Chicken Breed Focus - Marsh Daisy

[QuailKing]

Thank you @Chickengr

 

[Wendy High]

Very interesting and entertaining read about the Marsh Daisy.

 

[QueenMisha]

What stunners! I've never heard of them before but sounds like they'd be quite the bird given their ancestry. Hamburg, Malay, Pit Game, and Buttercup? Even with that icky Leghorn blood in there (sorry Leghorn fanciers, I'm not a fan of them), that sounds like a heck of a bird.

 

[chickengr]

What stunners! I've never heard of them before but sounds like they'd be quite the bird given their ancestry. Hamburg, Malay, Pit Game, and Buttercup? Even with that icky Leghorn blood in there (sorry Leghorn fanciers, I'm not a fan of them), that sounds like a heck of a bird.

I am not fan of leghorns but I do love my birds with some leghorn blood. they are good layers although some of them are meaty birds.

 

[GaryDean26]

What stunners! I've never heard of them before but sounds like they'd be quite the bird given their ancestry. Hamburg, Malay, Pit Game, and Buttercup? Even with that icky Leghorn blood in there (sorry Leghorn fanciers, I'm not a fan of them), that sounds like a heck of a bird.

Well there were no commercial White Leghorn in 1880 when the breed was started in the UK. There is a huge difference between a Heritage Leghorn and the modern commercial Leghorns.. Additionally there is a huge difference between English standard leghorns and APA Leghorns. When you think an icky leghorn you are probably thinking of a 3-1/2 commercial layer that lays 300+ eggs in the first year of laying then develops internal issues in the second year of laying and can't produce ever 50 eggs by the third year. You are also probably thinking of a feisty hen that is bossy with other hens int he flock, skittish around humans and other other animals, etc. The heritage leghorns have quite different utilities and temperaments. Although a laying breed leghorn cockerels were raised for meat, the hens if 1880 were more likely to be a 150 egg layer than 300 egg layers and they had longevity to where they would lay for 2-3 times as long as the commercial hens do. The standard for an English Leghorn is for a 5-1/2 lb hen and 7-1/2 lb cocks. That is white a bit different that the 3-1/2 lbs commercial hens and 4-1/2 lb cockerels. Other differences is that the APA leghorn is a bird of curves. It has a curved breast, curved back, curved tail. It has a 5 pointed comb that has the blade horizontal with the horizon. The tail has a fan to to where you can see depth from the profile. Below is an APA style Leghorn (NOT used to create the Marsh Daisy)



The English Leghorn is a breed of angles. It loses the curved back and replaces it with a straigh lined downward slope, it replaces the fanned tail with one that comes to a point, it has a keel line that follows the slope of the back, etc. It also replaces the horizontal blade of the comb with one that follows the line of the neck, and other notable difference including a higher body weight than an APA standard Leghorn. This is the type of Leghorn that would have been used to create the Marsh Daisy.




So...you don't have to be a fan of the Leghorn, but I think that you would find that the 1880 English white leghorn that went into the creation of this breed would be a lot less icky that what your stereotype of a Leghorn is. I am guessing they would have been more inquisitive, more personal, less flighty, less bossy, etc.

 

[chickengr]

Well there were no commercial White Leghorn in 1880 when the breed was started in the UK. There is a huge difference between a Heritage Leghorn and the modern commercial Leghorns.. Additionally there is a huge difference between English standard leghorns and APA Leghorns. When you think an icky leghorn you are probably thinking of a 3-1/2 commercial layer that lays 300+ eggs in the first year of laying then develops internal issues in the second year of laying and can't produce ever 50 eggs by the third year. You are also probably thinking of a feisty hen that is bossy with other hens int he flock, skittish around humans and other other animals, etc. The heritage leghorns have quite different utilities and temperaments. Although a laying breed leghorn cockerels were raised for meat, the hens if 1880 were more likely to be a 150 egg layer than 300 egg layers and they had longevity to where they would lay for 2-3 times as long as the commercial hens do. The standard for an English Leghorn is for a 5-1/2 lb hen and 7-1/2 lb cocks. That is white a bit different that the 3-1/2 lbs commercial hens and 4-1/2 lb cockerels. Other differences is that the APA leghorn is a bird of curves. It has a curved breast, curved back, curved tail. It has a 5 pointed comb that has the blade horizontal with the horizon. The tail has a fan to to where you can see depth from the profile. Below is an APA style Leghorn (NOT used to create the Marsh Daisy)



