19 weeks I think) and one of the hens. This hen has the single comb. One hen with a pea comb is downright ugly, the other is shy and I'm having a hard time getting her picture but she looks very similar to her sister except for the proper comb.

I'd like to learn how to pick correct body type. Is the hen too fluffy? The hens seem to have good rich even colouring, I am pleased with that (looks darker in real life than what I see on my monitor). The rooster has a lot of white in his primaries (you can see that), I think his comb and wattles are too big. What other faults do you see? Anything that's right? I'm trying to spot faults/good things. The rooster is just growing in feathers on the back of his neck and that's why he looks bald. Is he correct for fluffiness? He has a weird thing going on with his saddle feathers along his back. They have improved, but they used to stick up on his back. I don't think he has a roach back, it's just the way the feathers lie, but I am not sure.

Thanks.

The pullet is standing a little shifted, but she doesn't look too bad. The evenness of color is excellent, and if she is darker than I am seeing her, then her color came out quite nice. The unfortunate thing with pictures is that to really do a bird justice, one should hold them or at least see different angles of them. Overall, I don't think she looks fluffy, or at least not excessively so. Of course, you have the comb issue and you know that. I think her eye color is more yellow than the reddish bay it should be. I would like to see slightly blockier head, more brow to balance out the beak. It is hard to tell things like tail angle and back length when looking at a bird shifting their weight to one side as she is though.

The cockerel, I hate to say it, ugly on the comb and wattles. I think that is pretty clear. He does appear to have a good head shape and size though. The real killer is that white showing. Otherwise, he shaped up very nicely from the earlier pictures you were showing us.

The angles to get to do a more fair assessment are:
a full on side shot
a shot from directly above of the top of the bird
a good head shot
a shot from directly in front to see the width of their stance and space between their legs.
If possible, also and open wing shot (would need someone to hold while spreading the wing open) This is good because you can then see not just color in the primaries and other wing feathers, but the size and shape of the feathers too. A wider, more uniform and smoothly shape on the wing feathers is desirable, and not too long.

For starting out, it sounds like you have one decent pullet. Do you have any other cockerels that don't have the white in their wings?

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Thanks MCM that's great information!. I will try to take photos at those angles. I do have two other younger cockerels, that I think are much better quality. I can't explain what it is but this older rooster looks unbalanced, or disjointed somehow- his lines don't seem to "flow" like I see in photos of better roosters. am having a hard time describing what I see that I don't like about him, that's why I am trying to learn. Of course it would be easier if I had more than one rooster his age to look at! Maybe that's from being young? His tail is always held at that angle, I think it's too low (?) But,at least they ended up shiny green like they were supposed to- I was a bit worried they would stay a dull black, like when he was younger. I suppose this rooster's comb and wattles will continue to grow? Not good!
I certainly hope the other cockerels turn out better, my gut feeling is that this rooster won't throw quality chicks, even if I could forgive the comb and wattles.!
I definitely have a problem with eye colour, especially in my younger flock- their eyes are way to light.
I 'm glad to hear that the pullet isn't too bad. Sadly there is some white in her wing feathers too.
If you have a flock of Buckeyes with eyes that are too light, is that a trait that continues to worsen, or do you get proper eye colour randomly?

If my other younger flock has as many faults, I am going to definitely have to find a way to get some of your Buckeyes across the border MCM!!!

I will wait a couple of more weeks, and when he's 20 weeks old I will take those other angle shots of the pullets as well, and ask you to have another look (thank you!).

 

[hellbender]

Thanks MCM that's great information!. I will try to take photos at those angles. I do have two other younger cockerels, that I think are much better quality. I can't explain what it is but this older rooster looks unbalanced, or disjointed somehow- his lines don't seem to "flow" like I see in photos of better roosters. am having a hard time describing what I see that I don't like about him, that's why I am trying to learn. Of course it would be easier if I had more than one rooster his age to look at! Maybe that's from being young? His tail is always held at that angle, I think it's too low (?) But,at least they ended up shiny green like they were supposed to- I was a bit worried they would stay a dull black, like when he was younger. I suppose this rooster's comb and wattles will continue to grow? Not good!
I certainly hope the other cockerels turn out better, my gut feeling is that this rooster won't throw quality chicks, even if I could forgive the comb and wattles.!
I definitely have a problem with eye colour, especially in my younger flock- their eyes are way to light.
I 'm glad to hear that the pullet isn't too bad. Sadly there is some white in her wing feathers too.
If you have a flock of Buckeyes with eyes that are too light, is that a trait that continues to worsen, or do you get proper eye colour randomly?

If my other younger flock has as many faults, I am going to definitely have to find a way to get some of your Buckeyes across the border MCM!!!

I will wait a couple of more weeks, and when he's 20 weeks old I will take those other angle shots of the pullets as well, and ask you to have another look (thank you!).

Forgive me for not following closer but if you posted where you got your stock, I missed it. Would you mind telling me from wince they came?

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

He

Forgive me for not following closer but if you posted where you got your stock, I missed it. Would you mind telling me from wince they came?

