California - Northern

[PetRock]

@PetRock Will likely post too but I can't stop myself...

Pita Pintas are Dual Purpose egg layers. The Cockerels get big fast and have a nice size breast.
The are extremely friendly. This is in the description of them and from my experience with them.
They are very pretty
They lay a lot of eggs
They are good foragers
They do fine in the heat

I agree with Ron 100%. I love my Langshans but if I had to go down to 1 breed, it would be Pita Pintas. Monet and I are roasting a Bresse cockerel and a Pita Pinta cockerel tonight. It is taste testing time! I will report back with our results!

 

[PetRock]

Awesome, thanks for your reply.

I have considered getting CL pullets, but gosh! They are so expensive! I want their beautiful blue eggs, but I do not want to pay that much for hatching eggs, or started birds. I've heard a little about Pita Pintas... could you tell me what is so great about them? Are they dual purpose?

I like the looks of my CLs and CL mixes and love their big blue eggs but Pita Pintas win hands down in the personality/friendliness category. My CLs run away from me even when I have treats and I had to teach almost every one of them to not roost in the trees at night. Sometimes, they do a mass run across the yard for who knows what reason. They also can fly 3-4 ft off the ground for 12-15 ft. It is a wonder that they haven't flown over the 6 ft fence and into the neighbors' yards. I do have quite a few Pita Pinta/CL mix pullets that are getting close to point of lay. They are mostly black with beautiful green/purple sheen to their feathers and some of them have crests. I'm curious to see what color of eggs they will lay. I'm assuming they will be green but I have several CL mixes that came from Shantih's flock and almost all of them lay blue eggs.

 

[ronott1]

I like the looks of my CLs and CL mixes and love their big blue eggs but Pita Pintas win hands down in the personality/friendliness category. My CLs run away from me even when I have treats and I had to teach almost every one of them to not roost in the trees at night. Sometimes, they do a mass run across the yard for who knows what reason. They also can fly 3-4 ft off the ground for 12-15 ft. It is a wonder that they haven't flown over the 6 ft fence and into the neighbors' yards. I do have quite a few Pita Pinta/CL mix pullets that are getting close to point of lay. They are mostly black with beautiful green/purple sheen to their feathers and some of them have crests. I'm curious to see what color of eggs they will lay. I'm assuming they will be green but I have several CL mixes that came from Shantih's flock and almost all of them lay blue eggs.

We need to see pictures of the CL x Pita Pintas!

Pita Pintas eggs are a very light brown to cream so the eggs may be more blue than green.

 

[chickee]

I'm kind of fed up with my layer hens. I have about 30 hens, all over 9 months old. I only get, at most, 6 eggs a day! My bantams lay better than they do! I thought I was going to get "super layers" by buying a variety of layer breeds from the feedstore. So far they have been nothing but "super feed consumers".
Can anyone reccomend some breeds (possibly auto sexable?) that make really good layers? Thanks!

My golden cuckoo Marans are great layers and auto sexing. They lay a nice dark egg and the pullets I hatched out last year, started laying in September, laid all winter and are still laying strong. I usually get 2-3 eggs a day from 4 hens.

 

[SilkiesForEver]

@ronott1
Thanks for sharing your experience with Pita Pintas! They sound awesome! I have one other question, but you may have answered it already: What color are their eggs?

@PetRock
I think you and Ron have sold me on the Pita Pintas.

And a CL/Pita Pinta sounds fantastic. Are you thinking of selling your almost POL pullets?

Quote: X2!

@chickee
Very cool! I saw gold cuckoo Marans, but they too are pretty pricey because of being "rare". It's good to know though, I've had pretty bad results with my Marans.

 

[caychris]

@ronott1
Thanks for sharing your experience with Pita Pintas! They sound awesome! I have one other question, but you may have answered it already: What color are their eggs?

@PetRock
I think you and Ron have sold me on the Pita Pintas.

And a CL/Pita Pinta sounds fantastic. Are you thinking of selling your almost POL pullets?


X2!

@chickee
Very cool! I saw gold cuckoo Marans, but they too are pretty pricey because of being "rare". It's good to know though, I've had pretty bad results with my Marans.

Not that they are the best layers but I have some 14 week Buff Orps (pullets) that need a new home. sorry shameless plug I really need to get rid of the fosters. Im pretty sure Im not going to get what I want for them but finding them a new home is probably more important now.

 

[PetRock]

@PetRock
I think you and Ron have sold me on the Pita Pintas.

And a CL/Pita Pinta sounds fantastic. Are you thinking of selling your almost POL pullets?

Yes, I need to sell most of them. I should have thought about how much it would cost to feed so many before I hatched them! We processed 27 of the cockerels and added some of the older pullets to the layer flock at the farm. I still have quite a few pullets that are approaching 20 weeks plus lots of younger ones. If you are not thinking of breeding them, I have 2 Pita Pinta pullets who have whitish legs instead of the yellow that they are supposed to have. They are the friendliest ones, of course.

 

[debs_flock]

I have considered getting CL pullets, but gosh! They are so expensive! I want their beautiful blue eggs, but I do not want to pay that much for hatching eggs, or started birds.

I have Cream Legbar and White Legbars that are last year's birds, so just a year old. I am selling them at a very reasonable price if you (or anyone) is interested. They are laying well, HUGE blue eggs.

Quote:

and I don't have Rhodebars. I was thinking about creating Cambars

 

[caychris]

I have Cream Legbar and White Legbars that are last year's birds, so just a year old. I am selling them at a very reasonable price if you (or anyone) is interested. They are laying well, HUGE blue eggs.

and I don't have Rhodebars. I was thinking about creating Cambars

Its looking like im going to need to find a buddy for my 4 week old CLB pullet because the rest of the group are really looking like they are going to be boys. Was really hoping for 2-3 hens from the hatching eggs but only ended up with one. If my flock was already laying I might be interested.

 

[tommysgirl]

My Cream Legbar and CL mixes are good layers. The purebred ones lay big blue eggs and the mixes lay lots of eggs but they are smaller. Pita Pintas and Bresse are also great brown egg layers. They aren't auto sexing like CLs but can usually be sexed by 4-5 weeks. All 3 breeds are good foragers and not super large breeds so don't consume as much feed. I do have some Pita Pintas and Pita Pinta/CL mix pullets that are close to POL if you are interested in getting older pullets.

I am looking forward to meeting some of these ^^ Do you have any pullets that are 6ish weeks old right now? @ronott1 I am tickled with my two. I feel like the little late hatcher is a pullet but am sure hoping both are. The bigger white one is very adventurous and gets itself into trouble. I am thinking it is a little cockerel but I sure hope not! I know it is too soon to tell

Speaking of sexing what are clues with Ameraucana/Easter Eggers? I know that most of you don't have them now but maybe you have had them in the past @debs_flock ??? I have 3 5 week olds and I think they are the same sex since other than their color they are indistinguishable. Any help would be appreciated.