The Buckeye Thread

[Marengoite]

I hope this is okay to post here. I am completely new to this site, to chickens, to everything. I plan to get my first batch of chicks this coming Spring as we just moved onto a 1.75 acre lot with a neighbor's field adjacent that is 2 acres that we have been given permission to use. I am trying to decide what breed to start with. We are in southwest Ohio, and I thought Rhode Island Reds fit our needs well...but then I read about Buckeyes. I got excited and am thinking this may be the breed for us.

Our needs are as follows: high egg production (we eat 6-10 eggs a day and I would like to store eggs for winter when production is down), docile and friendly nature as I will have my 3 yr old and 1 yr old sons very involved in raising the chickens, double as a good meat bird, cold hardy including handling below freezing temps for extended periods of time, heat tolerant as it can get hot and humid here in the summer with temps reaching 90's consistently, very good foragers as we hope to use as little feed as possible and grow organically what we need

I am not sure I am up to having a rooster my first year with the boys, but I am very interested in hatching my own chicks after I get some experience under my belt so I wiuld like to have a breed that occasionally goes broody and is a good mother.

What do you all think?

You can't go wrong with Buckeyes. If you are in SW Ohio, you are near some of the best Buckeye chickens in the state. Try a Google search on Crain's Run Ranch in Miamisburg.

That being said, if you goal is high production, you might consider adding a few hybrid layers like Golden Comets or Golden Buffs. They will faithfully lay big brown eggs consistently. They are egg laying machines. However, they lack some of the qualities you are looking for. Buckeyes aren't high production, but they are more than adequate for our needs and the extra cockrels from the spring hatches taste delicious in the fall with noodles.

 

[Marengoite]

Thanks buckeyechicken! So do you think if I am looking to get 6-10 eggs a day that 12 Buckeyes would be good? Or should I get a breed to supplement egg production like australorp or something? I thought maybe I could supplement with RIRs but then read they are mean to other breeds. I am just so excited about the Buckeyes. It would be so cool to help preserve this breed!

Do you think a flock of 10-12 would deplete the 1-3 acres that I have available for them to free range on? What about a flock of 30? How long does it usually take before they start laying?

As an added bonus, Crain's Run also started with Australorps and Doms last year. Not sure if they are selling any, but it wouldn't hurt to ask.

 

[Marengoite]

Quote:
Chris,

A while back I was gathering up cockerels to take for processing and one missed his ride. He was hiding out at my BIL's next door. So my BIL kept him around a while and he lived contentedly with the two horses all summer. He was diligent about getting all that undigested grain. My BIL used to say, "Well, it looks like Bucky is enjoying a hot meal."

 

[sahmhomesteader]

You can't go wrong with Buckeyes. If you are in SW Ohio, you are near some of the best Buckeye chickens in the state. Try a Google search on Crain's Run Ranch in Miamisburg.

That being said, if you goal is high production, you might consider adding a few hybrid layers like Golden Comets or Golden Buffs. They will faithfully lay big brown eggs consistently. They are egg laying machines. However, they lack some of the qualities you are looking for. Buckeyes aren't high production, but they are more than adequate for our needs and the extra cockrels from the spring hatches taste delicious in the fall with noodles. 

Ok. So the Buckeyes are definitely good being housed with other breeds?

 

[sahmhomesteader]

As an added bonus, Crain's Run also started with Australorps and Doms last year. Not sure if they are selling any, but it wouldn't hurt to ask. 

Good to know. Australorps could be a good breed to add.

 

[buckeyechicken]

Raising poultry can be a scientific project if you want it to be but when I was growing up my grandpa would feed the chickens every day with a little scratch, layer pellets and oyster shells. He also made sure they had fresh water. The rest of the day they would forage around in the yard, and at night they would go to the coop. Yes the dogs was in the yard running with the chickens. He would worm them once a year if they needed it with a wormer and that is if they slowed down on laying. He never worried about sour crop, bumble foot or anything else, and the chickens had to survive on their own. We always had fresh eggs, and a chicken to eat on Sundays. When they would go broody and he did not want them to he would throw them in the yard every day and they would get the hint stay off the nest. They always lay in the nest because he would place a round rock or something hard in there. When it came time to process one he would go out the night before and catch one on the roost and place it in a box. Every year he would order 100 chicks from the hatchery and the process would start over. To him the eggs were more important than a chicken setting on a nest for 21 days and him losing 21 eggs for 10-12 chicks. Back then you could get 100 chicks for $20.00-$25.00. So this is my thoughts on raising chickens for personal use.

 

[knittychickadee]

You can't go wrong with Buckeyes. If you are in SW Ohio, you are near some of the best Buckeye chickens in the state. Try a Google search on Crain's Run Ranch in Miamisburg.

Since they want a Buckeye that will gain weight well with a lot of foraging and go broody and raise chicks, that may not be the direction they want to go.

sahmhomesteader- Find a breeder that raises Buckeyes the way you want to. If you want good foragers, birds that gain weight well while pastured, and are good broodies and mothers, then ask specific questions. I have found that some lines just do not compare to others in this regard. Some people only pasture their youngsters, find someone that pastures adults also. If you want good broodies and mothers, you want to find someone that actually raises chicks with broodies so you know that line you get is successful in that area. Some breeders are against broodiness and try to breed it out. You may get lucky and get one, you may not. Ask about growth rates at different ages. Some lines rate of growth are really slow, they may be a pound behind at the same age as another. Important if you'd like to butcher some at 16 wks instead of waiting til they are 24 wks. They cost more per lb to raise the older they get. Anyways, these are my thoughts on the subject, hope they help you find a good breeder.

 

[knittychickadee]

Raising poultry can be a scientific project if you want it to be but when I was growing up my grandpa would feed the chickens every day with a little scratch, layer pellets and oyster shells. He also made sure they had fresh water. The rest of the day they would forage around in the yard, and at night they would go to the coop. Yes the dogs was in the yard running with the chickens. He would worm them once a year if they needed it with a wormer and that is if they slowed down on laying. He never worried about sour crop, bumble foot or anything else, and the chickens had to survive on their own. We always had fresh eggs, and a chicken to eat on Sundays. When they would go broody and he did not want them to he would throw them in the yard every day and they would get the hint stay off the nest. They always lay in the nest because he would place a round rock or something hard in there. When it came time to process one he would go out the night before and catch one on the roost and place it in a box. Every year he would order 100 chicks from the hatchery and the process would start over. To him the eggs were more important than a chicken setting on a nest for 21 days and him losing 21 eggs for 10-12 chicks. Back then you could get 100 chicks for $20.00-$25.00. So this is my thoughts on raising chickens for personal use.

Ok I stink at math, but if I add up how many eggs I would miss in the time a broody was sitting, and even add in the 5 wks she is with the chicks, I would still make more if I sold the chicks vs the eggs she isn't laying in that time? And not likely you would get 21 eggs in 21 days.

 

[buckeyechicken]

Some people in this group bets all i have ever seen you would argue with a telephone pole I did not say that my post was mathmaticaly correct or anything I was just making a comment on the way my grandpa thought about raising chickens.

 

[buffalogal]

Ok. So the Buckeyes are definitely good being housed with other breeds?

I'd say so, yes.