Breeding Buff Leghorns

[chickenboy100]

Just wanted to share some images of my cockerel, finally rounding into shape, he's a late hatch from last year.

NICE!!!!!! He's very nice!!!! I'd go for darker, it seems the darker they are, the more even they turn out, but he looks good!

 

[BGMatt]

may its the shade or pic, but he looks very pale,

NICE!!!!!! He's very nice!!!! I'd go for darker, it seems the darker they are, the more even they turn out, but he looks good!

He is on the lighter side, which I prefer so long as it's even, but the bottom photo is a little washed out too, tried to correct it in the top photo but...well now that I'm viewing it on an actual computer that didn't turn out so well either. Appreciate the feedback, getting these where I want them will be a process. Size is first thing on my list, and in the second line fixing the heads (tendancy toward oversize combs), and both lines have minor issues with the occasional greenish tint creeping into legs.

 

[Sylvester017]

Just wanted to share some images of my cockerel, finally rounding into shape, he's a late hatch from last year.





Quote:
Originally Posted by nicalandia

may its the shade or pic, but he looks very pale,

I personally find it very difficult to take pictures of my Buff Leg with a flash. The color fades out from the bright camera flash. As you may remember I hate to post photos of eggs or chickens regarding color because it never shows off their beauty. I have to take photos of my chickens in outdoor daylight to get a half decent color of my Buff Leg and APA Blue Wheaten Ameraucana. Their Buff and Wheaten colors wash out in flash but in the glistening sun their feathers show more natural color. Sometimes a bit of shade on a bright day or the angle of a morning or afternoon sun will show their true colors. It's very tricky to take good photos of certain colors. All my blue eggs show darker in the photos while the pink eggs show pale in photos. Can't win with these darn cameras. Again, I can't wait to see this cockerel's full adult tail. The youngsters are always so fresh and pretty!

 

[Sylvester017]

The top girl is sitting on 5 eggs. The girl on the lower pic is sitting on 10.

I couldn't believe a Leghorn could go broody although the Buffs are more likely to do so because of the other breeds used to create the Buff color. I was surprised when Nomibear had two broody Buff Legs at the same time. Well guess what, just this past week our Buff Leg went broody. Not setting any eggs under her as we're not zoned for a lot of chickens and absolutely no roos. We hope she'll get tired of sitting all alone in the nestbox and finally come out. We have to keep taking her out to eat and drink and dust-bathe. She was a terrific layer and suddenly stopped to be broody darn it!

Nomibear - I'm really interested to see what your hatched Buff chicks look like when all grown - especially from an EE roo. Please post pics when they get a little older!

Smiles - S

 

[Nomibear]

I couldn't believe a Leghorn could go broody although the Buffs are more likely to do so because of the other breeds used to create the Buff color. I was surprised when Nomibear had two broody Buff Legs at the same time. Well guess what, just this past week our Buff Leg went broody. Not setting any eggs under her as we're not zoned for a lot of chickens and absolutely no roos. We hope she'll get tired of sitting all alone in the nestbox and finally come out. We have to keep taking her out to eat and drink and dust-bathe. She was a terrific layer and suddenly stopped to be broody darn it!

Nomibear - I'm really interested to see what your hatched Buff chicks look like when all grown - especially from an EE roo. Please post pics when they get a little older!

Smiles - S

You could alway let her hatch a batch, and give away those that hatch after a few weeks.

I have a problem. A 3rd Buff Leghorn went broody! The Problem is that she moved into the nest with the first broody, who had ten eggs. Hatching went well. 9 of 10, and the last one was infertile. Then the fighting started over the chicks, these two were being pulled apart it seems. I found the Buff Baby already injured. The black one they pulled the fur off of right in front of me.

I tool all the chicks away for that night. The injured ones died the next day. I separated the moms. One free and one in a old rabbit cage. Gave the one who sat the full time 2 chicks, and the one who sat 1 week, one chick. The lone chick tried to stay as close to the full time sitting mom, and the one week
Sitting mom was leaving the chick at night. I gave the chick to the full time sitting hen.

A week later (last Monday) I tried to release the mom and 3 babies into General Population. The two started fighting each other. Left the babies alone, but tore at each other's combs and faces. Put the mom with the chicks back in the cage. Tried again today. Back to fighting. I left them for 20 min to see if they would set it straight themselves. Not so much, still fighting when I came back.Same bloody faces and combs as the last time. This time I put the chickless hen in the cage, and left the mom with babies in General Population. It seemed like they were doing well.

 

[Sylvester017]

You could alway let her hatch a batch, and give away those that hatch after a few weeks.

I have a problem. A 3rd Buff Leghorn went broody! The Problem is that she moved into the nest with the first broody, who had ten eggs. Hatching went well. 9 of 10, and the last one was infertile. Then the fighting started over the chicks, these two were being pulled apart it seems. I found the Buff Baby already injured. The black one they pulled the fur off of right in front of me.




I tool all the chicks away for that night. The injured ones died the next day. I separated the moms. One free and one in a old rabbit cage. Gave the one who sat the full time 2 chicks, and the one who sat 1 week, one chick. The lone chick tried to stay as close to the full time sitting mom, and the one week
Sitting mom was leaving the chick at night. I gave the chick to the full time sitting hen.

A week later (last Monday) I tried to release the mom and 3 babies into General Population. The two started fighting each other. Left the babies alone, but tore at each other's combs and faces. Put the mom with the chicks back in the cage. Tried again today. Back to fighting. I left them for 20 min to see if they would set it straight themselves. Not so much, still fighting when I came back.Same bloody faces and combs as the last time. This time I put the chickless hen in the cage, and left the mom with babies in General Population. It seemed like they were doing well.

