@Amandagarris
I'm not a breeder at all but if a Cream Leg was created to be a blue egg layer I would think that is the standard to breed for in addition to the desired outward standard?! Hard to get ALL the standards into one bird, eh? That frustrating fact is why I don't become a breeder...
I agree -- I had both Marans and Leghorn (similar temperament to Legbar) together and the Marans are very bossy but the smaller quicker Leghorn can really put a Marans in its place! (I'm speaking pecking order of hens -- I'm not zoned for roos).
Just thinking out loud -- Not sure if this happens with people who have blue egg layers -- but my purebred Blue Wheaten Ameraucana (my avatar pic) layed pretty sky blue eggs but if her eggs sat out in our egg skelter on the kitchen counter the air seemed to cause the blue color to eventually...
I'm not sure putting the blue egg in a Ziploc would preserve the color from oxidation as there will be air inside the Ziploc too. Just a theory and something we have to live with -- eggs turning a different color. We saw some mixed colors of eggs in one carton -- browns, white, blues, olives...
I never had a Cream Legbar but did have a Blue Wheaten Ameraucana who layed the prettiest blue eggs. The eggs were a pretty light blue but definitely blue at the time they were collected. However, after letting the blue egg sit out on the counter in the skelter for a few hours we noticed the...
I know our climate would be fair for CLBs because of the Leghorn breed history in them but after 6 yrs of hit-and-miss w/ different breeds we've finally settled on the under-5-lb docile breeds w/ walnut, pea, or no combs -- these breeds have been mellow to keep together. The smaller lightweight...
You guys gave DH and me such a good laugh - only because it reminded us of how we tried to keep straight combs from turning purple in winter! Rather than dealing w/ straight or floppy combs all winter, what we did is keep just Silkies and Breda w/ walnut combs or no combs whatsoever. Pea-comb...
That is so funny! Hope they don't break any eggs while vying for space. I had a clumsy hen that couldn't exit the nestbox fast enough and a couple times she poked one of her long toenails into the shell.
So sorry about the roos' comb damage! I had a very floppy-combed Leghorn hen whose comb tips got a bit purplish even in our mild SoCal climate. What I had never thought of before (mentioned on the Welsummer thread) is that when birds drink from bowl water their combs dip into the water and...
The rough mating habits of the roos is the very reason my sis hates chickens! I told her you don't have to have a roo to have eggs and one of the hens will take the alpha role in the flock without needing a roo. At least that's how my flock of hens has done it over the years. However, I had...
Yes, losing chicks is at a higher rate than losing adults but all ages are difficult. We had to put down a very sick 3-yr-old hen this month and she was our overall sweetest girl in the 5 yrs we've had backyard chickens. Never easy. Out of 14 chickens in 5 yrs we currently have 4 hens...
I love people with big hearts to help very disabled chicks/chickens because if it were me I would've culled her rather than keeping her in an isolated or unknown future existence. I know a lot of people have kept their disabled special needs chickens as house pets because of the demands of...
Necropsies for dogs/cats is a bit different from chickens. With chickens the results might, for instance, show cancers, lesions, or tumors, yet the final will be inconclusive for what the cause was with "suspected cause" sometimes not even stated. They just show the results of what they find...
TY! Yes, I'm aware of UC Davis and how to pack for shipping. I'm down here in SGV. I just choose not to use UC with my own vet only 10 minutes from home. He's tended my hens for 5 yrs and has done much to correctly diagnose and treat them. He's NOT Kavorkian quick to euthanize and does...