Breeding Buff Leghorns

[Birch Run Farm]

Thanks for the input, Dan. I would have better described the whites as gigantic. They really were big birds and not what I would have expected!

 

[DaveK]

Quote:
Got a picture of any of the "Ahlfmania" birds? Don't know if I spelled Henry's name right but you'll know who and what. I don't remember BIG birds as to what they looked to be in pictures but tons of feather that some today might enjoy seeing.

 

[ArieBLB]

Quote:
In the Netherlands we often see American type Leghorns with a leg length that is too short. The thighs are no longer visible. The plumage, the tail and the back is long. This looks the animal is not elegant. And they should not be too coarse. I like to see the animals high on the legs facing the thighs. With a long feathered tail that is rich but not on ground level and a nice long body and raised wings.

 

[Birch Run Farm]

I think one of my pullets will have long thighs. Her plumage is somewhat light in color but she is not a 'fluffy' bird. Her comb is not growing in large though.

 

[danhonour]

I agree with what Arie is saying.I really admire a good White or Brown Leghorn when they are good.However some lack the style and elegance that comes from a taller tighter feathered bird.The good breasts,level wings,cushion backs and right tail angle all add balance and symmetry.Nice heads and earlobes add the finshing touch.From a breeding standpoint I would rather have a small comb instead of too large.It is a point I am always argueing with my friends,but for a time I had big floppy combs and I could hardly raise a single male that had a good staight comb.Perhaps I want a male line,but I am much happier with good combed males and now I hardly ever have a male with a big floppy comb and yet the females fold rather than stand erect in comb.

 

[DaveK]

I couldn't agree more with your ideas about the combs. The Spanish back in the '70s often had big, beefy flopped over male combs. Things were a lot nicer to look at when the size was somewhat reduced and a better shaped, perfectly upright male comb was the rule. The Spanish didn't always produce the Standard described female comb though once the cock combs were good. Some would be prick combed but that was fine.

 

[Birch Run Farm]

Interesting Dave, I would say then most of my girls have a pricked comb. But my cock bird from Dan does have a nice straight comb. It's going -25 this weekend so he will have to spend some time in the basement crated. I have one cockerel coming up and so far his comb looks similar to his daddy's.

 

[danhonour]

[/img]Here is a picture of Henry Ahlf and one of his White Leghorns from a 1960's newspaper. It was Henry who told me many years ago to pick out your tall rangy cockerels and pullets late in the fall. It is the tall ones that make the best looking hens and cocks as they will settle (shrink) in height with age.

I always tell my customers to come back and stay with the bloodline,as having one line dominant in blood percentage will allow more stable breeding,you can add new blood at times,just have it blend with the original line until 3/4,before mixing with the rest of the flock.If you get eggs or chicks from a breeder,remember that you are getting only the genetics of the birds laying at that time.Perhaps in another few weeks a different group of hens may be laying instead.My point is the breeder may have just the birds you need with just the traits you want ,within his flock or gene pool. The reason some birds mix into (nick) well, is similar genes,which usually means related.When outcrossing to cold blood you may get genes that are either dominant or recessive,maybe both,so they may not look good.The genes you want may be hidden,so stay with an outcross a few generations to see the genes re-appear.Backcrossing to the original line works best.I cull all the cockerels from a f1 cross of new blood plus the original nnew blood bird,that way my original blood can be maintained in a high percent. I hate to sound like a skipping record,over and over,but so often people think they have to make there own strain (in time you do this regardless even staying within a bloodline) ,so they cross this line with that line and those again to yet another.This method really stirs things up and it is a tool that should only be used by the most skillful breeders for a certain purpose . What purpose? Well as a last ditch effort on a rare breed that is in very poor shape with only inferior specimens,you could mix them all up from several sources and hatch lots.Perhaps in some birds traits will resurface that are hidden or recessive,allowing these trits to be identified and selected back out.It would take several more generations to re-set the traits,but it could save a gene pool.
Perhaps this should be posted on the rare breed thread,but it has worked before and might be worth a try on some bloodlines,I am thinking of countries that Buff Leghorns are rare or run down and importation is not an option.

 

[DaveK]

Oh my dear God. Not a photo I've seen before and except that I'll probably be up all night am sure glad I got to see it now. Understand that I am a total freak about feather. Anytime you have a thick, heavy profusion of wide, strong, broad feather with substance and quality I don't care if it's on a bowling ball. I'm gonna come unglued. And seeing this magnificent bird I am definitely unglued.

Dan, thanks for posting something that at least I think is just wonderful to be looking at.

 

[ghulst]

Check these nice buffs. Not Leghorns
http://www.sachsenhuhn.de/index.php/Zw.-Sachsenhühner_gelb.html