BUCKEYES- a Lively, Gentle, Dual Purpose DIscussion Thread

[Arielle]

A New Begining

My introduction to Buckeyes was a few years ago when looking for the right breed. Even that was an evolution, triggered by Robert Blos'ls many posts, from hatchery to heritage. THe old BUckeye thread triggered great respect for this red bird that was a dual purpose breed especially for the homestead, known for its meatiness and a good layer. Of course the personality is a winner too: confident, friendly, but also self sufficient as a forager. Seemed like a perfect fit for a family on a small farm with children and other farm animals.

One of the old thread members PM'd me and we struck up a friendship of sorts. He was able to tell me Mr Rhodes lived just a few miles from me and provide contact information. I called, we talked. In the end I didnot feel I was ready for the responsiblity of breeding a high quality heritage breed. The next contact was to Don Schrieder. ANd while it has been some time since emailing him, our inital emails were very enlightening, and I clearly had lots to learn yet. In the interum 3 years I have read the Heritage thread regularly, tried to read the Buckeye thread, been to a few poultry shows, and even met Walt LEonard. I've learned to hatch, raise and butcher my birds. ANd my family enjoys the chickens, too.

Fast forward, to Dec 2013, I realize that time is passing and MR Rhodes maybe passing too, all too soon. THe lost of RObert BLosl still hammers this home. Better to getsome good buckeyes now while I can. WHat is better than driving a few miles to get some birds or eggs from an old line. A line used to help make the ALBC line.A line that DOn Schrieder built and the line spread to other hands. Which led me to CHris McCarthy. I have listened to Chris thru his posts and know that he has bred true to DOn Shrieders methods, and I finally took the plunge to order a batch of 25 chicks from CHris.

I am excited and scared all at once. It is like waiting for Christmas to arrive but with no certain date. The journey has started with buckeyes.


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I am not the best communicator ,a nd emails have a way of soundling less polite, and less empathetic than intended. So I will do my best to emulate the buckeye: friendly, confident, and kind, though I may fall short of this at times. A thread dedicated to the buckeyes, where everyone is welcome, leaving club affliations at the door, and focus on the further development of the buckeyes.






Here is a poll if you are intersted in participating!

 

[Arielle]

Patence and waiting for a box of chicks to ship is a double sided sword. I"m looking forward to the little reddish chicks, yet realize how they are raised will influence their behavior forever.

I have always brooded in my kitchen so I can be sure the heat lamp is working and the little ones are used to me. My kids sit with the chicks and create stories while they play with thier live puppets. lol Maybe they will be too old for that this year . . . .

One other group of chicks was allowed to stay with broody hen and she raised them up to be skiddish and elude handling. BUt I also noticed that this mixed bag of breeds were very hardy and moved fast, faster than my kitchen reared birds of the same breeding.

Because the first 25 are my inital seed stock, they will be guarded and not raised by a broodie. But in the future I see great value in a broody raising the chicks.

ANd that brings into consideratin, how they are fed. From my speckled sussex Ihave learned that egg production and quality varies day to day week to week. THe majority of the day they are away from their coop( where the layer pellets are) and forage hither and yon. ALways looking for something yummy in the leave litter of the woods, or looking for spillage in the turkey coop. Great foragers as far as I can tell-- will definitely compare the buckeyes to them for sure. The solution to strengthening the egg shells was to add extra calcium around the coop and in the woods, as oyster shell and crushed egg shells. HOwever quantity of eggs seemed uneffected, as if they were not getting enough protein despite the readily available supply of feed.

I tend to always have more questions-- and when I find a possible anser, it leads to more questions!! lol

 

[Wynette]

Arielle, best of luck with your new chicks!

 

[Arielle]

THank you WYnette.

 

[Arielle]

Received word today that I am on the list for chicks, and pens are getting set up!! Payment is made. Now the waiting for the chicks. Considering the temperatures could be terrible at times in March, shipment will depend on the weather. Love that kind of thoughfulness.

 

[Arielle]

I hadn't mentioned before that I had one buckeye egg in the incubator-- just in case the blood ring was impending doom. But right on time one tiny chick hatched along with 2 cornishx X chicks to keep it company. THis egg was given to me at the Northeastern Congress--carefully carted home and cherished until set date.

Possible ship date March 3rd for the box of chicks. ( I'm getting nervous!)

 

[chickadoodles]

I am so happy for you Arielle I hope you enjoy your Buckeyes.

I will be missing out on the brooding of mine, but hopefully they will be people friendly just the same. I am very excited about getting my birds in either June or July and looking forward to meeting Chris!

 

[gusser]

I had six chickens, all different, all hens. I had buff opringtons, jersey giants, and others. But none, NONE, were as stupid as the buckeye. That chicken was hopeless and i can't believe that is considered a gentle chicken. It DOES NOT like people, and for that matter other chickens. It was strong and fast as a bullet but not the least bit friendly. I ended up having to get rid of them because someone in the town complained. I took the fencing, posts and gates down and gave all of my equipment away. Then i heard recently that the town is probably going to allow small flocks. So, i ordered seven more chickens, again, all different but I DID NOT order a buckeye. I can see why they are rare. I can also see why no one wants them and for sure, i would never recommend them.

 

[Bill Matthews]

To Gusser....Your experience with Buckeyes is very unusual....Most people have the EXACT OPPOSITE take on the breed....And rather than people not wanting them, droves are lined up begging for them...Take Care and maybe try Buckeyes again.

 

[gusser]

Nope. It wasn't me. All of the chickens were treated the same. All were handled from day one. The buckeye was just weird. I had to give them away due to a town ordnance and the person who received them has the same problem. The chicken is just stupid. I would never recommend that breed to anyone. I can see why they are endangered.