Cream Legbars

[dretd]

Just set some CL and Isbar eggs.  ChicKat sent me a great article on so-called "dry" incubating.  I live in West Texas (semi-arid).  I am intrigued, but I really want these babies to hatch.  Can I poll the group as to who has tried this method with CLs, and what the opinions are?  I'm on day one, so I could jump techniques if needed.

Hi losttexan!

I do a semi-dry hatch, meaning i add small amounts of water to my incubator but not a full trough worth. I am at about 5,000 feet and a totally dry hatch would leave my eggies too dry at lockdown, losing over 20 % moisture.

Instead, i weigh my eggs to the tenths of grams when i set them using an inexpensive gram scale. I reweigh at 7 or 10 days and track the weight loss. My goal is to be 13-16% at lockdown. So a 7-9% weight loss at 10 days is roughly on track. If more than that i add more water, if less i run the bator dry-dry.

If the eggs dont lose enough water they really dont hatch as well because the air cell will be too small to pip into properly.

Good luck on your hatch!

 

[chicken pickin]

I have 7 CL eggs in lockdown nearing day 20, just did late lockdown tonight and candled and I have 1 internal pip!

 

[sol2go]

Your avatar is exactly what she looked like when I put her on the roost! Just like a turkey. I told my husband she was growling at me and he didn't believe that chickens can growl. I will be sending him out next time to remove her, ha!

Thanks for the pics and notes. I may add the duct tape lip and a change of batteries is in order. It takes three AAA and I don't have any so I will definitely buy the Energizer Ultra lithium batteries.

You guys are always so helpful

I've had 2 unrelated CL hens go broody. They were very committed to their endeavor. I think I may have yet a third this year, also unrelated, so it may not be as rare as some think.

 

[sol2go]

Your saying there is a difference between "Cream Legbar" and "Crested Cream Legbar"?

Personally, I think that is a little elitism or snobbish to say they have to be called "Cream Legbars" and cannot be called "Crested Cream Legbars". I understand your goals, and I agree you do not want the mess to occur that has with aruacuanas, americanas, aruarca's and the other million ways people sell knockoffs. But just putting the adjective "crested" in front of Cream legbars, is not going to pollute the birds. After all they are crested, even if the crest is a tad small on some.

I think it is useful to know the name which will be registered with the American Poultry Association (APA), if we can get that far - Cream Legbar.
It is fairly typical to use "Cream Legbar" as a common and formal point of reference.

After that, adjectives are a part of communication. For the purpose of describing the breed to anyone, crested is very descriptive, especially as it helps to identify what is in keeping with the proposed Standard of Perfection (SOP). In turn, I think "cream" and "leg bar" almost always need more descriptors to help people understand the function of autosexing and the effect that cream has on gold (and red).

Nick naming one's own flock is kind of endearing and may become a way to differentiate lines or breeders. It seems like the English love word play and nicknames, so maybe all the better.

 

[sol2go]

Just set some CL and Isbar eggs. ChicKat sent me a great article on so-called "dry" incubating. I live in West Texas (semi-arid). I am intrigued, but I really want these babies to hatch. Can I poll the group as to who has tried this method with CLs, and what the opinions are? I'm on day one, so I could jump techniques if needed.

Similar to dretd, I also weigh for about a 13% overall weight loss. I don't handle them the last week, so I am checking to see if it looks about right at the first and second week. I might spot check a couple around day 17/18 to help me decide when to increase the humidity.

Basically it is a dry hatch, but I'm in coastal California and the humidity runs around 30% or more most of the time; today it is at 60%+ with no chance of precipitation (we could use more rain…). My incubator has a fan and a cooling cycle.

btw - Small CL eggs seem to loose weight more quickly.

 

[BuffyBugSlayer]

I think I need to start weighing my eggs while incubating. So far I have just been looking at the size of the air cells and going from there.

So...I moved the broody last night to the new coop with the two eggs she was sitting on all day. This morning when I let chickens out she was off the nest and appeared to have been for quite some time. There were several poops and the eggs were very cold.

I imagine this is a big change for her and I am hoping she might go back to the nest. I am going to just leave her be with those two eggs and see if she goes back. I guess there really isn't much more I can do about it.

 

[Scatterknit]

Does anyone know anything about crooked toes? Is it genetic? Environmental? I've noticed that 3 of my CLs have crooked toes - one cockerel and 2 pullets. I have not noticed it before today. I examined all of them pretty closely when they were babies and didn't see it, but I can't honestly say that I specifically looked for it. I think I would have noticed it in a baby chick but you never know - I didn't notice that rose comb on the packing peanut that I thought looked like a CL but turned out to be a Wyandotte.

When they were tiny they were living on a good bed of pine shavings that I changed every 2 days. At 6 weeks they're in the grow-out coop and the floor is covered with a good layer of soft hay. I can't think of anything in their coop that could cause them to injure their toes - I guess anything is possible, but I'm wondering if this is something that they "grow into" - either because it's a genetic trait, or because it's a "hatch" defect or just something that happens.

These will be going out to my laying flock at the barn so they won't breed, but if anyone has any knowledge on this, particularly regarding CLs, can you post what you know about it?

Thank you!

 

[caychris]

I have one which is similar as he is growing out 2 of the toes on one foot and one on the other are laying kind of sideways. Being new to most of this I dont yet know the names of conditions that afflict chickens.

I wasnt planning on breeding him anyway as his comb is not straight and he is behind his female hatchmate by a few ounces as of 6 weeks where the other boy is a few ahead.
Been weighing them weekly as of last week to measure growth rates etc to help in breeding selection.

Getting interesting data so far

 

[chicken pickin]

Does anyone know anything about crooked toes? Is it genetic? Environmental? I've noticed that 3 of my CLs have crooked toes - one cockerel and 2 pullets. I have not noticed it before today. I examined all of them pretty closely when they were babies and didn't see it, but I can't honestly say that I specifically looked for it. I think I would have noticed it in a baby chick but you never know - I didn't notice that rose comb on the packing peanut that I thought looked like a CL but turned out to be a Wyandotte.

When they were tiny they were living on a good bed of pine shavings that I changed every 2 days. At 6 weeks they're in the grow-out coop and the floor is covered with a good layer of soft hay. I can't think of anything in their coop that could cause them to injure their toes - I guess anything is possible, but I'm wondering if this is something that they "grow into" - either because it's a genetic trait, or because it's a "hatch" defect or just something that happens.

These will be going out to my laying flock at the barn so they won't breed, but if anyone has any knowledge on this, particularly regarding CLs, can you post what you know about it?

Thank you!

I have had a 3 CL chicks 1male and 2female from my flock hatch last year with curled toes. I am not sure if it is due to my incubating/hatching technique or if it is genetic. But my personal choice is to cull/rehome any that show toe or leg issues because I do not want to take the chance of it being genetic.

 

[BuffyBugSlayer]

I have two Salmon Favorelles that I hatched that have crooked toes. The breeder said she had never had issues with curled toes. She is a reputable breeder and I am inclined to believe her. From the reading I have done it seems to be an incubation issue though I am still not entirely clear if it is humidity or temperature related. My two were very clearly curled at hatch.

I was able to straighten them to the degree that they can walk and roost without issue. I gave one to a friend of mine and the other I kept. I might hatch some of her eggs to see how they turn out. Regardless of the outcome of the hatch I don't think that I will ever feel comfortable selling her eggs for hatching.