Brabanters and Spitzhaubens--The Differences PIC HEAVY!

[Blue]

Quote:
Some of my gold Brabanter chicks' wings did this for a while, but at 7 weeks old, I haven't noticed the drooping wings anymore. However, I had a Cocci problem when I first put my chicks outside, which may have contributed to their wings drooping. Only one of them ever acted sickly, but several of them had droopy wings.

A previous poster mentioned that their rooster had a smallish crest, but their hens had varying crests, and I'm in the same boat, so since their question never got answered, I'd like to reask it as I'm curious as well. Will the smaller crest of the rooster help to counter some of the more Polish type crests of some of my pullets if I breed them?

I also have a few other questions: How will it work if I breed the rooster to hens with no crests (I have 2 that never developed crests)? One of the crestless pullets has one of the best beards, so should I still use her for breeding because of this quality? Also, one of my pullets has a big crest but no beard, so does that make her a gold Spitz instead of a Brabanter?

I have 7 pullets and 1 cockerel, so should I just use all the pullets for breeding next year, and only start culling towards certain traits from the hatched chicks?

 

[hallerlake]

Quote:
Some of my gold Brabanter chicks' wings did this for a while, but at 7 weeks old, I haven't noticed the drooping wings anymore. However, I had a Cocci problem when I first put my chicks outside, which may have contributed to their wings drooping. Only one of them ever acted sickly, but several of them had droopy wings.

A previous poster mentioned that their rooster had a smallish crest, but their hens had varying crests, and I'm in the same boat, so since their question never got answered, I'd like to reask it as I'm curious as well. Will the smaller crest of the rooster help to counter some of the more Polish type crests of some of my pullets if I breed them?

I also have a few other questions: How will it work if I breed the rooster to hens with no crests (I have 2 that never developed crests)? One of the crestless pullets has one of the best beards, so should I still use her for breeding because of this quality? Also, one of my pullets has a big crest but no beard, so does that make her a gold Spitz instead of a Brabanter?

I have 7 pullets and 1 cockerel, so should I just use all the pullets for breeding next year, and only start culling towards certain traits from the hatched chicks?

I want to know, too.

 

[EweSheep]

You can try crossing them but cull hard by not keeping the ones that have the Polish crests and non-existant or very little crests. Sometimes it is all you have to work with.

 

[hallerlake]

All I have is the one small crested cockerel. So I guess I should pick a new cockerel, with a better crest out of the next generation? Assuming there is one.

 

[Blue]

How small is his crest? The crest on my cockerel is smaller than all the pullets' crests minus the 2 with no crests, but it's not tiny, tiny. Maybe I need to post pics of their crests to actually get input on the crest size. I've looked at various pictures, and it seems that the crest size of many people's Brabanters varies widely. What is the actual standard for the breed as far as crest size is concerned? I know that a backwards swooshing crest like a Polish is not desirable, but how large should the actual crest be?

 

[hallerlake]

Quote:
It's a tuft rather than a crest. That's him on the left.

 

[hallerlake]

Quote:
It's a tuft rather than a crest. That's him on the left.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/59103_p6280074.jpg

That's my one beardless pullet with him, but she's got the best crest.

 

[Blue]

Quote:
It's a tuft rather than a crest. That's him on the left.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/59103_p6280074.jpg

That's my one beardless pullet with him, but she's got the best crest.

My beardless pullet has a huge crest, too, and the best beard seems to be on one of the crestless pullets. Go figure. My cockerel's crest is a bit larger than the one you posted, but not by a whole lot, and my cockerel also has the most forward tilting crest. I'll try to take some pics of mine for comparison when I get home from work.

 

[Carolynspeeps]

Here are a few pictures of my Brabanters. The pullet is 9 months old, great crest...no beard and my new chicks are just the way everyone has been describing. Beards/no crest....crest/no beard. Great personality either way!!

 

[chrisf]

Brabanters and Spitzhaubens are two entirely different breeds, however, they are very similar in appearance.........crests are a dominant feature in other breeds, usually hard to get rid of when you want to, therefore, I would breed the crested ones with the non-crested ones, especially if the non-crested ones have good features like: size, spangling, etc., and cull for the best breeder birds.............................................chrisf