The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Seven Acres on March 15, 2017, 11:46:11 am
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Hi,
I'm looking to purchase a trio of North Holland Blue's does anyone keep any or have any for sale?
Thank you
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If you can find a good utility strain the cockerels make excellent table birds.
Fast maturing :thumbsup:
Good luck
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That's the reason why I would like to acquire some, though I seem unable to find anyone who owns/breeds them.
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Have you tried contacting the Poultry Club of Great Britain?
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The Poultry Club, don't even have the breed on their list....?
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Not sure where you are but try
https://www.cornerwoodpoultry.co.uk/poultry-pages (https://www.cornerwoodpoultry.co.uk/poultry-pages)
Also the rare breed survival trust maybe able to help.
http://www.rbst.org.uk/Rare-and-Native-Breeds/Poultry/Chickens/North-Holland-Blue (http://www.rbst.org.uk/Rare-and-Native-Breeds/Poultry/Chickens/North-Holland-Blue)
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The North Holland blue is now kept by less than 10 people in the UK. We have a breeding program and are working to increase numbers.
It’s going to take a few years to turn it around and no money changes hands. We have them with people who can breed and not fritter them away.
So in a few years birds with luck will be available.
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The number of people with English NHB is 4, Dutch birds owners 3.
A lot of work to do.
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You don't mention @Cornish man whether Seven Acres can play a part in your breed recovery efforts. (Of course, perhaps you are private messaging with Seven Acres as well as posting here.)
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The North Holland blue is now kept by less than 10 people in the UK. We have a breeding program and are working to increase numbers.
It’s going to take a few years to turn it around and no money changes hands. We have them with people who can breed and not fritter them away.
So in a few years birds with luck will be available.
Yeah, agree with that... Still waiting
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Sorry your waiting? I’m a commercial farmer getting ready for lambing.
The information on the NHB is as stated non available for two years we will put up when some will become available.
We are bombarded with people now wanting NHBs funny a few years ago nobody wanted to know.
I will come back on when we have birds available as we cull hard and only keep the best.
Thank you for your interest.
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Forgive me @Cornish man, but you have spiked my interest even further, by your last post, on how to preserve a rare breed. I have a question if you wouldn't mind considering.
Why cull hard? Surely any breed will show variability and, if you are reasonably content about the purity of your stock, I cannot but wonder whether hard culls will ultimately end up with too much in-breeding and weakening of the breed !?
I do not mean to challenge your strategy: I'm just trying to understand rare-breed recovery strategies and would be most grateful for further explanation.
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I’ll explain as a farmer/shepherd/herdsman you only keep the best. If you keep second rate / poor quality you get poor quality. I retain my best ewe lambs about 90/110 a year. The Lleyn was down to a few hundred in the late 1960s but luckily the breed was kept by commercial farmers.
Only the best rams were kept and had to be graded all the poorer rams culled same with the ewes. Now look at the Lleyn a great , hardy breed of sheep very popular.
NHBs are great to eat they were/are a commercial meat bird that lay well. That’s why I keep them not because they are “ rare” family has had them 60 years we got them as chicks in exchange for scrap metal.
Of The other 3 ,2 are the same as me and one keen fancier.
You keep the best and cull the rest that’s the only way to improve the breed. Keep it for what it’s meant for meat and eggs by culling you keep the breed strong.
I am a herdsmans son one of 10 children I’ve built my business up from nothing by using this method and working hard.
If you breed from crap you get crap it’s that simple.
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Thank you kindly for that @Cornish man, BUT now I am actually going to gently challenge your strategy of high culling.
You mention strategy for “improving the breed”, but surely the main objective (for now) should be to maximise the reproduction of a healthy population of NHBs (with verifiable genetics) spread across the nation and elsewhere as much and as soon as possible.
Bird flu could wipe out the very limited population of NHB all too rapidly leading to the demise of the breed. Surely, surely it would be better to reduce culling and send out eggs/chicks/pullets to willing keepers in order to have collections/flocks of NHBs spread as widely as possible and then let future breeding strategies help to maintain a decent standard of NHB – a consistently good bird for the table with good egg-laying performance also.
