Cream Legbars

[granites2001]

I will thanks...Sorry....I am posting everywhere....I am trying to figure out BYC..... I do most of my posting on Facebook. I will learn. Advice welcomed

 

[granites2001]

Well.My original birds came from Andrea Didonato (Sorry...I know this spelling is wrong) from KY....I bought two pair (day olds) in April 2012. I got a lot of babies that were more gold, but kept the few I got with the correct cream color. I will go forward with them. I am very happy!

 

[lonnyandrinda]

These are my keepers this year....I have worked really hard and I have a few pullets still coming up...These are my keepers so far.

http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/Lrh2001/media/girly1.jpg.html
http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/Lrh2001/media/Hipsbro1.jpg.html
http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/Lrh2001/media/hippy0525-1.jpg.html

Thank you for letting me share!

Well.My original birds came from Andrea Didonato (Sorry...I know this spelling is wrong) from KY....I bought two pair (day olds) in April 2012. I got a lot of babies that were more gold, but kept the few I got with the correct cream color. I will go forward with them. I am very happy!

Good job! I can tell you put a lot of work into them knowing you started with many gold birds. I hope I'm where you are at next year!

 

[HughesFowlFarm]

Hey y'all,
I do not own Cream Legbars, but I am thinking about getting them. Or some hatching eggs. But one very important question. Why are they so **** expensive?

 

[KPenley]

Hey y'all,
I do not own Cream Legbars, but I am thinking about getting them. Or some hatching eggs. But one very important question. Why are they so **** expensive?

Like everything, supply and demand...they are rare here in the USA.

 

[ChicKat]

Wow, I really like these guys. The boys have no red that I can see and have really good combs and body type. Now others may disagree, but I really like the type on your pullet. I personally prefer a longer shank and neck, it is more leghorn-y and seems more to my vision of what the originals looked like (going off of the one photo I remember from way back--I think the club was originally considering the silhouettes based off of them).

Refresh my memory--where did these guys come from? You must be really happy!

X2

 

[GaryDean26]

Hey y'all,
I do not own Cream Legbars, but I am thinking about getting them. Or some hatching eggs. But one very important question. Why are they so **** expensive?

I have never imported chickens but the rule of thumb that I was given was that to go through all the legal process to test flocks and get a vet certification from the shipping country, buy the stock/eggs, ship, quarantine by USA customs, testing and certification of vet in the USA, etc. come out to a $5,000 a bird for importing live birds and $2000 a bird if hatching eggs are imported. Greenfire Farms imported three different groups of Cream Legbars with the average of 3-4 birds a group. That puts the cost of their foundation stock at about $50,000. They sell day old pullets for $60 each and day old cockerels for $30 each. So with that estimate they have to sell about 556 pairs of day-old chicks to pay for the cost of their stock.

If you were to compare that with a production type White Leghorn that cost $25 a bird, you could start a flock of 9-12 birds for around $250. You then could sell day old pullet for $4 each and day old cockerels for $0.50 each. So you would have to sell 56 pairs to pay for the cost of your flock.

I also might added that in the decade leading up to the imports by Greenfire Farm that there were several other people that attempted to import the Cream Legbar to the USA those flocks were largely failures. One that I am aware of resulted in a shipment of dozens of rare breeds from the UK all being destroyed in quarantine by customs due to Mareks (when that happens you don't get a refund on all your costs for importing the birds).

So the cost of rare birds reflects what is required to make new breeds available to the public.

 

[grannychicken54]

Last week was a slow week for us and my girls still averaged 4.5 eggs each. Has it been very hot or very stormy lately where you live? Friends have mentioned that when the temps reach 100, the girls are not laying.

No it has been kinda backwards here this year Junes temps were well over 100 degrees and the last couple of weeks ot has been 85 to 95 and we have been getting rain. The first egg that was laid was when ot was storming. Maybe they just are waiting they look and act just fine. Maybe they will start laying again.

 

[blackbirds13]

Got back from vacation and did a quick check on the chicks. I think I have at least 2 dozen cream colored girls growing out right now, maybe more as some are still feathering out.

I have separated the older boys into a bachelor pad but I am very happy with what I see from my birds at this point. I'm so excited. I'm going to start making decisions on what to do with some of them and I have to research pricing but am hoping for some ideas on where the price of these birds are now. Anyone?

If anyone has tried rarebreeds auctions what are your opinions on that or listing them here on BYC? Also, for shipping birds what precautions would I need to take? I have a few horizon boxes to start with. I'm not wanting to ship chicks at this point just older birds. I thought about trying a BYC local pick up auction but not sure about the level of interest locally. Any advice would be most welcome. Thanks.

 

[lonnyandrinda]

Got back from vacation and did a quick check on the chicks. I think I have at least 2 dozen cream colored girls growing out right now, maybe more as some are still feathering out.

I have separated the older boys into a bachelor pad but I am very happy with what I see from my birds at this point. I'm so excited. I'm going to start making decisions on what to do with some of them and I have to research pricing but am hoping for some ideas on where the price of these birds are now. Anyone?

If anyone has tried rarebreeds auctions what are your opinions on that or listing them here on BYC? Also, for shipping birds what precautions would I need to take? I have a few horizon boxes to start with. I'm not wanting to ship chicks at this point just older birds. I thought about trying a BYC local pick up auction but not sure about the level of interest locally. Any advice would be most welcome. Thanks.

I have a website and get a few orders through there mostly for Isbars. Shipping the started birds is much less stressful than shipping chicks in my opinion. The day before I ship I cage them separate and feed them apples slices to get them used to them. ON ship day depending on the number of birds I put 1/2 to 1 sliced apple in on top of some shavings so they have something to eat on and give them a little moisture on the trip. After I put in the shavings, apples, and birds I seal up the box and weigh it on a kitchen scale, then print postage off usps.com. I ALWAYS select "hold for pickup" and write the buyers phone number all over the box. I never ship if the temps locally are going to be over 90-95 for the next 2 days. Also I called my post office distribution center to find out when they load up the trucks so I can time arrival to the post office about an hour before that, it's a further drive than my local post office but gets them out of town faster.

I have not used rare breeds auction yet. I would guess you wouldn't get a lot of local interest for the value of the birds. Pricing is going to depend on the supply and demand in your area of course, but to give you a reference here in Oklahoma locally I charge $50 for a 6-12 week old gold hackled pullet (and I sell them as such with full disclosure of what that means) and $75 for a cream pullet of the same age. I haven't had a lot of interest in cockerels, mostly they go to people who grow them out and eat them, but when I sell them to a pet home or breeder home they go for $15-25 depending on quality and color. When I get orders through my website those prices are higher due to shipping costs, the ridiculously expensive shipping boxes (and the expensive shipping to get them to me), and the hassle.

I too am eager for next year when the cream gene is fixed in my flock and I can move on to the next goal! I'm nearly there with the ones I am growing out, and sold two of my gold hens today.