Upcoming projects anyone? Heritage or Dual Purpose?

[Brunty_Farms]

Well since it is officially winter and I'm sure everyones ideas are running around in their head... I figured what the heck... mine as well talk about them.

Here is my stock that I have to work with... Buckeyes from ALBC, I was given these a few months ago and I'm going to try and continue their great genetics here in Ohio. So far the body of these birds are massive for a heritage type breed. I should start hatching eggs in about a month or two... depending on weather.

http://www.cleveland.com/taste/index.ssf/2009/06/local_farmers_want_to_bring_bu.html (good link to check out if your interested in buckeyes.

Here ya go....

I have an extra rooster here that I may try a variation of crosses for my own purposes to see what I get. But so far my breeding stock only consist of 1 really big rooster and 5 good sized hens. As of now I have a good market for the buckeyes, and being a breed developed in Ohio... consumers want the bird all that much more. Price.... well, I'm not sure. Curious to know what everyone else is getting for heritage type chickens. I was thinking $5.00 / lb but not sure if that was too steep.

Can't wait to hear the other projects...

 

[Cindiloohoo]

Nice looking birds! I misread that post! $5 a pound? really? Where do you sell? Straight off the farm?

 

[Brunty_Farms]

I do sell from the farm and also take pre orders at farmers markets. It works great for me.

$5.00 / lb is expensive but I have to make money raising them or it's not worth my time. They aren't very good at feed conversion like the cornish x rocks. So it cost more to raise them... and longer. Plus I have the expense of carrying breeding stock year round.

Thanks on the comment on the birds... they are very pretty birds. A true Buckeye should have the same color as one of those buckeye nuts! Which is hard to find in Hatchery stock.

 

[Cindiloohoo]

Yeah from a business standpoint I'm wondering if it will be a worthy venture. I understand you have to make money, I just wonder if it will go over well. Does anyone else you know raise this breed or type, and sell like that? Anyway, I do wish you the best of luck on it, and hope you do well. I just wonder if the general public will take to it. Most people don't know the difference in their chickens like we do. They may not even understand the concept of some being more expensive to raise etc. etc. I know if I saw chicken going for $5/pound, I'd be getting me some live birds to raise myself rather than pay that...lol!! Like I said, I hope you do well!!

 

[Bossroo]

In order to sell the Buckeye at such a high price, you would have to advertise them in a VERY appealing way. In doing so, that adverising just may paint a black eye on your bread and butter Cornish X business. Have fun !!!

 

[CARS]

I too am making plans for spring. I have to re-stock my leghorns because I have too many egg customers to satisfy. They will be added to the black sex-links I started this spring. They (about 2 doz. total) will be my laying flock. Both breeds lay constantly and are very efficient at it. Eggs, check.

I will raise another 100 Cornish x's this spring for my freezer and about 30 or 40 to sell. No problem selling them, once you have made one, you will never go back to store chicken. Meat, check

I skipped turkeys in '09 because I have never made ends meet selling them. The processing costs are just too high. Now that I have a couple friends in the area that do their own processing I will raise them again and try butchering them myself. It's really easy to process when you have a dozen people to help. By yourself, it sucks!

I too am getting into Buckeyes this spring/summer. I think Jeff's flock is a good starter flock. As I cull out for quality I will have some good meat too.

Two other heritage breeds that I am trying to get small flocks of also is Houdan's and Hollands.

Those 3 heritage breeds are cold hardy, decent layers, and can be good meat from what I read. fun birds (freeloaders), check.

Making money..... still figuring that one out.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Quote:
Yes, I do have to be careful advertising. Most people that will buy these, will most likely buy both chickens. Using the buckeyes for only special dishes. Money around these parts are really not an issue, I just don't want to overprice... but I do have to make a profit at the same time.

I have a lot of people that simply won't buy my cornish x's because they are not a heritage chicken. Same goes for turkeys.

Making money..... still figuring that one out

That's how I feel on these Buckeys... I will know in about July or August if it's worth my time.​

 

[Ibicella]

I won't be able to start my chicken project till Autumn, but I'm busy reading and researching and trying to figure out how to plan a decent dual purpose flock for a family of two people. I'm considering some Buckeyes. They certainly are some handsome birds!

Since it's been 20 years since I've been around chickens and I was just 12 years old then. I don't want to try CornishX or something till I get some more experiance under my belt. I'd rather just have a few egg layers and go out and take an extra cockerel or two at a time for a while for food, so if they grow slower, that's not a huge deal. Trying to figure out how big of a flock I need without overrunning myself with chickens and eggs is quite a task!

 

[ewesfullchicks]

What I've found from my heritage breeds that although my roosters may be huge, the breast is small in comparison with what people expect

They have great bone, and HUGE /legs and thighs from all that running around after the poor hens. The meat is redder, and will require longer, slower cooking, such as is required in French cooking like Coq-au-vin.

I had a barred rock rooster that was wonderful, but maybe it was because he attacked us all the time, so we're happy to eat him.

The Freedom Rangers cook like supermarket birds, but are better - they're my meat bird of choice now.

Rachel

 

[feetsoup]

I called the feed store today to find out when they'd be getting in chicks (late Feb or March) and found out that they currently have pullets!

Seeing as the temperature in Malibu is currently 60 degrees (in the middle on the night in January!), I may be getting chickens sooner than I thought... so tomorrow we're going to get cracking on building a coop and reinforcing the fencing around the orchard the chickens will eventually be ranging in. I spent tonight building a 3D coop model on the computer, lol... Easier for me to work things out in 3 dimensions.

I'm going to start out with the egg layers (several different breeds, to compare), and depending on how things go, may try a batch of cornish X later in the year. I'd like to try some heritage meat breeds eventually and see how they are different and what kind of market there is for those, but I gotta take one step at a time! I'd rather start out with something that's faster and cheaper to raise while I work out that learning curve. I look forward to hearing how things go with those Buckeyes.