Considering Buckeye chickens? The 21 things you must know first
“Buckeyes are friendly and easy-going, with excellent vigor, resilience, and disease resistance in a bird that grows to a solid size and lays plenty of eggs.”
Buckeye chickens are a nearly perfect breed for chicken keepers with a big backyard or a homestead setup. These birds do exceptionally well in the cold, tolerate the heat, forage for much of their food, get along well with each other, and love any attention you give them. They lay well, even in the harshest winters, and they can provide premium-quality meat for your family.
Where does the Buckeye breed fall short? Well, for one thing, Buckeyes aren’t meant for close confinement, so tiny urban runs aren’t a good fit for these birds. And some individuals can be quite noisy—although you’ll never get bored with the sounds they make, many vocalizations being unique to the breed.
Sounding good so far? If you’re considering Buckeye chickens for your flock, you’ll find everything you need in this article to decide if this breed is perfect for you.
You’ll learn:
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What are Buckeye chickens?
Buckeye chicken facts
Category: Pet, eggs, & meat
Origin: United States
Egg-laying ability: Good
Broodiness: Moderate-high
Meat production: Good
Cold tolerance: Exceptional
Heat tolerance: Moderate-good
Predator evasion: Good
Foraging ability: Good
Toleration for confinement: Good
Temperament: Friendly to docile, but some roosters aggressive
Aggression toward flock members: Low
Noise level: Moderate-high
Why are they called “Buckeyes” and where do they come from?
The Buckeye chicken is the namesake of the buckeye nut. Buckeye nuts are dark, reddish-brown in color and glossy in texture, much like the beautiful plumage of the Buckeye chicken.
The chicken was developed by Nettie Metcalf in the state of Ohio, known as the “Buckeye State.”
The Buckeye chicken’s claim to fame is that it’s the only American chicken breed developed solely by a woman, and it’s the only American breed with a pea comb. These pea combs (nearly frostbite-resistant) are one of the features that make the Buckeye breed so cold-hardy.
Nettie Metcalf developed the breed in the 1890s by first crossing Buff Cochin roosters with Barred Plymouth Rock hens. She wrote, “This produced a big, lazy fowl, so I looked around for something to mix in.” She settled on some beautiful Black Breasted Red game roosters, most likely of mixed Cornish heritage.
Metcalf mated the game roosters with her Cochin-Plymouth Rock hens, and some of the resulting chicks were born with a unique red color. Metcalf wrote that these chicks “attracted my attention and aroused an ambition [in me] to try and reproduce them. How I was laughed at for the attempt.”
Metcalf’s response to the laughter?
“Well, ridicule and opposition are just the spurs some people need, so [I was] determined to ‘show folks’ or die trying.”
And she certainly ‘showed folks.’ Metcalf created a beautiful and unique utilitarian breed, highly valued in her time, and, though now rare, still highly valued by many today.
What do Buckeye chickens look like?
The most striking feature of Buckeye chickens is their glossy mahogany plumage. The birds’ feathers are a deep and shiny reddish-brown, and the breed is “tight feathered,” meaning the feathers sit more closely to the body than they do on fluffier breeds.
Buckeye chickens have a powerful build and are stocky in appearance, somewhat like the Cornish breed.
Buckeyes have yellow skin and shanks, and their beaks are yellow, shaded with reddish horn. Their wattles are small-medium in size, as are their pea combs. Their eyes are reddish bay.
You can see a beautiful, show-quality Buckeye rooster in the video below.
How big do Buckeye chickens get?
Roosters: 9 lbs
Hens: 6.5 lbs
Bantam roosters: 34 oz
Bantam hens: 28 oz
What do Buckeye chicks look like?
Buckeye chicks are various shades of red, tan, and yellow, as you can see in the video below.
And here, you can see Buckeye chicks at 4 weeks old—so cute!
And at 7 weeks old below!
The 21 things you must know before getting Buckeye chickens
#1 Buckeye hens may take longer than average to start laying eggs.
One of the drawbacks of Buckeye chickens is that hens may take longer than your average breed to lay eggs. Most dual-purpose birds take about 6 months to begin laying, but Buckeyes can take considerably longer.
