# Earl of Derby OEGs



## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

Pictured is a young Roo and Hen. They were hatched 7/18 and are fairly slow growing birds. The Roo will be more colorful as an adult and will look much like a Black Breasted Red OEG which are descendants of these. The hen will be black. I have four currently and they are from the Knowsley stock originating in Merseyside, England. The Earl's original estate has been Knowsley Safari Park since 1971 and has African animals.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I would really like to see them all grown up. Right now they look nothing like the OEG's I'm familiar with.

What are they like size wise compared to today's birds?

How are you going to get the white beak back. I can't really see on both of them but the little roo looks like his is black. 

BTW, pretty babies.


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## Overmountain1 (Jun 5, 2020)

They’re so cool! What is their final size going to be, roughly? They do seem significantly larger than my Chip, but I can still see the similarities too. That’s really cool- what is the next order of business- breed these two? I know you have a plan! You’re too meticulous not to. I think I remember you saying there is another person working toward the same goal on this? Thanks for sharing!! 

Ps- I’m sorry your last little peafowl didn’t hatch out as well as expected.


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## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

There are four of us with this strain, that I know of, two in England and two in the States, all judges. I mean, who else would be interested in a breed this obscure. They are bigger than Banties and are what's called, medium station, which was the size of a regular egg or meat chicken 400 years ago. I have four of these birds, the breeding will go very slowly from year to year. A good hatch rate for these is going to be 20-30 percent. I guess that's part of the reason they are listed as extinct. The other reason is there are not nearly enough of them to be self sustaining as a breed. However a good percentage of American Modern Games have some antique EOD OEG blood.


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## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

At some point, if there is interest, we can talk about the many ways to breed chickens. It will require some genetics discussion, which isn't complicated, just tedious.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Is it possible to ship and recieve hatching eggs from and to England? That would be a decent genetic pool to work with if the four of you collaborate in just the right way. It might eliminate the need to outcross and basically having to start all over again. 

Just reading what it's going to take to rescue the ancient breed is something I could never take on. I don't have the patience for that slow and steady moving forward. The years it's going to take is daunting.


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## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

Patience is a virtue! I don't know if anyone has ever air shipped eggs. I wonder if the aircraft pressure issues and vibration would affect the air sac.


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## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

Another issue which comes to mind is that the genetic pool is not diverse enough. They have been straight line bred with little regard for inbreeding for 400 years. They were brought to the States many times from the early 1700s through the late 1800s and utilized for genetic diversity in American Games. My stock is from Knowsley Park.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

They have been. It took jumping through a lot of hoops but eggs have been shipped. Don't ask me how they survived the trip because I never had any attention of shipping or bringing eggs in that way.


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## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

That is interesting, I will try to find out more.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I know the birds that were laying the eggs had to be tested for any health issues. There was a bunch of paperwork. And there were successful hatches. 

I'd have to look but I think that's how the English Orps came to be here in the states.


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## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

Thanks!


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

From what I remember there are a ton of hoops to jump through. If bird flu is present in the shipping country there is no way they'll issue the permit to ship.

I have no idea what it's like now. It might be easier, more streamlined. Or it could be even more difficult.


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