2010 National Wish List

[Paul]

Wish List?  Should I say muchly needed list!

We haven\'t brought in any new blood since 2005 for our black, blue , splash lines and since 2007 for our wheaten lines and now it is imparitive that we do to prevent inbreeding them.  All our chicks are toe punched at hatching and pen bred under controlled matings or by now they would be highly inbred.

We need black, blue, splash wheaten, blue wheaten and splash wheaten cockerels or will use pullets and raise breeding males from them.  We have found a pair of lavenders from South, TX. but could use an additional pair or trio of lavenders for our start in them.

We have a few good black, blue, splash, wheaten and blue wheaten breeder birds either for sale or trade for what we need to keep our flock advancing.

All our birds were vaccinated for Mareks at hatching (Feb.15-June 3), for Pox on July 17, for LT on July 2 and second dose LT on August 13.  We prefer vaccinated birds but it isn\'t a requirement.

Looking forward to the National.

Paul Smith
sw_psmith@swmail.net

[Jean]

I\'ll keep you in mind in another month or so.  My birds take forever to mature....

My birds are slightly related though.

[Paul]

Jean a grandson or a great grandson of the splash cock that we sent a few years ago would do fine.

[Blue Egg Acres]

I hope to bring a few wheaten and blue wheaten cockerels for sale.  I have several that are hatched out of eggs from Sue Osio.

[Mike Gilbert]

Paul, have you considered checking with Wayne Meredith?
How many years ago was it we were at his place picking out birds for you?  He always kept good size a priority.

[Anne Foley]

Paul, let us know what if you are looking for certain qualities (ie. size, comb, muffs, etc) more than others.  Anne Foley will have LF Blacks and Whites for sale at KY and the Ohio National.  Most of the cockerels I have kept this year are over the standard weight as I feel small size is an issue with the large fowl.  I just weighed my first hatch of black pullets and the average was 4lbs 13oz with the smallest at 4lbs 2oz and the heaviest at 5lbs 8oz.  The cockerel I used to get them weighed in at exactly 8lb in January when I put him with my breeder hens.  The whites are stock from Carl Fosbrink who had them for about 7 years and never showed them.  I am bringing a couple extra cockerels because they have excellent combs and nice type.  I haven\'t weighed them yet but I\'ve already culled the smaller ones so what is left will be at or above the standard.  The white cock bird I used was Carl\'s oldest.  He weighed 8lb 1oz in January but I\'m not sure his pullets will be as big as the ones from my blacks, probably due to the overall smaller size of the breeder hens.  Looking forward to seeing everyone at the National!

[dak]

May I ask a stupid question?  It seem to me (a newbie ) that a bird larger than the standard is considered desirable.  If this is so, would it be reasonable to change the standard.  Clare

[Mike Gilbert]

May I ask a stupid question?  It seem to me (a newbie ) that a bird larger than the standard is considered desirable.  If this is so, would it be reasonable to change the standard.  Clare

No.   The standard is not going to change with regard to weights.   Breeders understand that the best breeder birds are not necessarily the best show birds, and they should also understand the principle of compensation mating.   One example is when your line of birds is too small, you use a mating with a larger bird to increase the size in the offspring.
As lines are more and more inbred, size tends to suffer (diminish).   Hence my suggestion to check with Wayne as his birds have typically been comparatively large.

[John]

May I ask a stupid question?

Yes, but that wasn\'t one.  Questions and answers on this forum help many fanciers besides those asking.
Thank you,

[QUADCH]

Anne,
How does your white line lay?

[Anne Foley]

Hi QUADCH,  I got 2 old cock birds and 5 old hens from Carl.  I hate to say much about how well they lay with so few and with the hens being older.  However, they did hatch well and I will be able to tell more as the pullets start to mature.  That\'s the best answer I can give you right now.

[Mike Gilbert]

Anne, is Carl still raising chickens or is he out of them?  At one time he was a member of the ABC.  He had some great barred rocks, but somebody stole his best ones quite a few years ago.

[Anne Foley]

As far as I know, Carl is out of Ameraucanas, Plymouth Rocks and Sicilian Buttercups but still has a few Black Sumatras left.  He is in a wheelchair now and is not able to hire help to care for all his animals the way he would like to have them cared for.  I got the last of his Ameraucanas and my friend and neighbor got the last of his Buttercups.  The Buttercups were not shown either but in my mind they are the best in the country with good type and closed combs.  There were still some very nice Barred Plymouth Rocks on his place maybe 3 or 4 years ago so I guess he was able to keep them going after the theft.

[Paul]

I\'m primarily looking for some out crosses or some from us mated with someone else lines for several generations.  We don\'t won\'t to sacrifice any of the required traits that we have been selecting for the past 11 years.  Only pea combs, muffed/bearded, clean shanks (no stubs) correctly colored (slate or black-depending on variety) with the correct type will be considered as a potential breeder.  I prefer them a little larger than under sized.

I plan on setting up breeding pens early to do test matings on every bird that we purchase.

Mike it was in Sept. 1999, while we were showing at Belvidere, IL. that we went to Wayne\'s place.  BTW-that was our first show.

[John]

It seem to me (a newbie ) that a bird larger than the standard is considered desirable.

Because it is next to impossible to have birds weigh exactly what the standard says, it is generally desirable for large fowl to be larger and bantams to be smaller.  Often bantams tend be too large and LF too small.