Production Black/ California Grey Chicken

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Mine are pretty skittish. One of them is pretty friendly. I'm hoping they mellow as they get older. How old is the hen in your photo?

she was a year old in that pic

Yes, cowgirl. Most cal greys also carry a gene to feather sex so you can feather sex them when making the calif. white cross.
You can sex calif greys by looking at their feet as to the amount of grey if it extends into the toes or not.

People need beware. Few hatcheries offer the true california grey which was the purebred developed by the Dryden poultry experiment farm. Mr. Dryden didn't go in for "fluff and feathers" so never sought to have it put in the Standard. That's why they fell by the wayside as he was breeding a bird for laying capabilites which the Cal. Grey is excellent. However, big cage laying outfits wanted small white birds.

Caution, production blacks and calif. greys are not necessarily the same though some hatcheries sell them as such.

A calif. grey will have white earlobes. I know that Privett and Rockin Rooster Ranch have true Dryden strains, I am not aware of any others but wish I did as I would like some new blood for mine.

The parent stock have the correct genes to feather sex offspring; the offspring ( birds a person buys) do not have the correct sex linked genes to feather sex their offspring. Birds that are obtained from a hatchery or from anybody that have been feather sexed contain the wrong sex linked genes. The offspring females (birds a person buys) are rapid feathering and the male offspring are heterozygous for slow feathering and rapid feathering. You can not cross the offspring and produce chicks that can be feather sexed.

Just wanted to make sure individuals reading this string understand the concept.

To make feather sex-able California White offspring, one would cross a rapid feathering male (Leghorn) with a slow feathering California Gray female.

Tim

oldtimeway said:

Yes, cowgirl. Most cal greys also carry a gene to feather sex so you can feather sex them when making the calif. white cross.
You can sex calif greys by looking at their feet as to the amount of grey if it extends into the toes or not.

People need beware. Few hatcheries offer the true california grey which was the purebred developed by the Dryden poultry experiment farm. Mr. Dryden didn't go in for "fluff and feathers" so never sought to have it put in the Standard. That's why they fell by the wayside as he was breeding a bird for laying capabilites which the Cal. Grey is excellent. However, big cage laying outfits wanted small white birds.

Caution, production blacks and calif. greys are not necessarily the same though some hatcheries sell them as such.

A calif. grey will have white earlobes. I know that Privett and Rockin Rooster Ranch have true Dryden strains, I am not aware of any others but wish I did as I would like some new blood for mine.

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Hi oldtimeway!

Old post i know, but please tell us more about California Greys! Very little first hand information is available. I know Privett still sells them. How are they in lay rate, longevity of lay, size of eggs, foraging free range ability? How do they compare in these areas with California White or Leghorns.

Thanks!!!

Cowgirl71 said:

California Greys are purebreds. They're not F1 hybrids, so they will breed true.

They were bred in the 1930s from crosses of Barred Rocks and White Leghorns. They're sexable by color because all barred/cuckoo birds are sexable by color (males lighter colored, females darker). Both sexes have white dots on their heads when they hatch. If you look up how to sex Barred Rock chicks, the same info applies to these.

Here's some links with info about California Greys:
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGA/CalGray/BRKCalGray.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Gray
http://www.raising-chickens.org/california-gray.html

California Grey rooster x White Leghorn hen = California White, which is sexable at hatch by feather sexing (which is different from a sexlink). In color, they are white with the occasional black feather. This may be the hybrid people are thinking of...

Hope this helps!

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It is crazy I found this post. I have a question now. In mid April, I thought it would be great to get a couple more "last shipment" chicks from Tractor Supply. I got a Rouen duck, a Golden Sebright Bantam, a White Silkie, and a White Leghorn. When the lady got to the leghorn, all where fuzzy white/cream (all these chicks couldn't have been more than a couple days old) and there was one or two in the pile with little splashes of black on them. She asked me if I wanted the ones with black because they were a little different looking and unique compared to the others - I took one. She's still pretty small, and doesn't quite even have all her feathers in yet, but I notice a single black feather every once in a while. I think she might have like 3 or 4 black feathers. She's all alone now (not counting my flock a few months older that is separated), because the other 3 babies died from a dog belonging to my dad's new girlfriend..but besides the point.

Is she a California White??

Yes, could be a california white.

Tim

Are california gray and production black the same breed?

chickens123432 said:

Are california gray and production black the same breed?

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Yes.