Does anyone have expierence with the heritage breed of Buckeye chickens?
I’m a year away from starting my flock, and I’m looking at heritage breeds. And I just kind of doubt that a breed of bird will have the same temperament and behaviors that seem to be common knowledge and repeated facts from source to source, without a breeder actively eliminating “bad” traits from the breeding flock constantly. And I doubt that large hatcheries are actually attempting to do that. For example Buckeyes are supposed to be strong self foragers. But how would that behavior be monitored and breed for without the chickens being in a situation where they are able to forage for themselves and those that do poorly are removed from the gene pool… so anyways anyone have actual experience with Buckeye’s how close do they come to their breeds description in behavior.
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Replies (3)
It took me a second realize you asked specifically about buckeyes and my input doesn't really address that - so my apologies.
But here it is anyway.
I think most chickens are pretty good foragers. Sure, there are a few breeds that are less than ideal, but any active breed would probably be a safe bet.
I would just try to pick a breed you think you'll like and run for it. You're going to find traits you dislike in every bird (they are kind of stupid creatures, after all), just dive in and enjoy the process!
I wish you much success in your future flocking.
We got English Game because we heard that even though they're not great for egg production, they are excellent foragers and moms. They are in fact very good at both, but I'm starting to think that chickens in general are decent foragers.
This year we supplemented with a few other breeds - White Leghorn, Plymouth Rock, Whiting Green- hoping get more eggs, and so far they are also great foragers. We'll see if they get broody and how they are as moms, but as far as I can tell, they took to foraging just as much as the English Game did.
You can start to breed for the characteristics that you want, and Harvey Ussery's latest book gives step-by-step advice on breeding.
Thanks