The Buckeye Thread

[CanadianBuckeye]

Great, thanks MCM. It's so hard to put in words what's not quite right- he's a lovely rooster for sure but I think the younger ones are better Buckeyes.
The rooster with the multiple toes in question is not the Buckeye. He's a cross of something, the orange one in the very front of the photo (I cropped him out). I don't really see Buckeye in him but it's possible. He's sort of New Hampshire coloured, orange with a black tail. His shape suggests Dorking mix. Here are his feet. He has fused toes, split toes and extra ones, and the spurs are starting to grow straight out the back. He gets around OK but he's a slow runner. I have to keep his nails trimmed so they don't poke him or grow into his feet.
I had thought of crossing with Dorkings in my hardy-pea combed- white eggshell- project but from what I've read you get very messy feet for a couple of generations. That, with the single comb and white skin makes me wonder if it's worth it. But, this guy is amazingly broad (but I don't see Cornish in there either) and he's nice so he's been allowed to stay. Who knows, I may cross him with a Cornish hen just to see what pops up.

It may shed light on his background anyway, maybe there's Buckeye after all. I'm more into layers than meat birds but there seems to be an opportunity here!

 

[Minniechickmama]

Great, thanks MCM. It's so hard to put in words what's not quite right- he's a lovely rooster for sure but I think the younger ones are better Buckeyes.
The rooster with the multiple toes in question is not the Buckeye. He's a cross of something, the orange one in the very front of the photo (I cropped him out). I don't really see Buckeye in him but it's possible. He's sort of New Hampshire coloured, orange with a black tail. His shape suggests Dorking mix. Here are his feet. He has fused toes, split toes and extra ones, and the spurs are starting to grow straight out the back. He gets around OK but he's a slow runner. I have to keep his nails trimmed so they don't poke him or grow into his feet.
I had thought of crossing with Dorkings in my hardy-pea combed- white eggshell- project but from what I've read you get very messy feet for a couple of generations. That, with the single comb and white skin makes me wonder if it's worth it. But, this guy is amazingly broad (but I don't see Cornish in there either) and he's nice so he's been allowed to stay. Who knows, I may cross him with a Cornish hen just to see what pops up.

It may shed light on his background anyway, maybe there's Buckeye after all. I'm more into layers than meat birds but there seems to be an opportunity here!

And here we have a classic case of duck foot.! Your bird has an extra toe(s), but the bigger problem is the duck foot. It doesn't matter what the rest of him looks like, he needs to be someone's dinner and never procreate. Sorry.

 

[stryker]

How did you get him to stand there so perfectly? Wish my roos would stand like that. Now, that is something I have never seen before.

 

[Justso]

Here's a photo of the hatching eggs I got this spring. The top 2 rows are dark cornish, the bottom 2 rows are buckeye. The buckeye eggs were long and torpedo shaped, the cornish were much rounder and generally more heavy. I don't know the age of the hens these eggs came from, but most eggs were in the 50-60 gram range. The egg marked 75 grams is from a red sex link. The smallest egg I set was 50 grams, that produced a tiny cockerel chick. I don't know if it was because the egg was so small, but that chick never caught up with the others and was way undersized.



Thanks for the photo, it shows me they are darker than I thought and like you said a long egg. I am wondering when my stingy AB and Buckeye pullets will start laying.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Justso, do you have extra lighting on your hens? that could be part of the problem. I don't expect my hens to lay before 6 months anyway....... mine are 5 months old now and I don't have extra lighting either. I think it pays to let them mature as far as possible before they start to lay.

MCM now that I recognize them as duck feet, I won't breed him, even for fun, that's a nasty fault. I thought all this came about from crossing 5 and 4 toed breeds but I see there's more to it now. Stryker he is an amazingly calm, sweet fellow, very tame- he just stands there and stares at me......... he's not at all spooky. He's the first to come over for treats. Can anyone see Buckeye in him? I can't really see any but it's possible. Actually duck foot is a fault that shows up in some of our Canadian buckeyes. Here he is, 5 months old:

 

[Minniechickmama]

Not a drop of Buckeye in that boy! He is a definitely eye candy. Too bad on those dang feet.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Thanks MCM! I do love an orange chicken myself! I've often admired the Pumpkin Hulseys for their colour.

 

[Minniechickmama]

Thanks MCM! I do love an orange chicken myself! I've often admired the Pumpkin Hulseys for their colour.

Oh my, THOSE are gorgeous birds!!!!

 

[NanaKat]

Hulsey was my first trio of chickens years ago. My great uncle was an old cocker from Missouri who had many breeds including some he bred for cock fighting. He gave me a lovely set of birds so we could have fresh eggs in 1993. They rode home to Oklahoma City in the back of the station wagon. We made a portable coop tractor out of chicken wire and 2" pvc pipe and moved it around the back yard...we had a half acre in a nice housing addition in north OKC. None of the neighbors complained about the cock crowing. We figured it was better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission from the city. One of the hens lived long enough to make the move to the farm when we bought it in 1997. They were truly beautiful and delightful birds. I wish I had tried to hatch chicks back then.

 

[Justso]

Justso, do you have extra lighting on your hens? that could be part of the problem. I don't expect my hens to lay before 6 months anyway....... mine are 5 months old now and I don't have extra lighting either. I think it pays to let them mature as far as possible before they start to lay.

No, no extra lighting. Like you, I prefer to let nature take it's course. I'm more jealous of my sister, who's Arkansas Blues have been laying, and her's are just a week older than mine. Can't wait to see those eggs come. I'll have to start buying soon, my one SFH layer is starting to slow down.