Sorry, but I seem to think breed improvement should not be the priority: keeping up verifiable genetic numbers of the breed across as wide a geographic area as possible would be my personal objective in the short term. (That would not prevent core NHB breeders keeping what they might consider to be 'pedigree/prime' collections/flocks.)
Might you reconsider your strategy ?
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Hello Arob the decision has been made by all 4 of us. We are as well as using surviving NHB (UK) blood we are using UK feather legged Cocks on Dutch NHBs which do not.
All the males from the x breds will be culled for obvious reasons and the best hens put back to UK NHB Cocks and again only retaining the best type of hen. All hens not up to standard will be given to egg producers who won’t breed from them.
So now you can see why we are hatching everything we can then go through them only retaining the best for breeding this will take time but we know the NHB.
We are also not egg sellers, or very rare breed sellers we have kept the breed when nobody wanted to know.
We have to get the numbers up by some controlled xing with the Dutch NHB. We don’t sell to each other either it’s all free.
So hopefully in 3 years some pairs and trios may become available if we’re lucky.
You have to be aware of the egg sellers and rare breed sellers who charge a fortune for “ rare breeds” well their not doing it to the NHB.
We will let you know how breeding goes and how they look October/ December time.
I’ve also had the same lines of large Cuckoo Scots Dumpies for 44 years. I keep for sextets plus spare Cocks like the NHB I’ve set up plenty but 90% soon get bored and get rid and don’t tell you.
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The NHB UK Breeders group have a a decent season we have now got 10 breeding groups.
They are either pure bred UK NHBs or pure UK cocks with UK X Dutch hens.
All the inferior birds have gone to laying homes and all inferior cocks are being eaten.
The results have been encouraging it’s great to have breeders all working together, no politics, nothing is sold we give and exchange no dealers or e bay/ Facebook egg sellers.
If this continues we maybe in a position to place birds in two years time.
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A good start for 2022, 37 from one breeder all feather legged and 21 with another.
We have another 30 in the incubator and about 60 going in soon and the main breeding groups are only just kicking off!
It’s down to us all being organised well done RM and working together for the breed and it’s well being and future.
Not a penny changes hands for eggs, birds and travelling and we are moving on from just 28 birds two years ago.
We will produce the birds for people who are interested in it’s well being NOT the eBay and Facebook egg sellers and dealers who don’t give a fig for the breed.
This is a good utility breed it lays a good sized egg and enough of them and kills out well it’s not been ruined like a number of breeds for the show bench.
Hoping for better to come.
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Congratulations, sounds like the hard work and devotion is paying off. Best of luck for another successful year, and looking forward to your next update.
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Congratulations, sounds like the hard work and devotion is paying off. Best of luck for another successful year, and looking forward to your next update.
Likewise
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Just come across this post.
TBH cornish man, id never heard of these, ive been reading up on them, they sound a very useful breed, but how are they coping with avian lockdown? It sounds like they like free ranging and need lots of space.
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No problem whatsoever, I have large sheds and use a big old Shire horse loose box.
I only keep three quintets never overstock they are fine like that plenty of good clean straw.
They are big birds which need space if you remember that theirs no problem.
Most new poultry keepers keep too many birds in cramped conditions. Keep less of better quality, Also too many people keep too many breeds and have no depth and can’t breed enough of quality.
Keep one or two breeds maximum and have space for rearing young stock now how many do that?
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The plan for this year is to breed as many birds as possible from pure uk cocks on first x hens.
All the cocks bred from this x will go for table birds and the best feather legged hen all retained.
Then for next year only this years pullets second x will be used on pure bred uk cocks.
The small number of uk pure birds will be bred pure for cockerel production.
All the first x hens are going out to local people for layers and will not be used again in the programme unless their are any disaster and we know where they will be.
Then we should be in a far stronger place as the Dutch NHBs we have used “ only” hens are smaller, lay smaller eggs and do not carry the weight of the UK birds and are far more show than commercial.
We want commercial type birds than eat well and lay well showing isn’t really important to us.
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Hi Cornish man, are you able to share any NHB birds/ eggs yet?
I'm a small holder with a lot of space, currently with a few re housed hens and some Polish chickens. Wanting to start breeding a rare breed and the NHB sounds great.