Cream Legbars

[Bantambird]

So talking about using hens with traits that make better cocks but might not win prizes themselves? I will admit i used this hen as the mother to my current cocks. So her crest may be a bit on the small side.

 

[ChicKat]

So talking about using hens with traits that make better cocks but might not win prizes themselves? I will admit i used this hen as the mother to my current cocks. So her crest may be a bit on the small side.

IMO that is a really nice hen -- and a very good choice for mothering cockerels -- he comb is so small and straight. Her crest does look smallish -- and I really strongly prefer the small crested CLs over the bouffant ones by far (can you tell from my posts...ROFL)

Here is another thing for consideration -- I have seen females who have had parts of their crests 'chewed off' -- or so it looks....either grabbed there by male to keep his balance while they mate --- or a roost mate dreams of eating cake but instead it is the crest of the next chicken.....dunno.

 

[ChicKat]

One thing that is aggravating is finding that so many chickeneers get reports back on necropsies with cancerous growth but the report might say inconclusive it was Marek's or might be something else. Hate Marek's whatever it is!

Agreed that it is frustrating.

When I first got chickens a Black-sexlink I had succumbed to Marek's -- and the first level necropsy was inconclusive -- She was about 14-16 weeks -- a very vulnerable time for pullets because their bodies are going through so much stress when they are gearing up to start to lay eggs....but so young hardly any time for any tumors to develop.

They had to go to the second level (grow out cultures) and that was a delay and added expense.

In many cases -- it could be a CYA and save money thing -- that it would be probably Marek's -- but legally they would have to say inconclusive -- and the person requesting the service doesn't have to wait the extra week or 10-days for the cultures to grow and pay the extra money.
JMO.

 

[mellcrowl]

Finally got a chance to get some halfway decent photos of the chicks. So here's the trio. They haven't been handled much so they were all a little spooky, but they calmed down pretty quick after a few minutes.

First up is Melanie. She's the darkest and has the biggest crest.

Next is Guinevere (aka Gwen). She does have a tiny crest. It only consists of a few feathers and is hard to see in the pics but it is there.

And last but not least, Arthur. This little man has got lots of spunk and personality.

 

[gingerly1983]

Anyone partial to the lighter colored birds instead of the dark or chestnut ones? This is what we are breeding for. I know the darker color is perfectly acceptable, but I just love how feminine and delicate our lighter birds look. <3

 

[mellcrowl]

Anyone partial to the lighter colored birds instead of the dark or chestnut ones? This is what we are breeding for. I know the darker color is perfectly acceptable, but I just love how feminine and delicate our lighter birds look. [/URL]

Wow! Your birds are absolutely goals. I love the light color. I am seriously in love with your rooster!

 

[gingerly1983]

Wow! Your birds are absolutely goals. I love the light color. I am seriously in love with your rooster!

Thank you! I'm quite fond of him myself. I have 2 others that feathered out really nicely that I use for breeding. I'm pretty sure they have the 'double cream' gene. Those 3 were almost solid yellow as chicks...except for the white dot of course. I have at least one solid yellow chick with every hatch as well.

 

[caychris]

I just set 7 eggs from my pair took me about 10 days to get 7 and figured waiting on 8 might not do me much good. I calibrated my incubator too so Im hoping for a good hatch. I started collecting once I saw that my girls eggs were fertile. Im hoping. Ill start collecting again in about a week. I put some Pita and Mutt eggs in with them so I could fill my bator a bit. Im really hoping to hatch some CLB's from my own birds I have had so much trouble from shipped eggs and had so many boys most of which were unusable. Ill just work from here and see how it goes. There is a chicken swap party in a few weeks I may be able to get some eggs there to help improve the genetic diversity a bit.

 

[Sylvester017]

Agreed that it is frustrating.

When I first got chickens a Black-sexlink I had succumbed to Marek's -- and the first level necropsy was inconclusive -- She was about 14-16 weeks -- a very vulnerable time for pullets because their bodies are going through so much stress when they are gearing up to start to lay eggs....but so young hardly any time for any tumors to develop.

They had to go to the second level (grow out cultures) and that was a delay and added expense.

In many cases -- it could be a CYA and save money thing -- that it would be probably Marek's -- but legally they would have to say inconclusive -- and the person requesting the service doesn't have to wait the extra week or 10-days for the cultures to grow and pay the extra money.
JMO.

The agricultural deparments in colleges/universities will do necropsies for class lessons. Unfortunately our closest university to do poultry necropsies is like 2 hours away so I won't do it until our nearby college completes their expansion to do poultry too. Probably 2 to 3 years off yet. I haven't bothered to check on fees yet since no one is near me. The one university that does necropsies wants an ailing chicken to study until it dies and then do necropsy. My pets are too precious to leave in a lab to die with strangers. I have a hard enough time euthanizing through my vet and I've known him for 5 years!

 

[mellcrowl]

Was able to get a half way decent photo of Melanie this morning with her tail up. She has a tendency to tuck it down when she's nervous. She's definitely the loudest and most vocal of the three.