Cream Legbar Working Group: Standard of Perfection

[KPenley]

Awesome setup Walt! I'd imagine you order your travel boxes since they have your label?

 

[WHmarans]

I would cull that bird too. It just seems odd that they would use that description..(wedge)

w.

Sorry I'm new to this kind of forum as well as to evaluating chickens can you point me to a source or guide somewhere that might help me understand why this picture from above tells you this CL hen should be culled? Is there a picture of a good one for comparison? Here is a picture of some of my girls just for fun. Thanks.

 

[GaryDean26]

Quote:

Thanks...I will comment later. That is good. What would you work on first with this bird? Lets not get into color yet.

w.

I like the head, and tail, so I guess that leave the rounder breasts as the thing I would work on.

If this cockerel was my breeder and my goal was to maintain the low/long tail, and a strong head, while improving the line of the breast then I would pair him with hen/hens that have a good tail and head, and that have a prominent breast (extending past the beak) and no straight lines.

I do keep track of both the mother and the father through the egg collection and hatching process of most (not all) of the hatching I do for myself. I hatch around 10 chicken from each hen and do grow out groups of 30-50 chicks. I group the birds together with their full siblings and note the tendencies of each group. If there are any problem areas, that is the area I am hardest on in selection (i.e. Only 5% with round breast and 95% with straight lines would require keeping a cockerel with the rounded breast even if he wasn't perfect ). If I see promising results (i.e. round breast line) from a pairing but for one reason or another everyone has some defect that I don't want to breed foreword (this happens a lot) I may repeat a pairing the following year to get more selection to choose from. At this point it is trial and error. There is a lot of references on the inheritance of color, but not a much on the inheritance of type. I set up pairing so that the hen and the cockerels don't share the same fault, and then see what I get. If I like what I get I move forward. If the pairing shows promise I repeat. If the pairing don't produce good results I learn from it and try a different pairing the next year. It is the guess and check method.

 

[nicalandia]

wow... interesting to find out how many foults this Leghorn rooster has, I guess I'll just keep to my genetic coments..LOL.....

one thing can someOne post the Pic of the Male that is shown on the Jill Rees website(not the one that is posted here) while that male has great color, he seems to short, with squirrel tail, short back, and thats me, I have Bad eys for this kind of things, would love Fowlman01 input on this bird, maybe this old dog can learn a few things along the way..

 

[ChicKat]

Sorry I'm new to this kind of forum as well as to evaluating chickens can you point me to a source or guide somewhere that might help me understand why this picture from above tells you this CL hen should be culled? Is there a picture of a good one for comparison? Here is a picture of some of my girls just for fun. Thanks.

Welcome to BYC and thanks for posting your legbars.

• One place to really learn about looking at Chickens is CSU thread or Chicken State University:https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/732985/csu-chicken-state-university-large-fowl-sop
• In that thread, Various people present their breeds, then the breeds are discussed, and evaluated then Walt, and some other experts weigh in, then another breed is discussed.
• You could also get some good books at your local library, As Walt often says - read the American Poultry Association (APA) Standard of Perfection -- it is a wealth of knowledge.
• Add to that, you can use BYC by entering a search for any phrase, word or topic in the search bar at the top of the page...and read what people are saying about those.

ETA - consider joining the Cream Legbar Club-- the club is dedicated to learning about, educating about, preserving and promoting Cream Legbars in the USA and working to get APA acceptance for the breed. There is a dynamite newsletter with a LOT of informatioin, soon to be a handbook, a "clubhouse' with past meeting minutes/recordings (for a while they may expire after a certain time) archived newsletters, and a collection of articles, links and discussions.

Here's a link to the club's webpage, and there is an enrollment form there if you care to join in the fun.
www.creamlegbarclub.com

 

[nicalandia]

this is the Link chickat posted. I cant post pics of that rooster. but you can see it there...
http://www.jillscreamlegbars.co.uk/#

Dang... I got my work cutout for me..LOL and here I thought I would be so lucky if I found myself a Leghorn as good as the one I posted

 

[HaplessRunner]

Sorry I'm new to this kind of forum as well as to evaluating chickens can you point me to a source or guide somewhere that might help me understand why this picture from above tells you this CL hen should be culled? Is there a picture of a good one for comparison? Here is a picture of some of my girls just for fun. Thanks.

Welcome to BYC and cream legbars!

Since you posted the pciture looking for input, here is an opinion. I like the two hens/pullets that you have in the center of the picture. The two in the picture that I would evaluate further are the ones to the far left and far right. I am not sure if it is the angle of the picture but both hens/pullets appear to have pinched tails. You should definitely checkout the links that ChicCat offered above. They are good sources of information

 

[dretd]

Quote: W
The University Professor gives his students a pre-test before the course begins. What an outstanding idea!

-The overall impression I have of this gentleman is that he is out of proportion. It may be the angle of the photo from the ground, but I feel like his legs are too long and robust for his body on up. I would like to see a greater depth of body and a slightly longer back. At first I thought the back was a good length but then I realized that The hackles should be fuller and the neck is too short which only makes the back seem ok on its own. He just seems unbalanced overall.
-His wings are dropped, I would like to see them tucked up better.
-At first glance I thought his comb was ok, but somehow off. I think that I would like to see the blade sweep closer to the head and the points are uneven at the base, with some looking too narrow at the base. There is a convex portion which may be a thumb print or may be lighting. Its good that it doesn't extend past the tip of the beak.
-I really like his tail.

Are you grading on a curve?

 

[lonnyandrinda]

Haha I was going to take a stab but man you guys have already said it all... can't wait to hear what Walt has to say!

I have immensely enjoyed following along the CSU thread; off to look up the HLF thread....

 

[fowlman01]

I don't have time to comment before i go.....will when I return. Good comments!

Walt