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Flying Oriental Rollers - Tuffie Strain

The terms "Tuff" and "Buff" came from Dale Husband as nicknames because they were not sure what the genetic make-up of the strain was. If I have the story straight, his first Oriental was one of the Tuffs that strayed into his loft and it was an aggressive bird, so he called it "Tuffie." That was when he was a kid, like 60 years ago.

He loved the bird so much he tracked down the loft it strayed from and got more of them. And that's how he got his start in Orientals. I believe it was originally from Kurdistan.

No one really knows for sure what the color factors are in this family is. I am not a genetics expert but I am of the opinion (with input from Frank Mosca) that the Tuff and Buff family is actually Smoky Embers and the Buffs are Dilute. 

 

 The following pictures are in thumbnail format. Click on them to see full size pictures.

This is a Black Bar Tuff old cock. Notice the heavy bronzing in the neck and in the flights. That's typical of the Tuff's

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Old Black Bar Tuff cock on the nest with his hackles up

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Another Black Bar Tuff old cock on the nest. Notice how much lighter this cock is

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Black Bar Tuff on the wire

Typical Black Bar Tuff squeaker - notice the Ember colored flights

Here's a little Tuff nestling with an unusual coloration. He seems to be in-between the Red Bar and Black Bar. I'll know more after he molts
Notice the red in the juvenile Red Bar Tuff in the first two pictures. As this bird molts the red will give way to more Blue, typical of Ember. The two pictures to the right is of this same bird after it molted.
 

  

This hen is a Cinnamon. It changes very little with each molt

 

Yellow Buff

Yellow Buff - Notice the variation in barring and color

Yellow Buff cock

 Yellow Buff Squeeker

A pair of Buffs in the nest box - Barred cock and and Yellow hen

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Buff Bar cock

Buff Bar

Buff Bar cock in the nest box

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Buff Bar hen

 Buff Bar Squeeker
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A darker Buff Bar

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The Flying Oriental Roller Society is pleased but at the same time concerned with the recent popularity our breed enjoys. We are pleased that people are interested in our breed for its performance and abilities to elude raptors. However, we are concerned that the demand for these birds will result in "feather merchants" trying to profit from the sale of birds with inferior flying abilities. We do not want the sale of poor-quality birds to give the breed a bad reputation. If buyers are interested in Flying Oriental Rollers that will truly perform, they should be certain the birds they buy come from performance-bred stock.

Unfortunately the feather merchant will use Dale Husband's name to try and capitalize on the sale of birds. Also the unknowing will continue to propagate the same counterfeit birds and sell them as Husbands. We believe much of what you see popping up will be strictly for the almighty dollar and will be feather merchants knowingly selling counterfeits.

Dale Husband has told us there are only four "Husband" lines. Tuffie, Black, Silver, and White. Any thing else either passed through Dale's hands or are not Husband birds. Dale dispersed the majority of his stock in 1998. He raises very few now, so, there will be very few that could come directly from him. Except for the Tuffies and a few of the whites that are  also becoming scattered to the wind. 

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