California - Northern

[CowgirlJules]

Amy Beth, my Andalusians were good layers in the heat, but they did drop off in the winter.

 

[zooweemama]

Amy Beth, my Andalusians were good layers in the heat, but they did drop off in the winter.

Excellent to know - thank you! I'm keeping notes on all this so this is very very helpful!

 

[debs_flock]

Deb what is that white chicken with the crest you just posted? She has such a sweet face- great shot!

Thanks, she's a Cream Legbar!!! TaDa!

Quote:
Yup, it's just that she is a white sport. They've been showing up in people's hatches.

Beautiful sky blue eggs...............

Deb

 

[Happy Chooks]

Pssssst.................Australorps can go broody.

Excellent layers though from what I understand. Although I'm curious, why don't you want a broody breed? Nothing is sweeter than a momma hen and her chicks. (though I could certainly use a few less broodies this year - currently on #8 and 3 of them are broody right now)

This is my white legbar and cream legbar with their olive egger momma.


Welsummers aren't a broody breed, but here's proof, it can happen. (ignore my EE in the background)




And the white bird of Deb's is a White Legbar. An genetic whoops of the Cream Legbars.

 

[ronott1]

So Australorps are good foragers? They look like BC Marans a bit without the fancy colors on the males. Are EEs prolific layers? I want 2 dual purpose breeds ultimately (which in a few years I may drop down to 1 if we love one that much more) and 1 eggcellent egg layer that has a fair feed ratio and is pretty good at foraging - egg color is not important for these (it has to be heat hardy though. Our temps are 100-110 in the Summer. Think desert in Summer. On and NOT a broody breed for the excellent egg layer breed.)

Are Leghorns a heritage breed? I know they use them in commercial laying but that doesn't mean they aren't a heritage breed.

Basques and Cream Legbar question- I know the Basques are heat hardy but are they really good layers? Cream Legbars- I know they are not as heat hardy as Basques but are they really good layers? Or maybe for my egg layer I skip a heritage breed and get hatchery layers like the EEs? I have until Spring to figure this out.

When I used the BYC thing for breeds and what I need I got a few hybrids and Ancona, Andalusian, Leghorn, White Faced Black Spanish (new one on me!), Minorca and Lakenvelders. This was checking the 'all climates' and 'heat' at the same time. If I mark just heat- all I get are the White Faced, Minorcas and White Stars. But the calculator doesn't cover all the breeds available to me either. The White Face intrigues me just because I have never heard of them and bet they aren't all that common AND they are a mediterranean breed. https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/white-faced-black-spanish

Anyone wanna share their pennies?

Hi Amy Beth,

Cream Legbars and EO Basque will not be in the calculator. Basque are said to be good layers in the heat and the cold. Skyline, the person I got my hatching eggs from, said they lay more than his Leghonrs.

Cream Legbars have not been great layers for people yet. They lay from 180 to 200 per year on average according to the British sites. They are not heat hardy and a lot of people have had them die this year. I do like them--they are sweet chickens so far.

Yes, there are heritage Leghorns! Mille Fleur Leghorns

Cheryl Cohen has them and I think PapaBrooder has some of them hidden in with his 300 plus chickens.

EEs could be great layers or not. They are mutts and you never know exactly what you get with them. Yours are from a hatchery so should lay early and lay a lot, especially in the first year. Oh yes, because they are not a Breed, EEs will not be in the calculator either.

I hope this helps!

Ron

 

[zooweemama]

Pssssst.................Australorps can go broody.

Excellent layers though from what I understand. Although I'm curious, why don't you want a broody breed? Nothing is sweeter than a momma hen and her chicks. (though I could certainly use a few less broodies this year - currently on #8 and 3 of them are broody right now)

This is my white legbar and cream legbar with their olive egger momma.


Welsummers aren't a broody breed, but here's proof, it can happen. (ignore my EE in the background)




And the white bird of Deb's is a White Legbar. An genetic whoops of the Cream Legbars.

Why not a broody breed? Well I will have 2 to 3 other heritage breeds that are dual purpose and the ones I have ARE broody breeds. I do not want ALL broody breeds. So the prolific egg layers I would prefer NOT to be broody so they won't constantly be stopping to set on on eggs. I can let the other broody breeds I have do that.

 

[ronott1]

Pssssst.................Australorps can go broody.

