The Buckeye Thread

[varidgerunner]

The history states that she wanted more activity in her chickens, so she went to a breeder of black breasted red games. She found out later that the stock she got from him had "indian game" in them. No breeder of games would have been using Cornish. Cornish are not game, and never have been, even though they were created for that purpose, by the time of Mettcalf it was well known that they had nothing to contribute to a game cross. Evidently something had been crossed into the parent stock of the Cornish and the gameness was lost. Asils were widely used throughout history to cross into American Games, and went into several strains of American Games like the roundheads, (where they got their peacombs).
At that point in history it would be highly unlikely that a game breeder would be infusing his fowl with the slow, fat table bird like a cornish, games were still being bred for their original purpose.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

The history states that she wanted more activity in her chickens, so she went to a breeder of black breasted red games. She found out later that the stock she got from him had "indian game" in them. No breeder of games would have been using Cornish. Cornish are not game, and never have been, even though they were created for that purpose, by the time of Mettcalf it was well known that they had nothing to contribute to a game cross. Evidently something had been crossed into the parent stock of the Cornish and the gameness was lost. Asils were widely used throughout history to cross into American Games, and went into several strains of American Games like the roundheads, (where they got their peacombs).
At that point in history it would be highly unlikely that a game breeder would be infusing his fowl with the slow, fat table bird like a cornish, games were still being bred for their original purpose.

OK I'm confused, I thought Cornish and Indian Game were the same? Just different names? If Indian game isn't Cornish, what breed is it?

I agree, if today's Cornish are in any way similar to the ones in Nettie's day, they would be too laid back to add feistyness to Nettie's slow and lazy Cochin/rock crosses, if I read Nettie correctly.
When I look at Blueface's Asil- I think I can see some resemblance to a well bred Buckeye rooster.

 

[varidgerunner]

She said that she thought that the BBR games had "Indian Game" in them. Is that gamefowl from India, or is that what later was known as Cornish? With what the cornish looked like at that time, would anybody know the difference?

In the unlikely event that the guy was playing around with some Cornish birds, the Cornish was still made from Asil. The darks had Asil. The whites had Malay added. Later on the jubilees had a shot of Shamo. So either way, the buckeyes have Asil in them.

 

[hellbender]

She said that she thought that the BBR games had "Indian Game" in them. Is that gamefowl from India, or is that what later was known as Cornish? With what the cornish looked like at that time, would anybody know the difference?

In the unlikely event that the guy was playing around with some Cornish birds, the Cornish was still made from Asil. The darks had Asil. The whites had Malay added. Later on the jubilees had a shot of Shamo. So either way, the buckeyes have Asil in them.

AAAHHHH...there's seems to be something a'foot here...lol

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

AAAHHHH...there's seems to be something a'foot here...lol

Mwwahh haa ha haaaaa!

I think so too.......

 

[varidgerunner]

In research that I have done, I have found that the terms "aseel", "pheasant malay", and "Indian Game" were used pretty much interchangeably in the late 1800s. They could be referring to anything from a pure Aseel imported from the orient, to any cross thereof, which would include what would become known as the Cornish.

The unmentionable pastime involving chickens drove a thriving sea trade. The well heeled Englishmen clung to intricate weight classes, rules and pageantry. The Dutchmen, renowned sailors, fell by the wayside at such events, the language barrier causing them to compete last, after much imbibing. Language barriers and time spent with rum further complicated the weighing in process, the Dutchmen just marched in and shook whatever they had in their bags out in the floor. Size was advantageous, and a quest for ever larger "shakebag" birds fueled the import of breeds like the Asil and what would become known as the Malay.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Chicken history is amazing- and I'm fascinated at how different the asil- type breeds (I don't know what you call that group) are from the others. Asian chickens are so diverse! Where does the Sumatra fit into all this? I find that to be an interesting breed- they seem primitive somehow (in an ancient chicken kind of way).

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

I have a question about Buckeyes that nobody's answered yet so hopefully someone here will know. I'm trying to figure out how Buckeyes get that slate bar. My rooster has nice slate bars on his neck feathers but for the most part only spotty slate or none on his back. What's with that?

Is it possible there is RIR in his breeding? Or is not having enough slate not an indication of cross breeding in the past?
My understanding is that a bird based on pure wheaten eWh has light feather fluff, but a bird based on eb has dark slate. But Buckeye chicks don't look like eb, and someone said briefly that recessive wheaten does have dark fluff. I haven't been able to find out much about recessive wheaten.
Does anybody know what the correct e series gene is for Buckeyes? Does anyone know what the complete (known genome) is for Buckeyes? The Marans people seem to have a very good handle on the genes of their birds and I'm thinking that's a handy thing to know.

 

[Blueface]

6 1/2 weeks old and already 2 lbs....they are growing nicely this year.

 

[Blueface]

Chicken history is amazing- and I'm fascinated at how different the asil- type breeds (I don't know what you call that group) are from the others. Asian chickens are so diverse! Where does the Sumatra fit into all this? I find that to be an interesting breed- they seem primitive somehow (in an ancient chicken kind of way).

I'm actually publishing a book on the buckeyes and ALL of the breeds used to create it. It will capture the history of each breed as well as the Historical linage, including photos. I've spent countless hours researching and cross referencing Poultry breeds and how they all fit together.