A Buckeye hen may take 7, 8, 9 months or longer to lay her first egg. So, you may need to be a bit patient raising these hens. But most Buckeye keepers will till you the wait is well worth it.
As one Buckeye chicken keeper said of her two hens, “…I got them and still have them, a half year later. They have not begun laying yet, but I like their attitude.”
#2 Buckeye hens aren’t prolific layers, but they are good layers.
Egg color: Brown
Egg size: Medium-large
Age of lay: 7+ months
Eggs/week: 3-4
Eggs/year: 150-200
Although it may take your Buckeye girls awhile to start laying, you’ll likely be pleased with their laying ability once they get started.
As one Buckeye keeper said, “Our hens have proven to be excellent layers, but did take 7+ months to mature. We were very surprised how large the eggs were, even when the girls were pullets…”
Buckeye hens tend to lay 3-4 medium-large brown eggs a week. Not bad for a dual-purpose breed!
Below, you can see a video of a Buckeye hen laying an egg.
#3 Buckeye hens are great winter layers.
One of the best things about Buckeye hens is their winter egg-laying ability. These girls make up for their late age of first lay by continuing to lay well in the winter months. When your other breeds have stopped laying for the year, chances are, your Buckeyes will still be going strong.
One Buckeye chicken keeper said this about her birds: “Our Buckeyes lay big, brown eggs almost every day, all winter long. They lay very early in the morning, and we only catch them a few times, but those big brown eggs with the thick shells are hard to miss!”
#4 Many Buckeye hens will want to raise chicks.
Buckeye hens do have a tendency to go broody, meaning they’ll want to sit on and incubate their eggs. So, if you want to hatch chicks on your homestead, this is a great breed.
Many Buckeye keepers have said their hens aren’t “excessively broody” as they don’t constantly go broody and their broodiness can be broken.
However, if you’re a backyard keeper who has no interest in hatching chicks, breaking broody hens will likely be an added hassle for you if you get this breed.
#5 Buckeye chickens take a long time to grow to harvest size, but they’re worth the wait!
Buckeye chickens take much longer to grow than commercial broilers. However, they do produce a lot of meat when they finally reach maturity.
One Buckeye keeper said her Buckeyes are “lanky and gangly at 4 months of age,” but “by 5 months old, they begin to broaden, and by 10 months old, they thicken, until you will be surprised by what appears to be a different bird entirely.” Finally, she says that “…[they] are spectacular when they mature.”
Another keeper said that Buckeyes are “one of the best dual-purpose birds out there. Most birds called ‘dual-purpose’ produce scrawny, disappointing carcasses, but not the Buckeye!”
#6 Buckeye chickens have an excellent taste.
“They are known for their meaty thighs, wings, and breast and have very dark ‘dark meat.’”
Everyone who’s had Buckeye chicken seems to agree that the meat is delicious.
According to one homesteader, “Meat-wise, the boys grew slowly, but they made up for that in taste. The meat was rather earthy, ironically, almost nutty tasting…”
Another said, “They are a good-sized breed, and their meat is wonderful.”
And another, “Incredible taste… I kept the cockerels until about 6 months until butchering and they dressed out very nicely… and tasted great!”
#7 Buckeye chickens are exceptionally cold-hardy.
Most dual-purpose chicken breeds—even those labeled “cold-hardy”—have single combs, and, unfortunately, these breeds are always prone to frostbite in the winter months. Many of these breeds also have large wattles susceptible to frostbite.
But not Buckeyes. Buckeyes have wonderful pea combs that are relatively small in in size and that fit closely to the head. Their wattles are much smaller than those of most other breeds as well. Buckeyes are, therefore, one of the few cold-hardy breeds who are very unlikely to get comb or wattle frostbite.
“…[Buckeyes] are one of the two best American breeds for cold weather—the other being the Chantecler—both being far superior to Rhode Island Reds, Rhode Island Whites, or Plymouth Rocks.”
Take a look at the Buckeye rooster in the video below. See how small his comb and wattles are—he is so much better suited for the cold than roosters from almost any other breed.
Aside from their smaller combs and wattles, Buckeyes just don’t mind the cold as much as most other breeds do.
