The Buckeye Thread

[Minniechickmama]

As they get into the middle of the laying season, they will get some fading, but usually in the early stage of it, they should be yellow. Legs will be a richer yellow if they are free ranging or out getting some kind of natural diet they find on their own too as it gives them a more varied diet. You could try to figure out who is laying which eggs and track them too. It takes a lot of work if you don't know who's egg is who's and you have some that are too similar in shape and color.

 

[BlueShadow]

The happenings of this morning, as related by my 3 year old:
"Most of your chicken birds didn't have a problem, but one of your chicken birds did have a problem."
"Oh? Which bird was that?"
"The rooster!"
"What problem did the rooster have?"
"The DIED problem!!"

The rooster got his head stuck in a hole in a cinder block overnight and apparently didn't know how to back up. I found him upside down this morning. But at least 12 of my 14 hatchlings are cockerels so I won't have any shortage of potential replacements. Replacement hens, are another matter entirely.

 

[Minniechickmama]

That is a sad thing to lose your rooster, but your 3-year old is hilarious!

 

[BlueShadow]

That is a sad thing to lose your rooster, but your 3-year old is hilarious!

Yeah, I thought it was pretty funny! I didn't really like the rooster because I couldn't trust him alone with the kids, but I would not have wished him as terrible of an end as he gave himself.

 

[smudge]

The happenings of this morning, as related by my 3 year old:
"Most of your chicken birds didn't have a problem, but one of your chicken birds did have a problem."
"Oh? Which bird was that?"
"The rooster!"
"What problem did the rooster have?"
"The DIED problem!!"

The rooster got his head stuck in a hole in a cinder block overnight and apparently didn't know how to back up. I found him upside down this morning. But at least 12 of my 14 hatchlings are cockerels so I won't have any shortage of potential replacements. Replacement hens, are another matter entirely.

Hopefully the replacement candidates take after their mothers!

 

[BlueShadow]

A few of my chicks. You all can play "pullet or cockerel?" with me if you want, or "are these good representations of the Buckeye breed?" or even "are these developing appropriately fast for the Buckeye breed?"

9 weeks old. Sorry not all the side views are very good, I tried to tell them to stand still so I could take a picture but they weren't cooperative with that idea

Buckeye chick #1

Buckeye chick #2

Buckeye chick #3
Sorry the comb color washed out a little bit, but you can see the accurate color just above the nostrils
It's a light red

 

[Minniechickmama]

1 looks like a pullet, the other two are cockerels. 2 has some color issues even for that young, too light and has some black patterning around the neck that shouldn't be there. For 9-weeks they have some big looking combs already.

 

[BlueShadow]

1 looks like a pullet, the other two are cockerels. 2 has some color issues even for that young, too light and has some black patterning around the neck that shouldn't be there. For 9-weeks they have some big looking combs already.

Thanks for your thoughts! I also thought pullet and 2 cockerels. I had originally sorted that pullet out with the cockerels, and then yesterday I was watching them and I was pretty sure that it was a "she" and should get moved out of that pen.

I am glad to hear that their combs look big for 9 weeks. I have raised several different heritage breeds, but all were single comb, and I could identify gender at a much younger age with those.

I will have to post some pictures of all the boys sometime soon here and get opinions on who might be worth keeping. I plan to butcher most of the boys at 14-16 weeks, so I have them separated so I can push feed and hope they grow a little faster. But at least one of them needs to stay!

 

[Minniechickmama]

My recommendation is always keep two males for breeding. If you only keep one, it seems the Murphy's Law strikes and something happens to him. Also, if possible, consider keeping them until about 22-weeks old and you should get a very nice sized carcass on them. At 16-weeks, they likely won't be filled out much yet, unless you do push feed hard on them. I don't ever select my final males until they are 6-8-months at the earliest and later if I am able.
I am glad you have a few to pick from. Good luck and post whenever you need to

 

[Leahs Mom]

The old farmers used to say: "Two is One; and One is none."