The Buckeye Thread

[valleychicks]

Those games look more like leghorn mixes to me. Tail, build and leg station doesn't look right. No telling what they might throw. The mystery rooster does have a heavy buckeye build to him though.

All of our Gamefowl came from our friends and neighbors. They had a family thing early last year and had to leave for a while so they had to sell their birds and had the Game and a few EEs left so we got the Game and EEs. We had a beautiful Toppy Game rooster that we got from them but another neighbors dog busted into our yard and got him. The dog no longer lives there thank goodness. They are back now and had to start all over. The breeds they raise are Game, Ameraucana, Easter Eggers (Ameraucana Game mix), Yokahama, Serama, Red Pyle, Red Sexlink and Silkie. No leghorns.
I know my little red game rooster isn't a pure type but I believe he is all Game. I think he is a mix of two types of Game. The other Game rooster we have I've been told is a BB Red. I thought he was a Welsummer and does look a lot like one but he has the gray legs not yellow.

 

[Minniechickmama]

All of our Gamefowl came from our friends and neighbors. They had a family thing early last year and had to leave for a while so they had to sell their birds and had the Game and a few EEs left so we got the Game and EEs. We had a beautiful Toppy Game rooster that we got from them but another neighbors dog busted into our yard and got him. The dog no longer lives there thank goodness. They are back now and had to start all over. The breeds they raise are Game, Ameraucana, Easter Eggers (Ameraucana Game mix), Yokahama, Serama, Red Pyle, Red Sexlink and Silkie. No leghorns.
I know my little red game rooster isn't a pure type but I believe he is all Game. I think he is a mix of two types of Game. The other Game rooster we have I've been told is a BB Red. I thought he was a Welsummer and does look a lot like one but he has the gray legs not yellow.

I don't know all the varieties of the Game breeds, but that red rooster with the cream hackles doesn't appear to be of a pure variety. Both look like Games, though I couldn't say either what the quality is on them since I don't study them quite as much as the other breeds. That being said, it is an unknown what he may be carrying for color. The other one is Partridge type color, which is what the Light and Dark Brown Leghorns and the Welsummers all have as well, but don't let breed and variety confuse you. There are a lot of BBReds around too in different breeds of Games.

Here is a chicken color calculator you can plug the different options into to see what the possibilities are.

Oops forgot to paste it in the first time: http://kippenjungle.nl/kruising.html

 

[Minniechickmama]

I have been thinking these are his parents too but the black is throwing me off. I figure he got the white earlobes and the colorful feathering from the dad and the height from mom. He is as tall as our oldest Buckeye rooster and walks just like him. I can't remember if I said that there have been at least 3 separate hatches with roosters that look like him. I have another one that looks just like him only 3 weeks younger. I gave my neighbor some eggs back in February and he hatched one that looks like them too so that makes 3. He is not aggressive at all and takes care of 6 hens. Could the black come from the past BB Red and the daddy Game rooster some how. I just reaching now.

Back in April we drove over to a farm just outside Columbia SC and picked up a dozen eggs that were supposed to be all Buckeye. The people had separated their breeds and waited 30 days to start waiting on pure eggs. Not sure what happened but out of the 12 eggs we had 2 Buckeye pullets, 3 Buckeye Roosters, 1 pullet that is a result of their Australorp rooster over a Buckeye hen (she is a big beautiful girl) and 2 that look like Buckeyes (1 male, 1 female) but they have straight combs so I think maybe a RIR rooster over a Buckeye hen. All of the eggs came from the Buckeye pen nest boxes so I at least know that the hens were Buckeye. When I let the lady know about the ones that were not pure she apologized. I told her not to worry she had no way of knowing that had happened. We found the farm through the conservancy website. I checked with her this weekend and their farm was messed up with all the flooding but the animals were all ok.

It doesn't sound like this breeder did a very good job at keeping their pens separated, regardless of what she told you. After 3-weeks, the eggs should have been 'clean' and at a month, most definitely. So, they should be sorry.

As for the single combs on your ones looking like Buckeyes, that is quite possible to have since some lines produce single combs where somewhere that line had RIR added in, usually for color because body type is different between the two breeds. I would suspect yours with the pea combs could carry a single comb gene that is masked by the dominant pea comb gene. If you are trying to breed pure, get rid of the single combs from the breeding stock.

