Cornish Thread

[Smoochie]

Hers have more yellow in the toes.. You can see his close up perched on the water dish on in the top pics.

 

[hdowden]

It is common in Dk Cornish bantams. It is actually a small bald spot.

Walt

is it a DQ on cornish when showing? i have only seen hens before and i like the look of them and so do the kids. i also only do bantams lol. hoping to get some hatching eggs for next month for the kids as i like hatching eggs better and raising the chicks myself because thus far the 7 chickens that i have gotten from other people are all very very flighty and i have been working on handling them on a daily basis and they are slowly getting used to it (they aren't trying to peck me nor squawking in my ears thank god for that for it hurt my ears it was so loud)

 

[Schipperkesue]

You want yellower legs? Feed your birds insects that eat greenery. Caterpillars, grasshoppers, etc. Here is how it works. Green plants are full of carotinoids. Insects that eat plants concentrate the carotenoids in their bodies. The birds eat the insects concentrate the carotenoids even more strongly in their bodies. Carotenoids are yellow and deposit in the legs, turning light yellow legs a darker yellow. Apparently corn will do this too. I had some free ranging Cornish this year whose legs were so yellow they were almost green! Makes the fat yellow, too.

 

[animalsRawesome]

You want yellower legs? Feed your birds insects that eat greenery. Caterpillars, grasshoppers, etc. Here is how it works. Green plants are full of carotinoids. Insects that eat plants concentrate the carotenoids in their bodies. The birds eat the insects concentrate the carotenoids even more strongly in their bodies. Carotenoids are yellow and deposit in the legs, turning light yellow legs a darker yellow. Apparently corn will do this too. I had some free ranging Cornish this year whose legs were so yellow they were almost green! Makes the fat yellow, too.

Well, I'll take your word for the yellow legs, but I agree with you on the yellow fat; I attended a carcass class for cattle a few years ago where we actually went and saw the cattle both before slaughter, and then while they were hanging in the freezer at the butcher shop... anyways, the fat on the cows from kids that IK had their cattle on pasture was much more yellow than the feed-lot style animals.

 

[Minniechickmama]

There are foods that make the yolks more orange than yellow in the egg as well. I know that when I have my birds on pasture the yolks are much darker than those when they are penned for the breeding season. Especially in fall I see them get dark when there are a variety of seeds for them to eat.
The yellow vs. white also comes from breeding though. I am not disputing that the foods they eat may or may not enhance their leg and/or skin color, but there is a pretty heavy influence from genetics there too.

 

[7961]

There are yellow enhancing ingredients added to some feeds: xanthophyll, tagetes, or marigold extract. Example Purina sunfresh poultry feed. This is supposed to make egg yolk and leg color richer in color. With that said, xanthophyll is in the make up of some plants. I have heard the discussion that birds who are allowed to free range have stronger leg and yolk color vs confined birds. But I also would think that genetics play a great part in this idea. When comparing the same variety and breed, some lines of birds will have stronger leg color than others will.

 

[fowlman01]

is it a DQ on cornish when showing? i have only seen hens before and i like the look of them and so do the kids. i also only do bantams lol. hoping to get some hatching eggs for next month for the kids as i like hatching eggs better and raising the chicks myself because thus far the 7 chickens that i have gotten from other people are all very very flighty and i have been working on handling them on a daily basis and they are slowly getting used to it (they aren't trying to peck me nor squawking in my ears thank god for that for it hurt my ears it was so loud)

It is not a DQ and I have seen Cornish with that spot win best of show in large shows.

Walt

 

[Schipperkesue]

You are right, a bird without a perpencity to deposit yellow in the legs will not have their legs turn yellow from these foods. Cornish should have yellow legs and caterpillars make them yellower! It wouldn't work with, say, an Ameraucana.

 

[Smoochie]

Wow I'm learning lots. Thanks guys. Personally I prefer yellow to any color leg so I am going to try these enhancing techniques.

 

[Schipperkesue]

But where does one buy a big bag of caterpillars?