Breeding Buff Leghorns

[ArieBLB]

Hello Ann, Your Buff Leghorn chicks look very nice. Beautiful yellow leggcolour.
I am curious how they grow up.

Greetings Arie

 

[Birch Run Farm]

Sassy is the only chick out in the coops I can get to sit still long enough for a photo. She's still got a long way to go yet.

You can see her first real tail feathers are coming in, they look darker in color than her chick feathers.

So the count for this year's breeding for me looks like two cockerels and four pullets to survive.

 

[ArieBLB]

Hi Ann,

Your chicks look great.

Arie

 

[Birch Run Farm]

Thanks Arie, they are growing up well. My older birds are now molting and look rough!

 

[danhonour]

I was at a show a few weeks ago and was talking to a judge.He commented that I liked a darker Buff and that Marcus Davidson was a popular breeder that had the lighter shade,implying all buffs should be a pale shade.I presented my case,but I am sure it fell on deaf ears.

I bought stock (Buff Leghorns)directly off Marcus and have letters he wrote,plus I knew several of his friends that shared many stories about Marcus.First off I have admiration for Marcus as a great breeder,but I also know he knew the value of some strength of color and that color lightens a little each generation unless you hold it with some reserve of color pigmentaion.Marcus also knew that Cochins were the color source,but most of his other buff breeds were clean legged with tighter feathers than Cochins.Early in his career ,Marcus worked hard to get real good buff on his Buff Rocks.That way he could dip into his Buff Rocks for color,for all his other Buffs instead of Cochins. I am sure this was not done very often,but it was an option he had at his disposal.He asked Marcus how often he outcrossed his Buff Leghorns.Only once in a while was his reply, as he was able to keep his line going.He had ten pens of females with a male in each,he would hatch chicks and toemark the chicks from each pen.Then he would change males for an additional 10 matings.He would sell chicks and eggs for two weeks from the pens when he did not know the parentage.Then hatch another batch from the new 10 pens and toemark these chicks for himself.That gave him 20 matings and he could have 30 or 40 if needed all with the same birds.Marcus liked to sell the light lemon birds as they were even and with size and type could win.Unless they were sold to another good buff breeder who knew how to retain color,he knew breeding the light birds together would produce lighter still buffs showing lots of white and eventually the customer would be back to purchase more from him (ready made sales). Marcus had all the buff breeds and it was his full time business,so he was well known and had a large customer base .He had birds for about 65 years and advertised. Since he was active in an era when conditions were right to have the size and scale he had in buffs,he had the reputation as the greatest Buff breeder,Mr.Buff.Today it would be rather hard if at all possible to do what he did,regardless of your skill as a buff breeder.A specialty buff breeder (one breed) would not have the huge customer base today,to have the well spread reputation.After having bred Buff color for nearly 40 years myself,I can say the light lemon buff can be even and attractive,yet it lacks strength in the quills and under color and the whiteness in these areas can cause light shafting in the surface.Buff will breed lighter each year unless you balance the matings by having a little more color on one side or the other.If you mate extremes it brings out uneveness (two or three shades in sections) or patchiness (dark and light feathers scatterred),mealiness(white in web mixed with buff).I find these can be used when carefully mated up again,especially if they have some buff under color and quill color.It has been said before and bears repeating,"you need to occassionally breed in some reserve (or strength)of buff color,perhaps carefully and sparingly,but it still needs to be done".For a long time I had Light Buffs,then leanned toward a Medium Buff and now I like a Darker Buff.Not red,but more rich orange,for these will show buff under color and quill color and yet are the kind that will retain some color as hens and cocks,for they lighten a bit with age.Regardless of the shade evenly distributed surface color is desired.The sun will fade all tones and shade is needed for outside runs or free range with lots of trees,bushes or cornfields. Sorry to have rambled,but I thought I would address this in case other judges or exhibitors were thinking the pale,very light buff,is the best. It has been shown that when the pale buff is shown and bred the popularity goes down.In many other countries a deep buff is desired,perhaps it is too dark with red and brown showing up,but it will breed lighter and may have strength of pigment.Lets not forget there are dilution factors and diffusion factors,as well as other genes hidden in buffs ,that recombine in doses (or lack of)to make the many phenotypes buff can display.

 

[Birch Run Farm]

Here are some more pics, hard to get some of them to stand still!

Cockerel chick

Pullet chick with her mother

Sassy again, perpetually grooming

 

[danhonour]

Ann,they look good,for type,but will not be fully mature until about 10 months or so.That does not mean she will not lay until then,many of mine are laying at 5 months.I mean the body size and comb size keeps growing and males saddle,main tail and sickles take time to fill out. To me the most important thing is type,especially the continued top line,showing the sweep or concave curve.You do not want a high shoulder,or too long of a back line with a brake or sharp angle at the tail juncture.The top of the tail feathers should be about level with the earlobe,many people have too low of a tail angle.A well spread main tail is nice too . I am referring to the US Leghorn standard,forgetting sometimes of all the others who may be breeding to English type,who may want to do just the opposite.
I am wondering what others think about Heritage breeds,I do not see why any old breed ,bred to Standard is not heritage,regardless of Light breed,heavy breed or dual. Seems as if light breeds are ignored. I know I can trace my Buff Leghorns back to the original Buffs of 1892 importation from England. I got my originals from Marcus Davidson about 1970.Marcus got his from Monmouth Farm in 1912,Monmouth got started 1906 from Arnold stock.In 1906 August Arnold the original importer of Mr.and Mrs.Lister Kay-England Buff Leghorns (whom all the first Buff Leghorn breeders got stock from)sold out. Arnold later got breeding them again,years later).I am sure all US Buff Leghorns trace back to similar lines connecting in through other breeders of same stock.I recently read where someone said Ideal Hatchery Buff Leghorns were of my breeding.From descriptions of their recent stock ,they do not resemble my breeding.It goes to show that breding in different directions and selecting matings differently,can produce definite changes,if in fact they do have my bloodline.I know I did not sell them anything direct.They may have got them indirectly from an old customer of mine,but I can not say.

 

[Birch Run Farm]

Hi Dan,

Thanks, so far I like the tail sets of the first two chicks better than Sassy. They are also a little darker in color. It will be very interesting to see how they turn out. I hope there is something I can take to NEPC in mid January!

I guess I figured leghorns were heritage breeds?

 

[The Chickinn]

Is that a Rose Comb Brown Leghorn rooster on the other side of the fence in the second picture on post #286?

 

[danhonour]

It looks like an Americana?No white earlobe that I can see.It does not like like a Dark,Light or Danish Brown colorwise. Looks pea combed.

Ann will let us know for sure.