Kraienkoppes from IDEAL Poultry?

[Gresh]

Hi, everyone! I have been a Kraienkoppe enthusiast for awhile and have been looking for sources from which to acquire these birds. A good friend of mine here on BYC suggested that I try IDEAL's Kraienkoppes to see if I can cull hard enough to get some birds that are good enough to breed to the Kraienkoppe standard. I was wondering if any of you have ever bought Kraienkoppes from IDEAL. Please tell me your experience and also post pics, if you've got any!

 

[Oregon Blues]

I suppose it is worth a try. If you don't get nice chicks, you can always cull them all. A box of chicks from a hatchery isn't a lot of money.

A lot of hatchery chicks are pet quality and often they don't look like purebreds. But I have no idea about that breed. Occasionally a really nice chick comes out of a hatchery, but it isn't the norm.

The only ducklings I've ever bought from one of the big hatcheries were absolutely awful. Not only far distant from the standard, but not nice temperaments, either.

If you decide to do it, don't set your hopes too high.

 

[Gresh]

Quote:
Well, I got the idea from a respected breeder friend who knows a little about Kraienkoppe lines here in the USA. Kraienkoppes are sort of new to this country and the only a few lines exist. One of the main lines is supported by Sandhill Preservation Center. Others are monitored by private breeders. My friend believes that IDEAL got their Kraienkoppes from the Sandhill line, and from his own experience, Sandhill's line is not perfect, but definitely good material to work with. However, my friend doesn't know for sure how IDEAL has been breeding the Sandhill line since they acquired it.
I am going to try IDEAL's Kraienkoppes with my fingers crossed, and if they aren't workable whatsoever, then like you said, I can just cull them. They sell cheaply anyway, so it won't be a tremendous loss. If such is the case then I'll just see if I can try Sandhill's lines.
My friend said that his neighbor got Silver Kraienkoppes from IDEAL, and objectively they were good-lookin' birds. I'm trying the BBR variety instead because they are said to get a bit larger. I'm anticipating some smaller versions of the Kraienkoppe (hatchery size) so I want birds that are as large as possible.

 

[NorthCoastChick]

2 BBR Kraienkoppe pullets from Ideal at 23 days old. I'm not a breeder or anything but maybe you can tell what kind of quality they are from the pic.

 

[PopazChickFlock]

Are the Kraienkoppes roosters. Game roosters?

 

[mcrooke45]

They were bred from game chickens many years ago. When fighting gamefowl was outlawed they crossed them with Leghorns to lay better. I have both silver and bbr kraienkoppe. Mine follow me around the yard like a puppy. One of my bbr cockerels never gets over 15ft from me and stays by my side most of the time I am doing things outside. I got mine from Ideal in Feb. this year.
Here are some of my birds.





They have not began to lay yet but I am going to hatch as many out as I can when they do.
Mark

 

[Kevin565]

They were bred from game chickens many years ago. When fighting gamefowl was outlawed they crossed them with Leghorns to lay better. I have both silver and bbr kraienkoppe. Mine follow me around the yard like a puppy. One of my bbr cockerels never gets over 15ft from me and stays by my side most of the time I am doing things outside. I got mine from Ideal in Feb. this year.
Here are some of my birds.





They have not began to lay yet but I am going to hatch as many out as I can when they do.
Mark

You have gorgeous stock!

 

[mcrooke45]

Thanks, I do not have any BBR hens right now. I ordered only silver kraienkoppes but they sent me 3 BBR cockerels with my order. I am going to hatch out a lot of the silvers and put the BBR cockerel in with some of the pullets I hatch out, so the next generation chicks all the pullets will be BBR.
Mark

 

[Kevin565]

Thanks, I do not have any BBR hens right now. I ordered only silver kraienkoppes but they sent me 3 BBR cockerels with my order. I am going to hatch out a lot of the silvers and put the BBR cockerel in with some of the pullets I hatch out, so the next generation chicks all the pullets will be BBR.
Mark

Sounds like it'll be very interesting. Hope you'll post plenty of pics of the offspring

 

[Paul3874]

These are the first I have ever seen them. They are beautiful, but how do they do in pens. I'm Interested. Yesterday am up to 70% hatch in my new dickey incu. Looks good.