The Buckeye Thread

[CanadianBuckeye]

I don't think they are ISA's; no golden chipmunk markings. But, if they are, then like you said, I will have some good egg production. Although, I do have black sex links and they are beasts when it comes to egg production. With my luck and chickens, likely they will be lack-luster birds.

Sometimes serendipity works in your favour and these will be the best egg layers ever!

 

[dhopper122]

Thank you for your vote of confidence.

 

[blucoondawg]

I've got a few questions on buckeyes, bear with me I haven't had time to read through all 4000 posts on here to try to pick out the info I'm wondering about.

Basically I have been thinking about giving a flock of buckeyes a shot as a self sustaining DP flock with a good meat ability and moderate laying.

For those of you with experience with this breed how well do they perform on the meat end? I've read this breed can produce a decent breast and is a quicker maturing dp breed but if also seen threads that hint at the buckeye being a slow grower, which is true?

Are certain hatcheries producing a good quality bird to start with our is it a better idea to go with a breeder, what lines are considered good for this purpose?

Has anyone been successful in breeding up a good line of buckeye and crossing with another dp breed to introduce faster growth of an acceptable meat carcass at an age acceptable for grilling?

 

[holm25]

I've got a few questions on buckeyes, bear with me I haven't had time to read through all 4000 posts on here to try to pick out the info I'm wondering about.

Basically I have been thinking about giving a flock of buckeyes a shot as a self sustaining DP flock with a good meat ability and moderate laying.

For those of you with experience with this breed how well do they perform on the meat end? I've read this breed can produce a decent breast and is a quicker maturing dp breed but if also seen threads that hint at the buckeye being a slow grower, which is true?

Are certain hatcheries producing a good quality bird to start with our is it a better idea to go with a breeder, what lines are considered good for this purpose?

Has anyone been successful in breeding up a good line of buckeye and crossing with another dp breed to introduce faster growth of an acceptable meat carcass at an age acceptable for grilling?

Well... I dont have my Buckeyes yet but I think that if u want a bigger bird get birds from a breeder. Hatchery birds are alot smaller than the birds bred for the standard are.

I think if u were to cross them over something I would cross them over a dark cornish. That seems like it would be a good cross.

I was confused!! Idk if anyone has crossed in other breeds to introduce faster growth.

 

[blucoondawg]

I know hatchery lines tends to be not so good but some say since the buckeye has been newly reestablished that some hatcheries may still have decent stock.

I thought about dark Cornish but they are notoriously slow growers, I'm not sure they'd add in the desired traits for faster growth

 

[BlackBriars]

I have 10 month old hatchery Buckeyes. At 6.5 months I butchered the smallest cockerel and a pullet. He was noticeably smaller than the other cockerels and made the leanest chicken carcass I've ever seen. It was akin to wild game in fat content and weighed 5lb 7 oz. dressed. He free ranged totally with quality crumbles available free choice. The pullet dressed out at 3lb 15 0z and had a decent layer of fat in her body cavity.

I love the Buckeye breed but my hatchery stock doesn't make financial sense to me when it comes to the meat portion of dual purpose. I am now looking to get breeder birds to replace the birds I have. I think my cockerels and most pullets will meet the standard 6.5lb pullet, 9lb cockerel standard. They just take too long getting to fryer/broiler stage.

As for eggs, they started laying at about 24 weeks old and lay about .7 high quality eggs per day.

 

[blucoondawg]

At one point I was reading a thread, possibly in the meat birds section, where someone was stating how this breed was great for producing a decent amount of meat faster than most dp breeds, apparently this is not true? I want to say there were claims of a 4 to 5lb carcass by the 20 week age. If they grew that week I would consider them a good bird to work on a meat project

 

[dhopper122]

Well, I think I have found out what those chicks are: I found another TSC with the same chicks labeled as Red Rangers. Nice, more meat birds with an unknown egg production history. I already have 12 Cornish X, I don't want more meat birds. Oh wait, I already do. Gotta love it!

 

[dhopper122]

Thank you for your help. I found out what they where totally by accident.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

oops