practice : Buckeye chickens are two-fold - intent , heritage chicken known for their yummy meat and their winter output of average - sized , brown eggs . They are combat-ready forager and a calm - natured chicken breed , making them idealistic for backyard flocks and eatage - poultry app . Buckeye chickens come in large - fowl and bantam sizes .
story : Buckeye chickens have the differentiation of being the only cognise American poulet breed developed entirely by a woman , Nettie Metcalf of Warren , Ohio . When Metcalf set out breed chickens , her finish was to make a strain that produce well during northeastern Ohio ’s bitterly cold winters . At this , she was eminently successful . When she prove a pair at the 1902 Cleveland domestic fowl show , she call them Buckeyes in laurels of her aboriginal state and for the buckeye - crank color of their deep - red plumage . They were admitted to the American Poultry Association Standard as Buckeyes in 1904 . Today , the Buckeye is an endangered Gallus gallus strain included in the peril category of the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy ’s Conservation Priority List . Fortunately , the Buckeye is staging a slow but firm comeback , supported by an increase torso of consecrated breeders who treasure this jewel from the past tense .
configuration : Buckeye chickens are big , sturdy chickens with blanket bodies and boob , firm wings , and very meaty thighs . Cocks count about 9 pounds and hens librate about 6½ Lebanese pound . In the bantam kind , cocks consider about 34 ounce and hens press about 28 ounces . Buckeye chickens have xanthous skin and small , freeze - tolerant pea combs . They follow in a exclusive coloring , mahogany red with black tails , and have close , tight plumage .
Do not confuse this breed with the Rhode Island Red chicken stock . Buckeye chickens have a cake of slating colouring on their back feathers tightlipped to their consistence , whereas Rhode Island Reds do not . Buckeye chickens are also more compact than Rhode Island Red chickens , with scant , broader backs .
Special Considerations / Notes : Buckeyes are active volaille and unrivaled foragers , making them idealistic for free - range situations . They also adapt well to lying-in as long as they have ample room to move around . They ’re calm and imperturbable bird , well-disposed , and well handled . Buckeye chickens are supremely wintertime audacious , and hens lay through the winter months , producing 150 to 200 tasty , brown egg per year . They excel as meat chickens , but because they age more quickly than most inheritance stock , Buckeyes require high-pitched protein diet to support more rapid growth .
Buckeyes have several extra traits that make them singular . Roosters are noted for their range of utterance and their easy dispositions . buckeye of both sexuality are excellent computer mouse hunter ( some proprietor compare them to cats ) , and they ’re less prepared to feather - pick one another than most other breeds .
