Cream Legbars

[GaryDean26]

Good! Our 2nd hatch is currently underway. We had three girls and two boys in the incubator when I left this morning and three more that were piped.

The smaller paler eggs from our dark hen had 100% hatch rate in our first hatch and is looking to match those results today.

We only have one chicks from our light colored hen who lays the larger darker eggs out this morning (a girl). The chicks from that hens eggs apear to be a lot larger which is no suprise since the momma is huge. I hope the eggs from the the light colored hen come through in good numbers this afternoon and evening.

 

[GaryDean26]

Make that 4 boys and 4 girls in the incubator with 3 more pipped.

 

[Debbi]

I've been lurking in here for some time, and this breed intrigues me! How big do these birds get? Do they do well in extreme heat and cold? Does this breed plan to become APA approved? Good luck on your hatch Gary, sounds like a good one so far!

 

[GaryDean26]

This is a medium sized bird. It is smaller than my Marans and Euskal Oiloa (Basque Chickens), but larger than my Bredas, Leghorns, and Silkie/Cochin cross.

The roosters should be 7 to 7½ and the Hens 5 to 6 lb.

I know of three people that have lost Legbars to extreme heat. I lost half of my flock last year to extreme heat and from that experience and what I have seen in the heat already this year, I would have to say that the Legbar is going to be more heat resistant than your larger birds. In Texas we don't have much of a Winter, but some people said that their roosters got frostbit on their combs last winter. I also have heard that the Legbars could stop laying in a hard winter.

One of the breeders in the UK said that she doesn't have the hot summers that we see in the USA and that the only problems that she has weather wise are wet muddy summers. That should give you an idea of what the Cream Legbars have been bread in for the past 50 years.

In general the heritage breeds (those who have had a breed standard for 50+ years) are going to be more hardy and live longer lives than a hybrid, production, or other modern breed.

 

[GaryDean26]

As far a APA goes there are a lot of requirments for reccognition in the USA that can'tbe met at this time.

For example, at the breed qualifying meet, that comes after a lot of other work, there has to be at least five breeders present that have been working with the breed for 5+ years. This Breed was only imported a year and a half ago, so it will be another 5-8 years before this breed comes up for APA recognition. I personally feel that this breed will grow in popularity and gain APA recognitions. It will take time to establish the breed in the US first though.

 

[Debbi]

Thanks Gary. I have Marans also, and so far have not lost one to the extreme heat here in the last couple of summers, nor to the cold of the winter; last winter was very mild. The one before that, we had temps in the minus 5-10 range for a week or so. Acclimation during either part of the cycles is very important, and what they can or cannot get used to. I like this breed, and can see them in my future...when the prices go down!

 

[lonnyandrinda]

Make that 4 boys and 4 girls in the incubator with 3 more pipped.

Awesome, so that's 11 out of how many? 12? I hope we get just as good from ours! Did the last three come through OK?

 

[GaryDean26]

We got 12 out of 16. Should have been 13, but we shrink wrapped one when I inadvertently left the vent fully opend after adding water the 2nd night. In the morning the humidity was 32%. Two had been still working when we went to bed. After increasing the humidity back to 65% one made it out, but the other couldn't recover. We got 5 females from the hen with larger eggs, and 4 males and 3 females from the hen with smaller eggs.

 

[lonnyandrinda]

We got 12 out of 16. Should have been 13, but we shrink wrapped one when I inadvertently left the vent fully opend after adding water the 2nd night. In the morning the humidity was 32%. Two had been still working when we went to bed. After increasing the humidity back to 65% one made it out, but the other couldn't recover. We got 5 females from the hen with larger eggs, and 4 males and 3 females from the hen with smaller eggs.

That's so sad for it to make it so far and then to lose it! Well I candled your eggs again last night, the "maybe" egg is a no (it was labeled A), so we have 11 out of 12 developing very nicely, good veins and lots of movement!

 

[chicks4fun]

We got 12 out of 16. Should have been 13, but we shrink wrapped one when I inadvertently left the vent fully opend after adding water the 2nd night. In the morning the humidity was 32%. Two had been still working when we went to bed. After increasing the humidity back to 65% one made it out, but the other couldn't recover. We got 5 females from the hen with larger eggs, and 4 males and 3 females from the hen with smaller eggs.

Well, you just answered my question--- I was wondering about closing or opening the vents. The book that came with the LG says "Remove both red vent plugs . . . to increase ventilation". This is the instruction for the last three days. I had thought I heard to close them to keep humidity up.
So it they are now closed.