The SBEL thread

[Quail Hollow]

I am really interested in raising SBELs. I currently have Marans and Orpingtons.
I have 7 SBEL eggs in the incubator right now, but the eggs were a light hue of blue.
What breed should I cross these with to get a darker blue shell? Cream legbar or Ameraucana?
Thanks for the help.

 

[FVRM]

I am really interested in raising SBELs. I currently have Marans and Orpingtons.
I have 7 SBEL eggs in the incubator right now, but the eggs were a light hue of blue.
What breed should I cross these with to get a darker blue shell? Cream legbar or Ameraucana?
Thanks for the help.

Are they second generation SBELS? is the father a leghorn? if you want to get bluer eggs it doesn't matter which breed you choose as long as they lay the darkest blue

 

[Quail Hollow]

I'm not sure about the SBEL eggs' background-I won them on Facebook and I really wanted to start raising chickens that laid blue eggs.
Thanks!

 

[La Casa de Pollo]

I am really interested in raising SBELs. I currently have Marans and Orpingtons.
I have 7 SBEL eggs in the incubator right now, but the eggs were a light hue of blue.
What breed should I cross these with to get a darker blue shell? Cream legbar or Ameraucana?
Thanks for the help.

Typically the SBEL chick comes from a "pure" or "true" Ameraucana (not EE) roo over a leghorn hen. If a legbar is used they are called Sapphires At least around the area where I live, not sure if it is different across the country

 

[hotlipshens]

same here in Pa

 

[Quail Hollow]

Thanks-I was trying to figure out the difference between Sapphires and SBELs.
Is there a difference between the two in egg color, egg size, laying in cold weather/hot weather, or when they start laying?

 

[La Casa de Pollo]

Thanks-I was trying to figure out the difference between Sapphires and SBELs.
Is there a difference between the two in egg color, egg size, laying in cold weather/hot weather, or when they start laying?

I've only had the SBEL's and they are the best thing ever (to me) lol. I have not tried the sapphires though. I have just short of a hundred birds and there were days this winter when I went out in the below zero weather and got only 8-9 eggs and every single one was a huge SBEL egg. They do fade out over time, not as blue as they get bigger and bigger but the size makes up for it. They lay just as well as the leghorn mom really, the temperament is a little skittish with humans but still docile, no fighting amongst the flock, unlike the leghorns can be.

SBEL eggs for size reference:
[I

SBEL eggs for color reference---the top two are Ameraucana, the bottom is an SBEL 6-7 month old , the right one is a leghorn, (2 yr old)

 

[Quail Hollow]

Wow...they are big!

 

[gladahmae]

I browsed the thread and may have missed it, but is production from white leghorns as opposed to brown leghorns (talking hatchery birds) so significant that whites are strongly preferred? I'm wondering if using BLH hens under a CCL roo or Am roo would yield less of a "hawk magnet" colored bird. Anyone have pics of juveniles or adults from this cross?

 

[hotlipshens]

No, but I am growing out 2 BLH now 16 weeks old to put one with my blue wheaten and the other with my silver am roosters...would love to see resulting hen pics if anyone has them. I'll also give both WLH but have crossed BW and WLH before...am over LH is slate shanked pullet sex linked fwiw...