Hellbender I have 2 sets of Buckeyes, both purchased as hatching eggs. One set, the older ones, I got from the East coast. Out of the 2 dozen eggs, only three even remotely look like Buckeyes, There was a mixup somewhere along the line, either at the source or as these eggs were hatched out by a private hatcher, who may (or may not) have mixed the chicks, and generously topped up my chicks with other mystery ones thanks

so I have no idea who's who and from where. The younger set, I got from a private breeder in Ontario who is trying very hard to select according to standard and may have acquired some American stock so I am hopeful these chicks will grow up nicely. I only have 5 chicks from that brood, three cockerels and two pullets. One cockerel is definitely cull material, too small and with that annoying very slow feather growth gene. No promises were made about the East Coast Buckeyes, other than they were supposedly Buckeyes, and of good temperament which they most certainly are. Buckeyes are not a popular breed in Ontario. There are more flocks out in the Western provinces. I did have a tentative order for eggs from out west this spring but because of the flu outbreak I cancelled the order.
I would say, that as far as I know, there are only 3 serious breeders of Buckeyes in all of Canada, none with very many birds like the big US breeders, and just one In Ontario where I am from. At least as far as I have been able to find. I really do have to get on the buckeye facebook groups!! But I have so much work to catch up on before winter I fear I will spend all my time yakking about Buckeyes all day (like right now), instead.
Most of the Buckeyes in Canada I would guess come from Ideal Poultry stock, at one time.

 

[hellbender]

He
Hellbender I have 2 sets of Buckeyes, both purchased as hatching eggs. One set, the older ones, I got from the East coast. Out of the 2 dozen eggs, only three even remotely look like Buckeyes, There was a mixup somewhere along the line, either at the source or as these eggs were hatched out by a private hatcher, who may (or may not) have mixed the chicks, and generously topped up my chicks with other mystery ones thanks

so I have no idea who's who and from where. The younger set, I got from a private breeder in Ontario who is trying very hard to select according to standard and may have acquired some American stock so I am hopeful these chicks will grow up nicely. I only have 5 chicks from that brood, three cockerels and two pullets. One cockerel is definitely cull material, too small and with that annoying very slow feather growth gene. No promises were made about the East Coast Buckeyes, other than they were supposedly Buckeyes, and of good temperament which they most certainly are. Buckeyes are not a popular breed in Ontario. There are more flocks out in the Western provinces. I did have a tentative order for eggs from out west this spring but because of the flu outbreak I cancelled the order.
I would say, that as far as I know, there are only 3 serious breeders of Buckeyes in all of Canada, none with very many birds like the big US breeders, and just one In Ontario where I am from. At least as far as I have been able to find. I really do have to get on the buckeye facebook groups!! But I have so much work to catch up on before winter I fear I will spend all my time yakking about Buckeyes all day (like right now), instead.
Most of the Buckeyes in Canada I would guess come from Ideal Poultry stock, at one time.

I can understand your position under those conditions. I was very lucky to get my Chanteclers from Greg Oaks' stock (well known Canadian breeder) albeit through a Cackle Hatchery. I got my Buckeyes there too and I can say, they are better than a lot of 'breeder birds' I've seen.

Thanks for the information. I hope you have great luck in your future efforts.

RON

 

[Minniechickmama]

Thanks MCM that's great information!. I will try to take photos at those angles. I do have two other younger cockerels, that I think are much better quality. I can't explain what it is but this older rooster looks unbalanced, or disjointed somehow- his lines don't seem to "flow" like I see in photos of better roosters. am having a hard time describing what I see that I don't like about him, that's why I am trying to learn. Of course it would be easier if I had more than one rooster his age to look at! Maybe that's from being young? His tail is always held at that angle, I think it's too low (?) But,at least they ended up shiny green like they were supposed to- I was a bit worried they would stay a dull black, like when he was younger. I suppose this rooster's comb and wattles will continue to grow? Not good!
I certainly hope the other cockerels turn out better, my gut feeling is that this rooster won't throw quality chicks, even if I could forgive the comb and wattles.!
I definitely have a problem with eye colour, especially in my younger flock- their eyes are way to light.
I 'm glad to hear that the pullet isn't too bad. Sadly there is some white in her wing feathers too.
If you have a flock of Buckeyes with eyes that are too light, is that a trait that continues to worsen, or do you get proper eye colour randomly?

If my other younger flock has as many faults, I am going to definitely have to find a way to get some of your Buckeyes across the border MCM!!!

I will wait a couple of more weeks, and when he's 20 weeks old I will take those other angle shots of the pullets as well, and ask you to have another look (thank you!).

If you know what you are seeing has something 'not right' with it, I would say go with your gut feeling. HOWEVER, all these birds need time to really get to a point where they are passed their awkward stage. Just before the full feathered stage is one where the cockerels' heads and necks don't appear to transition to their body well. That is what you are seeing with your cockerel in the photo. He hasn't filled in with his hackles yet and so it all lays funny and awkward. For most males, I would say they are to a finish point at around 8-9 months. This is the reason why I continually tell 4-H kids to get their birds as close to January 1 as they can for the August shows. (in MN the kids have to have their birds hatched after Jan. 1 of the show year). Get them younger and the tails aren't really developed and neither is the hackle, in other words, those finishing male feathers.

Now the eye, they will be more yellow colored as juveniles. By point of lay, the pullets should have their eyes looking reddish bay though, males too about that age, so somewhere around 6-7 months you can really tell what that is going to be.

The white on the pullet, is that just on some tips or is it in the tail or wings? one or two in the back?