HOMEGROWN Life: Why the Buckeye Needs to Make a Comeback

This post originally appeared on HOMEGROWN.org.

Meet Big Red. She’s a two year old Buckeye. She’s also one of my favorite hens. 

The Buckeye is a threatened breed of chicken according the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy.
They were originally developed during the turn of the century by Mrs.
Nettie Metcalf of Warren, Ohio – the only chicken breed developed
completely by a woman. Buff Cochins, Barred Rocks, and Black-Breasted Red
Game were used in their development. Their pea combs and wattles are
incredibly small – nearly non-existent – which makes them very cold
tolerant birds. I always recommend them for people that live in cold
areas because of their tolerance to frigid conditions. Even though we
live in a milder climate than most of the country, our Buckeyes
consistently lay medium, brown eggs through the winter unlike our
younger hens.

From the ALBC’s Buckeye page:

The Buckeye should not be confused with the Rhode Island
Red, even though they share some history. Buckeyes are unique in their
body shape: slanted, short but broad back, very meaty thighs, powerful
wings and breast. They appear very close to the Cornish, as bred in
1905, in body shape. (It should be noted that the originator indicated
that she did not use Cornish in their breeding; the Cornish body shape
was simply her goal.) In color the Buckeye is also unique. The color of
the Buckeye is darker than that of the original Rhode Island Red (later,
the Rhode Island Red was bred for a shade of color even darker than the
Buckeye). The Buckeye also has a slate colored bar in the undercolor
(fluff) of its back; the Rhode Island Red’s feathers should be red to
the skin. Both breeds share the trait of tight feathering – unique in
the American Class of poultry.

They also have a unique personality. If you can get past the fact
that they always look angry they are actually very friendly, though
quite active. We have a batch of 4 week old chicks right now, including 3
Buckeyes. They are the only ones out of the group that actually allow
us to pick them up and carry them around perched on our fingers. Big Red
is our “event chicken” because she’s so friendly and doesn’t shy away
from large groups of people. They are great foragers, however, and don’t
do well in confinement. They have a reputation for hunting rodents
rivaling the hunting ability of cats. The roosters can make a huge range
of sounds including a dinosaur-type roar.