Raising chicks is like raising children - a complete experiment the first time - it's a wonder either survives under our experimental care!

I'm so sorry you had that horrible experience losing innocent babies or the combative injurious squabbles between the broodies.

The Leghorn temperament is not ideal for raising chicks. Don't put your broody 3rd Buff hen around the other hormonal broodies. Going broody, being able to complete the setting, and being able to raise the hatched chicks are all separate issues. A lot of people put fertile Leg eggs under Silkies or bantam broodies to hatch and raise because bantams are better mommas than Legs. Right now hormonal levels are at a seasonal high with roos and hens and putting two broody LF together is asking for trouble. Even our usually sociable docile Silkie hens have had squabbles in this horrific heatwave we're having in Southern Calif.

The only breeds I know that can co-brood and co-raise chicks are Dominique bantam sisters raised together or Silkies (and of course depending on whether the Silkie hens usually get along and can brood in a nest together with a LOT of pen room to exercise the hatchlings afterwards). Each of our Silkies would be excellent broody hens and mommas but I wouldn't put our particular two Silkies to co-brood a batch of eggs - they squabble too much w/each other when they are hormonal.

Putting hatchlings into a flock is a dangerous situation especially in Spring with hormonal adults. Using a chicken tractor to move the momma and chicks around in an open flock is ideal. They still get to be part of the outdoor flock without getting combative or injured from the general flock - the momma and chicks need a somewhat peaceful environment. A tractor also protects the chicks from getting easily picked off by Hawks or the momma getting injured trying to defend her brood. A lot of people lose their outdoor chicks easily to aerial predators.

I wish we could put eggs under my broodies but after 3 years of raising backyard hens we just go with the flow of letting them brood empty nests. It's a natural body process for them and gives them a rest from laying eggs for a while. Then they're done brooding in about 3 weeks and return back to normal again and I don't have surplus chicks to figure out what to do with! With our luck they would all be roos and we're not zoned for males.

I wish we could've seen your Buff chick all grown-up - such a shame because it probably would've had a sweet temperament like its EE dad.

 

[chickenboy100]

We do have two mothers who hatched out peeps(and took already hatched peeps) and they are raising the clutch together, and doing well. They are Cochins, but still...

 

[Sylvester017]

We do have two mothers who hatched out peeps(and took already hatched peeps) and they are raising the clutch together, and doing well. They are Cochins, but still...

Cochins, Pekins, Silkies, Dominique bantams, in fact nearly all bantams, make good broodies and can be quite nice around each other. It all depends on the individual temperament of each bird. Silkies are generally docile yet I've seen them like jumping beans 4 feet mid-air squabbling and pulling out each other's crest feathers. Just depends.

It's why everyone has to determine for themselves what they want to do with their flock. Sometimes you get lucky with your individual bird temperaments and other times not. It's just that my experience has been that normally non-broody types like Leghorns, are not the ideal for setting, hatching, or raising chicks. There's always the exception but this has just been our experience on the farm when I was a kid.

For chick safety we kept broody mommas and chicks separate from other birds. Same with duck mommas and ducklings. My folks had over 50 Babcock Leghorns with a few Dominiques, BRs and RIRs. In the old days my folks didn't use bantams for broodies so the Doms usually got the job as broody for the other breeds' eggs.

A chicken is an animal and you cannot predict their hormonal behaviors. You have to make determinations on a bird by bird basis in your individual flocks. We've had some very sweet Leghorns - we've also had some duds too.

 

[Nomibear]

[quote name="Sylvester017" url="/t/295163/breeding-buff-leghorns/ The only breeds I know that can co-brood and co-raise chicks are Dominique bantam sisters raised together or Silkies (and of course depending on whether the Silkie hens usually get along and can brood in a nest together with a LOT of pen room to exercise the hatchlings afterwards). Each of our Silkies would be excellent broody hens and mommas but I wouldn't put our particular two Silkies to co-brood a batch of eggs - they squabble too much w/each other when they are hormonal. Putting hatchlings into a flock is a dangerous situation especially in Spring with hormonal adults. Using a chicken tractor to move the momma and chicks around in an open flock is ideal. They still get to be part of the outdoor flock without getting combative or injured from the general flock - the momma and chicks need a somewhat peaceful environment. A tractor also protects the chicks from getting easily picked off by Hawks or the momma getting injured trying to defend her brood. A lot of people lose their outdoor chicks easily to aerial predators. I wish we could've seen your Buff chick all grown-up - such a shame because it probably would've had a sweet temperament like its EE dad.

[/quote] Right now we have one EE mama, with one chick, roaming free. First broody with 3 chicks now roaming free. Broody mama number two in a wire cage, with 2 babies. Broody #3 is in a wire rabbit hutch away from all babies. I have 8 from the incubator in the brooder, and 8 more eggs in the incubator!

what was I thinking!!! I do have 4 EE over buff chicks from the incubator. They are now 3 1/2 weeks old...

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Generally speaking, broody hens kept separated with their brood will yield the best results, especially in the first three weeks or so. If the flock is held in confinement a brood should not run with the flock until they are at least four months old, and there's also a rather sound argument for keeping them separate indefinitely. However, if the have wide range, a broody can run with the brood with usually acceptable results, yet keep the in isolation until the chicks are soundly mobile.