Cream Legbars

[chicken pickin]

there is a 50 50 chance. Some will lose their crest as they begin to feather in properly and once older it can begin to show.

Really!? I didnt know that. Not one of my crested birds has ever lost their crest and then regrew it once they were older.

In my limited experience I find that if a crest doesn't show by a few weeks old then they don't seem to be crested(this is in some of my crossbreeds, all of my CL hatched so far have all been crested).

 

[TherryChicken]

Really!? I didnt know that. Not one of my crested birds has ever lost their crest and then regrew it once they were older.

In my limited experience I find that if a crest doesn't show by a few weeks old then they don't seem to be crested(this is in some of my crossbreeds, all of my CL hatched so far have all been crested).

I could be wrong, im still learning

 

[chambe94]

Based on head shots, which if these three should I keep for breeding? Of course the uncrested one seems to have the least color in his body

 

[chambe94]

I realize they all have issues. Just trying to decide where to start

 

[lonnyandrinda]

I realize they all have issues. Just trying to decide where to start

They are a little young to be making a final decision. Any way you could grow them all on for at least another 3-4 weeks?

Also there are a lot more important things than the head and color. Body type is number 1- it MAKES the bird. You can't really judge body type until they are older BUT in 3-4 weeks with a good side shot photo you might be able to eliminate at least one of them. In judging a bird color is 10% or less of the grade.

If all else were equal and it came down to just their head, I would pick the middle one, with a medium crest. Better chance for the comb to straighten out as he grows than the one with the big crest.

 

[chambe94]

Good point. I won't boot anybody yet, unless they get too pushy. But I'm bored waiting for everybody to grow up, so trying to make some predictions

 

[blackbirds13]

I realize they all have issues. Just trying to decide where to start

They are a bit young to really make a solid decision on. I agree with lonnyandrinda that a few more weeks of growing out would be ideal. You also may want to make your decision based on what your females bring to the breeding table. Color is one issue but type is also important. I culled for color initially and now I am working on other type issues. You may end up with a group of boys that all have some degree of color but one may carry the best type, or comb or another characteristic that will work best with your group. If you intend to cull for color first then you can do that best once the saddle and hackle start coming in. The combs can wave a bit then straighten a bit then wave a bit as they grow. I have some that go wonky in the winter then straighten up when the weather warms up. You also may want to look at how precise the barring is on each one.

 

[chambe94]

Are there any sites that have nice pics of good type vs bad type? Or are there other breeds that are easier to find good example of that would have the same type?

 

[chambe94]

At what age is the barring pretty set?

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

Don't forget to take behavior into account when breeding too, behavior/personality traits are subjective to what the owner/breeder wants, but very important in the long run to you being happy with your birds.

Just thought I should mention it.