Excellent layers though from what I understand. Although I'm curious, why don't you want a broody breed? Nothing is sweeter than a momma hen and her chicks. (though I could certainly use a few less broodies this year - currently on #8 and 3 of them are broody right now)

This is my white legbar and cream legbar with their olive egger momma.


Welsummers aren't a broody breed, but here's proof, it can happen. (ignore my EE in the background)




And the white bird of Deb's is a White Legbar. An genetic whoops of the Cream Legbars.

I saw my first Silkie Broody yesterday at Sewandgrows house! It was amazing to see her and all those eggs sticking out. She looked very serious.

The White Legbar is beautiful!

Ron

 

[Wishing4Wings]

You know you want some........................lovely sky blue eggs.....................

I just kicked mine out of the growout pen into a coop today. Here is my white girl (8 wks old), she's got some serious crest going on!



Deb

Don't be mean now!

She's so sweet looking. No stink eye! Love the white. Love both types.

They have white earlobes and no green eggs. (I'm earlobe obsessed now

).

In the feathersite pics it looks like the hens have very short legs. Do they really, or is it just in the pic? Also, about how big do they get? (My smallest is WLeghorn, about 4+ lbs, but she's queen of the coop!) Do they have single combs?

These are at the top of my epically long wish list!

 

[zooweemama]

Hi Amy Beth,

Cream Legbars and EO Basque will not be in the calculator. Basque are said to be good layers in the heat and the cold. Skyline, the person I got my hatching eggs from, said they lay more than his Leghonrs.

Cream Legbars have not been great layers for people yet. They lay from 180 to 200 per year on average according to the British sites. They are not heat hardy and a lot of people have had them die this year. I do like them--they are sweet chickens so far.

Yes, there are heritage Leghorns! Mille Fleur Leghorns

Cheryl Cohen has them and I think PapaBrooder has some of them hidden in with his 300 plus chickens.

EEs could be great layers or not. They are mutts and you never know exactly what you get with them. Yours are from a hatchery so should lay early and lay a lot, especially in the first year. Oh yes, because they are not a Breed, EEs will not be in the calculator either.

I hope this helps!

Ron

Yes helpful. I just jotted this down in my notebook (is that sad or what- I have a notebook for this lol!). Ok so I will scratch Cream Legbars off my list (bummer hehe maybe later down the road I will buy a pullet or 2 just for fun though). Basques are left on the list and I went ahead and added Leghorns - I do understand that hatchery LH will lay better, but I really cannot get over preferring heritage breeds if I can obtain them. I can't help it! LOL

I like the EEs- they add a little spunk to the flock and they actually aren't huge eaters so far. So even having a few in the flock for a few brightly colored eggs is worth picking some up every couple years. Maybe people will like a surprise colored egg nestled in their usual eggs they get from me? My kids fought over the EE egg you gave us! rofl!

I have currently:
Dual Pupose:
Buff Orps
BC Marans
Black Orp/BC Marans mix (4 of these- 2 females and 2 males)

For Egg Laying:
Easter Eggers

For Consideration Spring 2013:
Dual Purpose:
*Marr Basques- heat hardy. this is my top choice.
White Faced Black Spanish- said to be heavy layers, heat hardy.
Chocolate Orpingtons (dropead gorgeous. haha)- this is only if I can get my hands on a couple. just because i want them.


Egg Layers:
Easter Eggers
Leghorns
Andalusion - these are said to be heat hardy

That's my work up so far. In my notes I have other breeds scribbled down with random remarks to help guide me too

I'm trying to be strategic too. I'm an overthinker lol.

I have Buff Orps which are said to be great winter layers and in our area during Summer heat I have read egg laying wanes a bit until Fall hits again. So if I have a heavy heat layer- the 2 could off-set each other. One of the reasons I am looking at Andalusions at all.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Why not a broody breed? Well I will have 2 to 3 other heritage breeds that are dual purpose and the ones I have ARE broody breeds. I do not want ALL broody breeds. So the prolific egg layers I would prefer NOT to be broody so they won't constantly be stopping to set on on eggs. I can let the other broody breeds I have do that.

So which rooster are you keeping?

Why not get BR's? They are great layers of jumbo sized eggs, and you can use them to make sex links. If you are keeping a BO rooster, crossed to a BR would make black sex links. (sexable at hatch - white dot is a male, no white dot is female) I believe the Marans would make sex links too with a BR hen. The hen must be the barred bird, not the reverse, for sex links to work.

Since sex links are hybrids, they crank out lots of eggs.

Here's the info on sex links:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/261208/sex-linked-information/0_50