California Greys???

[ClintD]

Got some chicks from this mating using surrogate hens.


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[Michael Apple]

Nice pics, Clint. Poor old rooster's had it tough. I haven't had White Leghorns for a long time. Keeping my eye out for good ones for next year. So you're going to have some California White chicks with that mating?

 

[ClintD]

Yeah, just 8chicks so far but if another hen or two goes broody I'll set some more. I want to have some started pullets out of them by early spring.

Yeah, he had it rough for a while but he thinks he's king of the world right now, by his attitude.

 

[Michael Apple]

Yeah, just 8chicks so far but if another hen or two goes broody I'll set some more. I want to have some started pullets out of them by early spring.

Yeah, he had it rough for a while but he thinks he's king of the world right now, by his attitude.

Sounds like the cockerel I have. He looks like Lee Van Cleef, lol.

 

[tommysgirl]

My CA Grey girl Blanche laid her first egg today...20 weeks 4 days. It is not even a pullet egg size. I don't have a scale but it looks to me like a large size egg you would buy commercially. She was futzing around yesterday and this morning going from nest box to nest box to the dog house to another coop. She finally settled in and got it done in a box in her coop

If her eggs only get bigger from this point they will be enormous.

 

[Michael Apple]

Glad to hear it, Tommysgirl. Mine began laying at the same time. I realize this is a flighty breed, but it is a new breed to me, and on my favorites list. The cockerels tend to be a bit more aggressive than others I've kept, but the one I have is good to his hens.

 

[LegoBuilder2500]

does anyone have pullets in seattle of these birds? i have a cat so im wary of getting chicks but i really want these birds and so far all ive found are CA Whites...



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[tommysgirl]

does anyone have pullets in seattle of these birds? i have a cat so im wary of getting chicks but i really want these birds and so far all ive found are CA Whites...



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Michael Apple may have some in the spring. I don't have a cockerel/roo so I will not We are both in Northern CA so that isn't much help to you. Maybe you can find someone local to brood the chicks for you. We both got ours from Privett Hatchery in NM. I am not a fan of buying from a hatchery but with a rare breed like this you often have to start somewhere and they are feather sexable so at least they don't have to go through the process of sexing that many hatchery chicks do.

I suggest going on the Washington board and seeing if you can find someone close by to hatch/brood chicks for you. Good Luck. They are great. I think I will always have at least one.

 

[Michael Apple]

The California Grey is a cross between a Barred Plymouth Rock rooster and a White Leghorn hen. If one wishes to breed, select the healthiest stock to breed from. Genetics of the Fowl by E. B. Hutt is an education in breeding endeavors. The difficulty would be that White Leghorn hens tend not to be broody, so a surrogate hen that is broody or hatching eggs via incubator would be a good way to go. The California White is a California Grey rooster crossed with a White Leghorn hen. Both are excellent producers of good sized white eggs.

 

[tommysgirl]

Michael, is it a straight cross? I thought it was more complex than that.