Cream Legbar Working Group: Standard of Perfection

[Cadbury Eggs]

Thanks! So what do you do with the culls? I have mixed feelings about selling them because if they aren't perfect they shouldn't be used for breeding, but on the other hand I know there are plenty of people who just want them for their cool looks and eggs. Do you sell yours as a CL, or send them to auction as a generic chicken?

 

[ChicKat]

Thanks! So what do you do with the culls? I have mixed feelings about selling them because if they aren't perfect they shouldn't be used for breeding, but on the other hand I know there are plenty of people who just want them for their cool looks and eggs. Do you sell yours as a CL, or send them to auction as a generic chicken?

Males get eaten and females go to people who won't be breeding but want them in their flocks for the most part. But I am also a very very very small operation. Hopefully others will chime in with their management practices.

 

[chicken pickin]

Males get eaten and females go to people who won't be breeding but want them in their flocks for the most part. But I am also a very very very small operation. Hopefully others will chime in with their management practices.

I do the same. I also do chickens on a very small scale. I will usually sell cull pullets as pet quality or just as blue egg layers.

I have not sold any male chicks as of yet, and I have only sold 2 adult males I thought had good potential, all other males get put in the freezer.

This is just my personal choice Im sure others have different strategies.

 

[sol2go]

I do the same. I also do chickens on a very small scale. I will usually sell cull pullets as pet quality or just as blue egg layers.

I have not sold any male chicks as of yet, and I have only sold 2 adult males I thought had good potential, all other males get put in the freezer.

This is just my personal choice Im sure others have different strategies.

For @ Cadbury Eggs -

Much like @ChicKat and chicken pickin, I rehome incorrect females as "blue egg layers", and if the new owner is interested we discuss the breed basis and why they aren't correct for the SOP and shouldn't be used for breeding CL. In my area, not many people can have roosters, so that controls quite a bit.

Looking at your pictures, one male and one female look unusually light especially at their "age". The female has very unusual chest colors. Also, I was wondering what a serious sinus infection is? Where you able to confirm that it is not an infectious condition that stays in the flock or gets passed through the eggs? If you prefer, just send me a pm, as I am interested in knowing more? Thanks for posting your new CL flock!

I had to go back a page to look at your pictures again. I agree with your pullet choices, hope to see more pics as they mature. As for the light cockerel and pullet, it is interesting that their down colors are so typical, but they feathered in so different. I have also had very light females, but it was mostly in the crest and hackles, not on the chest and body. The variables are always intriguing.

 

[Cadbury Eggs]

For @ Cadbury Eggs -

Looking at your pictures, one male and one female look unusually light especially at their "age". The female has very unusual chest colors. Also, I was wondering what a serious sinus infection is? Where you able to confirm that it is not an infectious condition that stays in the flock or gets passed through the eggs? If you prefer, just send me a pm, as I am interested in knowing more? Thanks for posting your new CL flock!

My hen's sinus infection began with a bubbly eye, and then her whole sinus cavity swelled up on the right side with a large marble sized lump. I separated her from the flock and treated her with an antibacterial eye ointment and regularly massaged the lump to ease the thick cheese-like pus out. It took weeks of treatment. She now has only a small hard lump on the right side of her face. In the process, her comb lost all rigidity and now falls over much of her face. I won't be using her for breeding, which is a shame because she had the better color of my two hens. Recently, I saw a video with a peacock of how to make a small incision and remove all the pus without damaging her face.

Here is a picture of her before the infection





I did not take pictures of her during the infection, but it was really gross. Here she is today, right and left sides. You can see the small residual lump here on her right side just below her eye.

 

[ChicKat]

My hen's sinus infection began with a bubbly eye, and then her whole sinus cavity swelled up on the right side with a large marble sized lump. I separated her from the flock and treated her with an antibacterial eye ointment and regularly massaged the lump to ease the thick cheese-like pus out. It took weeks of treatment. She now has only a small hard lump on the right side of her face. In the process, her comb lost all rigidity and now falls over much of her face. I won't be using her for breeding, which is a shame because she had the better color of my two hens. Recently, I saw a video with a peacock of how to make a small incision and remove all the pus without damaging her face.

