Cream Legbars

[artblueggwanter]

look at these adorable chicks , oops sorry thought I was on another thread/ discussion

 

[mother of many]

look at these adorable chicks , oops sorry thought I was on another thread/ discussion

Are those Jersey Giant babies?

 

[artblueggwanter]

no mother , these little chicks are black sumatras ornamental birds but now that you mention it would a Sumatra/jersygiant make a multipurpose and pretty bird? hum I wonder

 

[Scatterknit]

Any opinions on aggressiveness of CL Roos? My first is pretty good but one of my March hatch chicks got so mean we had to cull him yesterday. He tore the back of the head off one of the pullets (my favorite too!) she is scalped now and recovering in my basement. When I tried to break it up he turned on me and that was it for him.

He seemed awfully young to be that aggressive. It's from the Rees line. He was a great color, darn it.

 

[ChicKat]

My CLs are the best for hens.

My oldest is down right chivalrous. He is with only two hens right now -- and they are NOT bare backed. One of his sons is also with two hens -- a little unkempt on the back -- probably couldn't take to a show....but no bare skin - and they've been together quite awhile. His predecessor - who scored best of three cockerels I took to a December show -- mysteriously disappeared when I was out of town once. He was brother to the two he was with and not a ruffled feather -- same for two other roos -that got people aggressive.... they are now pelts. The youngest breedable guy-- I had with two pullets and there was a bare skin patch on one of the pullets...and the other seemed a bit off..so he is now solo so the pullet can recover her plumage. He is the most people reticent of the bunch -- the other two breeding age guys I don't trust around humans. Then I have a passle of baby boys and juveniles and they aren't too friendly -- some are bachelor pad and some too young yet to harass the female that they are with. I am getting some more coop space though - because I want to separate them soon/

Aggressive toward hens - a big no vote from me. Aggressive to people - some are on occasions. Worst behavior is when I have seen a lot of predator photos on the game cam. ETA -the predators are known and the males are edgy and have hair triggers.

 

[Sylvester017]

Any opinions on aggressiveness of CL Roos? My first is pretty good but one of my March hatch chicks got so mean we had to cull him yesterday. He tore the back of the head off one of the pullets (my favorite too!) she is scalped now and recovering in my basement. When I tried to break it up he turned on me and that was it for him.

He seemed awfully young to be that aggressive. It's from the Rees line. He was a great color, darn it.

Don't most breeders isolate cockerels from pullets and hens? Raging hormones not yet established in young birds leads to trouble like a hormonal broody can get aggressive or completely opposite and get really picked on by the other flockmates. I always see pens of cockerels isolated in photos of breeder pens. Our friends had to isolate their only two young cockerels from the rest of the hatched flockmates because they were getting picked on by the majority which were females. Young males get really excited to mate with surging new hormonal activity and until they settle down at maturity would probably be best kept isolated until a year old maybe.

 

[Phage]

Don't most breeders isolate cockerels from pullets and hens? Raging hormones not yet established in young birds leads to trouble like a hormonal broody can get aggressive or completely opposite and get really picked on by the other flockmates. I always see pens of cockerels isolated in photos of breeder pens. Our friends had to isolate their only two young cockerels from the rest of the hatched flockmates because they were getting picked on by the majority which were females. Young males get really excited to mate with surging new hormonal activity and until they settle down at maturity would probably be best kept isolated until a year old maybe.

Generally legbars are a delightful breed that are easy to manage, especially if birds (male and female) are raised together. Issues with raging hormones have not been a problem in my experience. The boys are real gentlemen, and the girls will be bred when they want to be. Some prefer it more than others.

I think common sense, and enough space (rather than strict rules) is what is required.
Who would put juvenile cockerels in with broody hens???

And I doubt people would routinely want to wait a year before breeding their best cockerel. Just does not make sense.

 

[ChicKat]

Generally legbars are a delightful breed that are easy to manage, especially if birds (male and female) are raised together. Issues with raging hormones have not been a problem in my experience. The boys are real gentlemen, and the girls will be bred when they want to be. Some prefer it more than others.

I think common sense, and enough space (rather than strict rules) is what is required.
Who would put juvenile cockerels in with broody hens???

And I doubt people would routinely want to wait a year before breeding their best cockerel. Just does not make sense.

It'a really good to get different views of how flocks are managed.
When CLs first hit the scene -- people were trying to hatch first-eggs. In the UK - in one of his books Grant Brereton mentioned waiting until the hen is 2-years old to breed. In subsequent writings, I have seen 1-year mentioned. One of the reasons -- for 2-years old is that the hen has gone through her first molt - and you know what she is "really like", add to that you are building some longevity into your flock -- some chickens don't pass 9-12 months old....sometimes a congenital defect surfaces around tat time IMO. Lots of variables and lots of different goals.

 

[Sylvester017]

Generally legbars are a delightful breed that are easy to manage, especially if birds (male and female) are raised together. Issues with raging hormones have not been a problem in my experience. The boys are real gentlemen, and the girls will be bred when they want to be. Some prefer it more than others.

I think common sense, and enough space (rather than strict rules) is what is required.
Who would put juvenile cockerels in with broody hens???

And I doubt people would routinely want to wait a year before breeding their best cockerel. Just does not make sense.

I was hoping someone would come on here with an answer. I don't breed and can't have roos but I'm always seeing breeders' photos with their cockerels separated. After our friend's 2 cockerels got throttled in a mixed pen she had to isolate them. We had a mis-shipped cockerel that was supposed to be a pullet and at almost 6 months old mounting was always on his mind. I thought chickens had to be mature like at one year old before being bred because the pullet eggs would be larger sized by then.

 

[Phage]

It'a really good to get different views of how flocks are managed.
When CLs first hit the scene -- people were trying to hatch first-eggs. In the UK - in one of his books Grant Brereton mentioned waiting until the hen is 2-years old to breed. In subsequent writings, I have seen 1-year mentioned. One of the reasons -- for 2-years old is that the hen has gone through her first molt - and you know what she is "really like", add to that you are building some longevity into your flock -- some chickens don't pass 9-12 months old....sometimes a congenital defect surfaces around tat time IMO. Lots of variables and lots of different goals.

They are some very good points. I am not sure I could wait 2 years before breeding a hen, though it would be great in an ideal world.