One chicken keeper said this about her Buckeyes: “They are the hardiest of our chickens, who go out and have dust baths when there’s no snow even when it’s 20 degrees out and windy! Nothing stops them from going out in the outdoors, whether it’s rain, wind, or snow… tough and resilient they are…”
#8 Most Buckeye chickens can tolerate warm summers.
Although Buckeye chickens aren’t known as a heat-hardy breed, these are tough birds that tend to survive warm summers.
One chicken keeper said this of her Buckeyes: “Not only are they cold-tolerant, but they can take the heat as well. Last summer, on hot humid days, I lost several of my other cold-hardy breeds, while the Buckeyes sailed through without a problem.”
Definitely make sure your Buckeyes have plenty of deep shade, cold water, and anything else they might need for hot days. And if you think the temperatures are hot enough that you may actually lose chickens (of any breed), prepare in advance to prevent this. Coop fans and even AC may be necessary. I’ve used both in my coops!
#9 Buckeye chickens are brave in the face of predators.
Buckeye chickens are a predator-savvy breed. They are smart, alert, and they blend in well with a lot of natural surroundings.
And Buckeye roosters are known to be particularly brave.
One chicken keeper told this story of her Buckeye rooster: “He saved my hens multiple times. He attacked the neighbor’s dog that was chasing the hens, and then ran in the opposite direction of the hens to bring the dog away from his girls to keep them safe. He was rough and tough when needed and gentle with my family… He died this spring when a raccoon busted my hardware wire on the coop window. The hens lived and he died, protector till the end…”
Another keeper said of her rooster, “He’ll always watch over the girls while they eat and scare our cat away when he comes passing by.”
#10 Buckeyes are excellent foragers and may reduce your feed bill.
If you’re able to free range your Buckeyes, they will keep themselves busy foraging. These birds absolutely love to forage and are great at catching insects of all kinds.
One keeper said of her Buckeye hen, “When they get to forage, she finds a worm with almost every scratch.”
In the video below, you can see a 6-month-old Buckeye hen happily foraging in the dirt.
#11 Buckeyes are mousers!
“They are a very active fowl and are noted for being especially vigilant in the pursuit of mice, some breeders comparing them to cats in regard to this ability.”
Yep, you read that right. Buckeye chickens are famous for catching and eating mice. This isn’t totally surprising when you think of how skilled these birds are at foraging.
And it’s not just mice. One chicken keeper said of her Buckeye flock, “…they pretty much eat anything that moves: bugs, lizards, frogs, mice, whatever—if it moves, they eat it.”
Another said that her Buckeye hen “has also caught and eaten snakes, voles, and mice.”
Below you can see Buckeye hens chasing a bird. They don’t catch the bird, but nice try, girls.
#12 Buckeye chickens enjoy the backyard.
Although traditionally kept as a utility breed for homesteaders and farmers, Buckeye chickens also tolerate confinement. They can be kept in a big yard or a large confined run.
You can see some young Buckeyes happily foraging in a confined run in the video below.
Keep in mind—as these are large birds who have been bred to forage, the more space you can give your Buckeyes, the happier they’ll be. You definitely don’t want to squeeze them into a tiny run.
In the video below, you can see just how happy Buckeye hens are in a large backyard setting.
#13 Buckeye chickens handle temporary close confinement very well.
Although Buckeyes are an active breed and do need space to live their best lives, they can be kept in close confinement for short periods of time, if necessary. Unlike other breeds, Buckeyes don’t have a tendency to feather peck in confinement, and they remain peaceful with each other.
This is great news for homesteaders who live in northern climes with nasty winter weather. As one keeper said of her Buckeye flock, “These birds have been cooped and held for 6 days during blizzards and are fine… no fighting amongst themselves.”
This is definitely not something you’d get with many other dual-purpose breeds. I have Rhode Island Reds and Plymouth Rocks—these birds would murder each other if kept confined to a coop for a week.
#14 Buckeye chickens are friendly, and many are docile.
“They tend to have very little fear of humans and are possibly too friendly.”
Most Buckeye chickens are friendly and curious birds, and some are downright docile.
One chicken keeper said of her Buckeye hen, “Bonnie sure is the friendliest bird we have. As soon as we open the coop door, she greets us. In fact, she was the first bird to jump on my lap. These birds are sweet and love looking at us.”