Here is a picture of her before the infection





I did not take pictures of her during the infection, but it was really gross. Here she is today, right and left sides. You can see the small residual lump here on her right side just below her eye.

So sorry your hen had the infection. Since the problem that she has isn't genetic, but rather cosmetic - you may consider breeding her to pass along her good qualities.

Once I had a CL pullet that survived a raccoon attack - where her wing was pulled completely off at the socket. Some of her hatchmates were killed in that attack. The raccoons pulled the chickens through 1" hardware cloth on the ranch porch in a little hutch.

Because she over came it - and she was so game - I was really proud of her -- I wouldn't hesitate to use one like her for breeding. She had a great disposition, laid lots of eggs, beautiful blue, and brooded her eggs for the full 21 days, before different raccoons found a way to break into a different coop on the same porch and kill her and 4 babies. (Not to dwell on the horrors of raccoons) - she only had one wing - but her chicks from what I was able to tell all had 2 ( of course because it wasn't a genetic defect))

 

[chicken pickin]

My hen's sinus infection began with a bubbly eye, and then her whole sinus cavity swelled up on the right side with a large marble sized lump. I separated her from the flock and treated her with an antibacterial eye ointment and regularly massaged the lump to ease the thick cheese-like pus out. It took weeks of treatment. She now has only a small hard lump on the right side of her face. In the process, her comb lost all rigidity and now falls over much of her face. I won't be using her for breeding, which is a shame because she had the better color of my two hens. Recently, I saw a video with a peacock of how to make a small incision and remove all the pus without damaging her face.

Here is a picture of her before the infection





I did not take pictures of her during the infection, but it was really gross. Here she is today, right and left sides. You can see the small residual lump here on her right side just below her eye.

Im not positive but im pretty sure a few infections like those are contagious and also makes the birds carriers for life, meaning they can shed the virus and pass it too other birds, some of these infections can also be passed to chicks through the egg. Even with the medicines, the symptoms are treated, but never really goes away. At times of stress symptoms can sometimes come back. Some birds can be carriers and not show symptoms at all. People unknowingly spread the infections by selling chickens, eggs and chicks with out realizing they are passing it on to clean flocks. This is only with some infections not all, it depends on the type yours had.

 

[sol2go]

My hen's sinus infection began with a bubbly eye, and then her whole sinus cavity swelled up on the right side with a large marble sized lump. I separated her from the flock and treated her with an antibacterial eye ointment and regularly massaged the lump to ease the thick cheese-like pus out. It took weeks of treatment. She now has only a small hard lump on the right side of her face. In the process, her comb lost all rigidity and now falls over much of her face. I won't be using her for breeding, which is a shame because she had the better color of my two hens. Recently, I saw a video with a peacock of how to make a small incision and remove all the pus without damaging her face.

Here is a picture of her before the infection





I did not take pictures of her during the infection, but it was really gross. Here she is today, right and left sides. You can see the small residual lump here on her right side just below her eye.

She is a pretty girl, and the picture of her snuggled with your dog makes me wish I could see that in person.
I can see how difficult this must have been for both of you.
I don't know what you could do to check on what afflicted her and what might have lingered.
There are some tests known as ELISA, maybe someone knows a source for testing backyard flocks?
Here's an example:
http://www.affinitech.net/poultry.html

 

[Flaming Chicken]

Here's my rooster. He supposedly came from GFF in 2012. I know he has a squirrel tail, curled comb, and some red in his ear lobes, but it was a place to start. He's a nice boy with a docile temperament though he doesn't seek affection he will tolerate handling and is not people aggressive. He takes good care of the hens and is not rough with them.