If you really want to know where the cockerel came from, you will need to breed each rooster with each hen, track which eggs are which and see what happens.
When I look at the cockerel in question though, if you look closely at how the comb fits to the head, it is more indicative of a rose comb than a pea comb to attach back in that manner this one has, and is brought to what appears to me a more pointed shape than rounded as you would or should see from a pea comb. Since a rose comb is dominant over a single, the offspring would inherit the rose.

 

[hellbender]

This of course could just be they way I think, but I have NEVER seen the percentage in buying hatching eggs from ANYONE. Even the most conscientious breeders can have an accident and for what is paid for the eggs and shipping, there seems to be more than a few dis-satisfied customers. Buying Birds from Craig's List would be a better bet because you could at least SEE the thing before you laid down your cash.

Obviously, I will NEVER sell or buy hatching eggs from anyone...I don't care if they live right next door and they offer to deliver them by hand.

 

[cvamoca]

I don't know all the varieties of the Game breeds, but that red rooster with the cream hackles doesn't appear to be of a pure variety. Both look like Games, though I couldn't say either what the quality is on them since I don't study them quite as much as the other breeds. That being said, it is an unknown what he may be carrying for color. The other one is Partridge type color, which is what the Light and Dark Brown Leghorns and the Welsummers all have as well, but don't let breed and variety confuse you. There are a lot of BBReds around too in different breeds of Games.

Here is a chicken color calculator you can plug the different options into to see what the possibilities are.

Oops forgot to paste it in the first time: http://kippenjungle.nl/kruising.html

I'm very familiar with OE games, and the cream hackled rooster is no known colour, and not in the least bit typey. The BB Red isn't either--I would consider them crossbreds. So, if you have crossbreds breeding crossbreds, the likelihood of finding out what is actually in them is pretty unlikely. It's just a big genetic soup.

 

[valleychicks]

Thanks for everyone's input. I now have the single comb Buckeye hen sick. She is just standing around. Doesn't feel like she has eaten much. She just started laying last week so I'm wondering if she is egg bound. I'm going to see what I can do for her tonight. Let me know if y'all have any ideas as to how I can help her. Going to start by giving her a soak in some warm water with epsom salt. Then going to see I can get her to eat a scrambled egg. Putting 1/4 baby aspirin and rolaid in her water for pain and extra calcium. May put some nutri-drench in her water also. What else???

 

[valleychicks]

I'm very familiar with OE games, and the cream hackled rooster is no known colour, and not in the least bit typey. The BB Red isn't either--I would consider them crossbreds. So, if you have crossbreds breeding crossbreds, the likelihood of finding out what is actually in them is pretty unlikely. It's just a big genetic soup.

No the little one with the white earlobes isn't the toppy I mentioned. That one was killed by a neighbor's dog. The one with Toppy was a beautiful rooster with the feathers coming up out of the head like a crest.
You think the BB Red isn't pure? I've seen other BB Reds and he looks like them. I've been on a couple of Gamefowl pages and was told by other game owners that he was a BB Red or Hatch. When he gets in a scuff with other roosters in the run he will run around the inside of the hardware cloth and just all over the place. Very smart. He is extremely hard to catch. I have to wait until he is on the roost to get him.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Valleychicks I'm sorry to hear about your Buckeye hen. I don't have a lot of experience with sick birds but it sounds like you have everything covered. Maybe she'd like a spot away from the other chickens until she feels better? We're starting to get some cold nights here, but you are probably pretty warm there in Georgia otherwise I'd say keep her from getting cold or being in a draft. Is she eating? How does her crop feel, empty or overly full?

 

[valleychicks]

Valleychicks I'm sorry to hear about your Buckeye hen. I don't have a lot of experience with sick birds but it sounds like you have everything covered. Maybe she'd like a spot away from the other chickens until she feels better? We're starting to get some cold nights here, but you are probably pretty warm there in Georgia otherwise I'd say keep her from getting cold or being in a draft. Is she eating? How does her crop feel, empty or overly full?

Her crop seemed empty last night and she did not want to be away from the flock. She pitched a fit so I put her back with them after getting some meds down her. I'm not sure what was wrong but she seems better this morning. She was in the nest box earlier. I had to go to town so I'm about to go check on her again.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

That's promising, I've got my fingers crossed she's on the mend today.