California Grey

Which hatchery offers California Greys?

Privett Hatchery has California Greys. This is my first year with this breed. Not at all what I'm used to with Wyandottes and Rocks. They are jumpy little devils so care should be made to provide a calm environment for them as they grow. They become very personable as they get familiar with you. There's a few who think they're parrots, hopping on my arm and having a chat. Easy to tell the cockerels from the pullets since they are much lighter in color.

Strombergs also has them but I have been told they are Privett birds as well

After having this breed for 9 months, I am glad I decided on them. Very good layers of medium to large snow white eggs, and they lay daily. It is nice to know they breed true. Cockerels are very alert and protective of pullets. The cockerel is aggressive, which I have no problem with, but others may. They are friendly enough to hop on your knee and eat out of your hands, but startle easily, and they can easily fly 6' in the air. They are quite active on range, good foragers, curious, and will range far if not monitored. I found cecal worms at about 6 months and wormed them with Fenbendazole. A covered run is important with this breed. They revived my interest in Leghorns again, and are certainly a breed I intend to keep in the future.

Absolutely, there were few if any poultrymen of the day like James Dryden. Unfortunately his poor son Horrace had to live in the large shadow cast by the great man, James Dryden. James Dryden began the work of developing the Calif. Grey but Horrace finished his fathers work and it was Horrace that made the California Grey available to the American public. FWIW, to any interested, Lady McDuff and Oregona were NOT California Greys but white leghorns from a strain of Dryden's excellent breeding.

thank you @oldtimeway You are the CG expert around here and it is always great to hear from you.

Thank you for adding a review. Becaus California Greys are not APA accepted they don't have the recognition of the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy but I do believe they are a critically threatened breed. I would love to see them become more main stream because they kind of are the whole package and it would be a shame to see them disappear from people's yards.

OldTimeWay - Lady McDuff was a mixed breed pullet, she was 7/8 white Leghorn and 1/8 Barred Rock. However, Oregona was a white Leghorn.

Dryden was among the first prominent poultry breeders to widely decry the tendency to breed to the standard without concern for production. He had a great deal to say about the decline of once prominent egg breeds in America, such as the White Faced Black Spanish, and the impact of breeding to the standard in rendering them of no practical use.

His work at OAC laid the groundwork for his development of the California Gray following his retirement. The "Oregons" he produced at OAC were not simply white Leghorns; a number had a significant Barred Rock ancestry. One of the important things he did at OAC was produce Barred Rock - white Leghorn strains that laid white eggs.

Privett Hatchery in New Mexico is alleged to have the original Dryden lines.

I wanted white eggs so I can make black sexlinks that lay blue eggs by putting a black Ameraucana roo over a barred hen. Dominique hens would give green egg layers. I was surprised at how well they lay.

hi i have a CG chick s/he is 5 weeks old and I was wondering if they could be auto sexed?

They are easily sexed by about 2 weeks by the amount of white, just like any black barred chicken (Barred Rock, Dominique, Cuckoo Marans, etc). Because the barring gene is partially dominant and on the male sex chromosome (therefore females only ever have 1 copy), the 2 copied the male chicks have makes them literally "twice as white". Anyone can pick the males out of a group just knowing that. A single chick takes a more practiced eye. Look up pictures of barred rocks online to see this difference and you should be able to easily tell the sex of your chick.

Beautifully writen and very helpful. Thank you.
Lets continue to keep them out of the APA as the breeder intended and promote them ourselves.

http://www.privetthatchery.com/
And they serve all the TSC / Tractor Supply stores in the spring if anyone wishes to have less than 25 birds they can be added to the stores order on request.

Privett have the legitimate old CG lines - they are not selling a remake. (as if that where possible)
Privett also sell a 'barred leghorn' which they claim is a different bird but they use the same photo (when their website is working again) because they claim they look so much alike.
Years ago they used the same photo on a what they called a 'production black'. tisk tisk.
As we know the value of the real deal they should be prompted to cut that out.

Strombergs is a drop shipper company (don't ask me how that works) those birds come from Privett as well. Also, the quality of other Privett breeds that I have seen around town and at swaps and the county fair are exceptional, so they are doing something right. Order in confidence.

Up date on these gals...and they are still laying strong. Size has come up to a nice large. I can count on white eggs almost every day from them and they are going on year two. A bit flighty, but definitely quieter than a White Leghorn. A good choice for white eggs.

How did this cross do?

The black sexlinks are excellent layers. The blue color fades as they get farther into their laying season because they can't produce enough pigment to keep up with the number of eggs. Hard to fault them for that, but if you want really blue eggs, go with a Cream Legbar or Ameraucana. You will get fewer, but bluer eggs.

I have 2 California Grey Hens and they are precocious! Very inquisitive!