These are the two hens I got with my roo, which were from the breeder's stock. The one in the back went through a rough sinus infection over the winter and though she came out of it, her face and comb will never be the same. I wish these two had more cream in their hackles and slightly larger crests, but again it was a place to start.





Here are the resulting fluff-balls:






This was my first hatch and the group is now 9 weeks old. I really like the cockerel, although he was not cooperating for this picture session. His tail has a much better set than my roo and his comb appears to be growing straight. I plan to keep the pullet in the top left (with the cockerel). Top right has too much salmon in her face, and her hackles have more of a gold cast to them. Initially I was really excited about the pullet on the bottom because she was so light... but she hasn't developed much color on her breast.





I don't have an incubator, so I stuck a couple eggs under a broody hen to hatch. This is hatch #2 and they are now 7.5 weeks old. The cockerel in the top left is looking good color wise, but his comb is starting to twist. I will probably keep the pullet in the top right. The other 3 pullets look very similar to the one on the bottom.





I have one pullet with a beak deformity, and I don't know if it is genetic or had something to do with the brooding. As I mentioned, I used a hen so I don't know if the temperature was properly maintained. You can see in the picture that the bottom portion is longer than the top, but it is also slightly twisted. She has been out in a mostly dirt run with the foster hen & chicks and has access to stone for filing. After I took this picture, I used a pair of dog nail clippers to trim away the excess lower beak and filed it smooth.





In summary, am I on the right track?

Hi Cadbury,

So great to see you here! I recognize those chickens. They came from my flock. The rooster is actually from 2013. He arrived from Greenfire in August of 2013 so he will be 2 later this summer. And the girls were hatched May 1st of 2014. So sorry about the sinus infection. I'm glad she pulled through.

Your chicks look lovely with clear auto sexing at hatch. Nice to see. I'm not sure about the beak deformity. It could be a recessive trait, I had one cockerel out of 9 last year that had a similar issue. I've had more sport whites show up this year. So the ones I kept from last year must have that trait.

I'm growing out 2 cockerels right now. One has a bigger crest and his comb is starting to twist also, his brother has a smaller crest and so far his comb is straight. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I remember our conversation. You seem to have a handle on what to look for. Some people hatch out 200 chicks and keep the best. I don't have the ability to do that but I hatch out 1 or 2 clutches and keep the best for my breeding flock and either sell what I don't want to breed or put them in the layer flock. If they are clearly not breeding quality, I list them as pet quality The pullets I sold to you, I would have kept, but the rooster needed some girls,

Glad to see they have a great home.

I'll have to wander over to the faceb--k page and see what's being said. Sometimes I jump in and correct what's being said but other days I just let it go. I am here less frequently but trying to get back up to speed on the BYC posts. I am now taking a more active roll in the Cream Legbar Club and hope to do some displays at the local shows promoting the breed.

 

[sol2go]

She is a pretty girl, and the picture of her snuggled with your dog makes me wish I could see that in person.
I can see how difficult this must have been for both of you.
I don't know what you could do to check on what afflicted her and what might have lingered.
There are some tests known as ELISA, maybe someone knows a source for testing backyard flocks?
Here's an example:
http://www.affinitech.net/poultry.html

btw - I just found out about a 2 day course offered through UC Davis (in California) as outreach to people who work with backyard flocks, and they were nice enough to ask a few non-professionals. If I find out anything that relates to "sinus" infections or home test kits I'll pass that along.

Im not positive but im pretty sure a few infections like those are contagious and also makes the birds carriers for life, meaning they can shed the virus and pass it too other birds, some of these infections can also be passed to chicks through the egg. Even with the medicines, the symptoms are treated, but never really goes away. At times of stress symptoms can sometimes come back. Some birds can be carriers and not show symptoms at all. People unknowingly spread the infections by selling chickens, eggs and chicks with out realizing they are passing it on to clean flocks. This is only with some infections not all, it depends on the type yours had.