Bantam White Leghorn Cockerel

[TheChickenShow]

Today we purchased a pair of bantam white leghorns. The cockerel is really beautiful, but he has yellow earlobes. I was under the impression leghorns all had white earlobes. The pullet has white.

We bought the pair for my daughter, who fell in love with them and wants to use them for 4H Showmanship. If he isn't showable due to the earlobes, we are fine with that, but if he's showable otherwise, we would love to use him. It's our first year showing exhibition chickens so we are starting lower on the knowledge elevator with this.

I've included a pic for you to reference. Thanks all!

 

[CascadiaRiver]

Woah, thats crazy. They're so yellow! I am pretty sure thats a DQ in conformation for showing and I'll ask my group at the next meeting how in the world he got yellow earlobes! Lol

 

[TheChickenShow]

I'm not sure either, but I did find this link and if you scroll down thru the pics, you see a bantam cockerel with yellow earlobes. Weird.

http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGK/Leghorns/BRKLegBty.html

 

[donrae]

How old is he?

A little bit of research found that juvenile birds can sometimes have yellow-ish lobes that fade as they mature. I also found mention that some production strains have more yellowish lobes, but since he's a bantam I'm not sure that would be the case here. Some UK sites said Leghorns are permitted to show with creamy colored lobes, but the enamel white is the most desired.

I think for showmanship he'll be fine. Looking back at the horse I used for showmanship in 4-H, he was far from a perfect specimen! But showmanship is judging the presenter more than the animal, so it should be all good.

 

[TheChickenShow]

Hes about 7 mos old. Im thinking he may have had too much corn in his diet and it caused his ear lobes to be so yellow. His legs are pretty saturated yellow too. I think we will take down the corn ratio and see if he doesnt fade back a bit. If not, he will be great for showmanship and my girls will get some experience with him. My daughter named him Lord Benjamin. His pullet was named Lady Amara. She's a sweetheart. Maybe they will make me some babies...she already laid an egg for us today!