The English Leghorn is a breed of angles. It loses the curved back and replaces it with a straigh lined downward slope, it replaces the fanned tail with one that comes to a point, it has a keel line that follows the slope of the back, etc. It also replaces the horizontal blade of the comb with one that follows the line of the neck, and other notable difference including a higher body weight than an APA standard Leghorn. This is the type of Leghorn that would have been used to create the Marsh Daisy.




So...you don't have to be a fan of the Leghorn, but I think that you would find that the 1880 English white leghorn that went into the creation of this breed would be a lot less icky that what your stereotype of a Leghorn is. I am guessing they would have been more inquisitive, more personal, less flighty, less bossy, etc.

thank you for the information.

my 2 leghorn girls probably are commercial. they look like the english ones but they are skinny and light. they are not so good layers, I guess they layed about 180+ eggs in a year. I don't feed them layers feed as my chickens are my pets and I want natural eggs. they are bossy and flighty and I am not sure if I will ever get them again. although I like their big white eggs.

 

[GaryDean26]

thank you for the information.

my 2 leghorn girls probably are commercial. they look like the english ones but they are skinny and light. they are not so good layers, I guess they layed about 180+ eggs in a year. I don't feed them layers feed as my chickens are my pets and I want natural eggs. they are bossy and flighty and I am not sure if I will ever get them again. although I like their big white eggs.

This is my favorite Marsh Daisy image. I love his high well rounded breast. That type of fleshing looks like a quality bird to me. The tail also is very stunning with a gentle transition into the back (not sharp angles, no white fluff showing, etc.).

 

[chickengr]

This is my favorite Marsh Daisy image. I love his high well rounded breast. That type of fleshing looks like a quality bird to me. The tail also is very stunning with a gentle transition into the back (not sharp angles, no white fluff showing, etc.).

do you have this breed?

unfortunately I have never heard that someone in greece have them. they look like a breed I would like to have. as I don't eat my birds I prefer smaller egg laying breeds.

 

[JennieRD]

If handled when young, he roosters and hens are very gentle. They are flighty and have a mind of their own. They march to their own drums and do not socialize with the other breeds very often. The roosters run from a fight. The hens are not broody and will lay their eggs in another hens nest to hatch their clutch. Mine keep up with my white leg horns and lay consistently almost every day for about 10 months of the year. They love human company over other chicken breeds, and will perch on your shoulders. Without warning they will coming flying across the yard to be near you, usually misjudging their distance they land on your head. They have character and personality if you keep them long enough. Everyone seems to give up on them before they lay their fist egg, which is the size of a bantam egg. Once mature the eggs average 1.0 to 1.5 oz. . Eggs are difficult to hatch, and sometimes the chicks are tiny, resembling bantam chicks. Even as chicks, they are not aggressive and are picked on by other chicks of different breeds

The wise Marsh Daisy owners keeps them in a separate coop and away from other breeds as they are picked on, probably because they will not stand up for themselves, contributing to their be aloft and to themselves and not socializing on the yard.

They are fast on foot and in flight when running from the other chickens, the love wooded areas and trees to perch in. If you have a wooded area, you may lose them to the forest, owls, or hawks. They seem to be safe with large predators as they are a small light breed they take to flight with no problem for distances up to 75 feet when they want to.

Hope this helps!

 

[cressrb]

Thanks Jennie. Great information. I purchased two MD chicks from GFF this past July. They put in an xtra, but two were cockerals, so I placed the one and now have a pair.
I really like them. They kinda remind me of Lakenvelders I had because they mind their own business, don't pick on others and seem to expect others to do the same to them.
As per your adivce I may put them in a pen of their own when she starts laying. I think the only reason I have them is their price at the time and I need to fill my order to
equal six chicks before GFF would ship. But, I am very happy to have them and believe they are here to stay.
Pictures coming at a later date.