Breeding Buff Leghorns

[Birch Run Farm]

Hi Jake, welcome to the discussion! I hope you and Dan hang with us here as it sounds like you gentlemen are the most experienced. I have not seen red leghorns but am betting they are beautiful as well.

It's still the deep of winter here in Vermont so my incubator isn't running yet. I don't have the buffs under lighting to instigate egg production so I will be patient and wait. In the mean time, once my new knee allows me, I'll get some close up of plumage colors of my quad. I'm pretty sure Dan sent a pullet with some peppering. I hope I can make a trip to visit Dan and buy some hatching eggs as well.

I'd sure enjoy if everyone keeps on contributing to keep this thread going. Perhaps Dan and Jake can bring some other leghorn people they knw into it as well. BYC is a rather humble place but is full of people of all types who love their birds. I tend to go for the obscure such as my araucanas, ameraucanas and cuckoo (silver and gold) Marans so the buff leghorns being rare, fit right in to my coops.

I'm enjoying seeing what you guys south of the Equator are doing as well!

 

[Buff Leghorn]

Quote:
I second that

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Birch run farms can't wait to see close up of your birds and everyone elses.....



cheers shane

 

[jake mashburn]

Today looking over my older chicks they are almost 2 months old and I am very happy with the results so far and in a generation or two I will have even better buff leghorns, I really want to work with and improve my red leghorns the two colors work and go well with the other. Keith (Jake Mashburn)

 

[Birch Run Farm]

Wow, you hatch early! I suppose you are in a warm climate.

Post some photos when you can.

 

[Birch Run Farm]

OK, I braved the ice to get some photos. It's been dim and cloudy here since I got out of rehab so these may not be the best of photos. But here they are anyway:

Pullet tail, I have one with peppering:

She seems to have a deeper yellow color to her skin, especially her shanks.

Another of the three pullets, she has one tail feather with some white in it.

The other pullet is a bit shy and I didn't get any good photos of her this time. Now for some cockerel show offs, I saw he's dropped a sickle feather so hopefully he will grow in a longer replacement.

In these photos you can see that the pullet with the peppering is a much darker golden color.

In the above photo you can see the yellow shanks of the pepper pullet. She has larger wattles and I am betting she lays eggs first out of the females.

My assumption is the peppering lends to darker yellow skin? Dan?

 

[jake mashburn]

A little pepper in the tail of the female is good to have in a breeder but not on both sides if I have a trio I like at least one of my females to have a little bit but not to much it will help hold the buff color . My cousin is going to take some pictures of my birds and will post some later. he did take some yesterday but had to fly down to L.A. CA. for about a week and he has not had time to e-mail them to me . keith

 

[Birch Run Farm]

Looking forward to seeing them!

 

[Buff Leghorn]

Wow Birch Run Farm how good do they look with the snow on the ground i really like them all..

It will be good when my grow up and fully feather up to compare the difference in the aussie birds and the US birds.....

Keith really looking forward to seeing your birds as well ....

cheers shane

 

[Birch Run Farm]

Got my first egg today! It is pretty small but I'll use it in tomorrow's breakfast and check it for fertility.

 

[jake mashburn]

that last picture of your rooster looks like the brother to mine , I have 3 strains and am working on my own strain I have birds from curtis oaks, fred zillich ,and dan honour with dans males the other females keep feather picking dans birds have the big long reather quality and the females just sence the blood feathers and start feather picking even if they are outside I have trimed beaks put god only knows what and everything on there feathers this time I will tip cut the beaks and put vicks vapo rub on to see if that helps the birds I got from dan has had there beaks trimed and they still learn to pick but only dans males curtis and freds males they leave them alone feather wise, the darndest thing I ever saw in my life and my chickens get spoiled and a good balanced diet nuts milk bread salad greens tallow to peck at I even mix calf milk replacer in a wet mash 2 to 3 times a week, also sho bird pellets with amino acids vitamins and minerals my birds almost eat better than I do fresh water 2 times a day or as needed clean pens out every week or as needed if I smell amonia I clean and spray oxi clean and water and use white powderd stall lime to put down before I put down there bedding, I use pine shavings but lately I have found that pine wood bedding pellets work the best and last longer one pen takes 6 bags of bedding pellets but it is 3 weeks to a month before I have to clean out again. Keith alias (Jake Mashburn) its my australian sheppard dogs name half of the time I call him just mashburn but he will guard the chickens with his life. I lost a bird to a hawk so I put him out with the chickens and he walks among them and they come up to him none are afraid of him and if he is in the house and hears them make a noise he wants out the door to make sure all is well and every morning he has to vis. inspect each one to make sure they are all there. what a dog