Another keeper said, “My hens will jump in my arms to see what I am up to, sometimes coop cleaning is difficult.”
And you’ll find that many Buckeye chickens are easy to handle.
One keeper said of hers, “The roosters are consistently the sweetest full-sized roosters I’ve ever owned. The hens are lovely to have around, and are more than willing to be handled.”
And another said of her rooster, “My Buckeye would always run up to me to see what food scraps I was bringing him so he could distribute to his girls. I could pick him up no problem. He would be relaxed, not all tensed, trying to get out.”
However, some Buckeye keepers have said their chickens, though friendly, really aren’t full-on docile.
One keeper said, “Our Buckeyes aren’t going to come running up to sit in my lap like some of the others. But they’re friendly and calm… They will walk up to you and follow you without you even noticing it, and many times, I turned around and nearly stepped on them because I didn’t even hear them following me.”
And, in fact, that last comment is a common one. Keepers always complain of Buckeyes being underfoot.
“…the hens are almost too friendly,” said one keeper, “When we walk into the pen, we have to shoo them away with our feet!”
And another keeper said of her Buckeye flock, “Now that they are in a coop, you have to take extra care not to step on them as they are curious about everything.”
Below, you can see a video of one of these friendly and curious Buckeye hens.
#15 You may end up with a human-aggressive Buckeye rooster.
“They are calm, sociable birds that acclimate to being around humans to the point of being quite friendly, though the occasional rooster may get aggressive.”
The Buckeye breed is known for having some very aggressive roosters, particularly during breeding season. So, if you plan to get roosters, you’ll definitely want to be aware you might get a fighter. And if you plan to keep roosters around your kids, maybe consider a different breed to be on the safe side.
However, not all Buckeye roosters are aggressive. In the video below, you can see a video of a man trying very hard to provoke his Buckeye rooster, Darryl, into attacking him. Even with this man being super obnoxious to him, Darryl really isn’t interested in hurting the man.
Many Buckeye roosters will be just like Darryl—they’ll not be human-aggressive unless absolutely provoked. And many will be friendly and even sweet.
One keeper told this story: “The best rooster I’ve had was a Buckeye… I had a couple and they both turned out to be roosters, so I gave one to my mom and it was the same for her—great reviews!” She continued, “I didn’t know what I was missing until I got my Buckeye… and now no rooster can live up to the Buckeye standards.”
Some Buckeye roosters are even docile. One keeper said of hers, “My rooster is an absolute sweetheart and loves being petted. He will sit beside me for hours just to be petted.”
And in the video below, you can see a one-legged Buckeye house rooster, Eileen—he’s pretty lovable.
#16 Buckeye chickens are peaceful birds in a mixed flock.
“Relations among birds are congenial, with roosters taking a gentle interest in watching over the flock and little fighting between males.”
Buckeye chickens are overall gentle birds. They tend to be kind to each other and kind to other breeds. These chickens don’t like confrontation.
In the video below, you can see Buckeyes happily foraging in a large mixed flock with Silver Laced Wyandottes and Blue Copper Marans.
#17 Your Buckeye chickens may get picked on by more assertive breeds.
The downside to the Buckeyes’ gentle nature is that they do tend to get harassed by more assertive breeds, like Rhode Island Reds, Plymouth Rocks, or New Hampshires. Chicken keepers often describe their Buckeyes as “lowest in the pecking order.”
One chicken keeper said that her Buckeyes “get picked on a lot!” She said, “The only flaw from mine is that they don’t protect themselves. They don’t make any effort to get themselves a pecking order, and are routinely attacked by our mean, young Rhode Islands…”
This keeper continued, “Both our Buckeyes have pecked heads every night, but they always just sit together and do their best to avoid the mean birds.”
Another said that her Buckeye rooster really had it bad in her mixed flock at the “bottom of [the] pecking order.” She said, “My rooster is inside the house right now because he gets chased away from the food and is really thin.”
The YouTube video below, titled “Silly Buckeye Rooster Advises on Auto Repairs,” features a rooster, Eugene, who had been similarly harassed by his flock. The caption reads that Eugene is a “partially blind rooster” who “was rescued from a flock of chickens who were beating him up.”
The caption continues with Eugene’s story: “... when we took him, he was totally blind with swollen eyes and other pecking injuries on his head. He healed fairly well enough to get vision in one eye back…” You can see Eugene’s bad eye near the end of the video.
You’ll definitely want to keep these stories in mind when adding Buckeyes to a mixed breed flock. Definitely take precautions to ensure your Buckeyes are integrated peacefully and that no chicken is in a position where he may be seriously injured.
Better yet, only mix your Buckeyes with other peaceful breeds if you can, such as Brahmas, Sussexes, and Dorkings.
#18 Buckeye chickens can roar like dinosaurs!
“The males emit a full range of sounds beyond those typical of many other chicken breeds, including a dinosaur-like roar!”
Buckeye roosters are famous for their dinosaur-like sounds. I tried to find a video of the dino roar, and I think I succeeded with the video below.
What do you think? Dinosaur?
#19 Buckeye chickens may be too chatty for an urban backyard.
Aside from their dinosaur-like roars, Buckeye chickens make a lot of other strange noises. And, on top of that, they also have all the same vocalizations you find in other chickens.
You can hear some of these noises in the videos below.
In this first video, starting at about 12 seconds in, you’ll hear some interesting vocalizations.
And below, you can hear how chatty Buckeyes are. They’re not being loud, necessarily, but they are being talkative, which is typical of the breed.
And no list of sounds is complete without the rooster’s crow, which you can hear in the video below, titled “Big Buck, the monster Buckeye, crowing.”
#20 Buckeye chickens may be the best homestead bird in the entire world.
Buckeye chickens have all the fixings of a perfect homestead bird. They lay a good amount of eggs. They lay well in the winter. They produce a large amount of incredibly tasty meat. They’re friendly and sweet, good family birds. And they’re peaceful within the flock.
Buckeyes excel on the range in harsh weather conditions and forage for a good deal of their food. They’ll rid your yard of mice, and they’ll bravely fight any dangerous intruder. They are one of the best, if not the best, chicken for cold weather. And, unlike many other cold-hardy breeds, Buckeyes can survive hot summers as well.
And Buckeye hens do go broody, but not excessively so. They’re broody enough to hatch chicks, but not so broody you need to worry about not having enough active layers in your flock.
If your goal is self-sufficiency, these birds have everything you could possibly want.
#21 Buckeye chickens are rare.
Strangely, Buckeye chickens are somewhat rare. Truly, why is this amazing bird not more popular?
Until fairly recently, Buckeye chickens were critically endangered, according to The Livestock Conservancy. Thankfully, their status has been updated to “Watch,” but still—don’t we all need a few Buckeyes in our backyard?
If you have the space, and you want to help preserve one of the most amazing chicken breeds out there, you really can’t pick a better bird than the Buckeye.
“No chicken breed is perfect, but many Buckeye breeders figure they have come close with this breed.”
Breeds you may want instead of Buckeyes
Another excellent, cold-hardy, and unforgivably rare breed, is the Chantecler. This dual-purpose breed is very similar to the Buckeye, but differs in color and form.
Below, you can see a video of the beautiful white variety of Chantecler. These White Chanteclers are foraging with Buckeyes in a mixed flock. If you want to see a rooster fight between a Chantecler and a Buckeye, fast forward to about 40 seconds into the video.
If you like the Buckeye breed, but you want a bird that’s a better layer or is more widely available, you’ll want to consider the Rhode Island Red.
And other docile dual-purpose breeds include Barred Plymouth Rocks and Buff Orpingtons.
To learn more about these breeds, check out my articles below:
Considering Rhode Island Red chickens? The 19 things you must know first
Buff Orpington chickens: The lovable, versatile egg-laying giants
Buckeye Sources
Bassom, Frances. Mini Encyclopedia: Chicken Breeds and Care. Dorking: Interpet Publishing, 2011.
Damerow, Gail. Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens. North Adams: Storey Publishing, 2017.
Damerow, Gail. The Chicken Health Handbook. North Adams: Storey Publishing, 2015.
Ekarius, Carol. Storey's Illustrated Guide to Poultry Breeds. North Adams: Storey Publishing, 2007.