Cream Legbars

[1muttsfan]

I do think that shipping influences the hatch rate even with development. I have incubated many, many shipped eggs, and have had great and horrible hatches with eggs from different sources incubated together.

 

[HaplessRunner]

I have to agree with the comments on shipping. I just candled my Swedish flower hen, ameraucana, & EO egs at Day 14. While the SFH were shipped in strict compliance with the Meeks method, I noted that there were 40+% with detached air sacks upon receipt. The candling of the SFH eggs tonight found that 6/16 had no development with detached air sacks, 2/16 showed blood rings with detached air sacks, & 1/16 was cracked with no development. That leaves 7/16 to go forward. 2/8 ameraucana showed no development with 6/8 going forward. And a surprise, all 9/9 EOs were sound, developing , and going forward.

The Cl chick that hatched normally is sound and feeding already. The other CL chick had a rough hatching with intervention and appears to have one bulging eye. Hoping this will resolve with growth but I had to separate the two because the normal hatch chick was pecking this one relentlessly.

 

[sol2go]

All three of my pullets hatched mid-September, so they are about 5 1/2 months. I think you just got lucky. Plus with EEs you often have "hybrid vigor" meaning a cross often grows larger than either of its parents- and often lays larger eggs, too.

Probably not. White is usually a dominant color- that's why they say you can never breed sexlinks from a white chicken- you have no idea what the white is really hiding and it will come out in the offspring, masking the sexlinking ability.

Thanks, I forgot about the hybrid vigor, although it did not apply uniformly to the three.

I have my first batch of eggs in the incubator, thought I'd try my random backyard flock before I invest in buying eggs. As it turns out, I have some from both of these hens, the vigorous EE and the white. If they hatch, it will be interesting to see the resulting chicks (although it takes so long to grow them out to POL...I am learning to appreciate a lot of things I never considered before).

 

[sol2go]

dretd - thanks for the link to the ksu pdf, and references to content.

ChicKat - thanks for the links to "cream" pictures.
As dretd said:
There is much more variation in the color of the cream than I was expecting. The darkest is really a buff or lemony color not as pale as the lightest of the cream. Certainly no where near the silvery color that was held up as an example of ideal CL cock.

And I also feel confused. I'm still hoping Nicalandia will have some examples to illustrate the silver/cream preference.

HaplessRunner's hatching notes were also timely for me (my incubator sounds on cue as it turns the eggs). I am not feeling so positive about this, but still interested. I guess if it doesn't work out, I won't have a bunch of roosters to deal with...

 

[ChicKat]

Hi sol--- now that is positive...not having a bunch of roosters.

Good luck to both you & Hapless on getting good hatches.

Sometimes Mother Nature can fool you and come through with surprising successes. And chicks/chickens are amazing.

Now I recall reading somewhere that so much sorting for shipping including USPS, I think is automated...that they advise " Pack so that your package can withstand a 3-foot drop from one moving conveyor belt to another. " Depending on the route that the package has to take -- it could be really a toss up if eggs have a chance. And we can't always blame the post office staff -- they are just the face we see. most times on the human level, I think they try to do their best.

But then when you get those hatched chicks---it is so worth it!!!

 

[LONDON HENS]

This is my one remaining cockerel from my hatch last August. He is now with some of my laying hens and doing well. He has certainly asserted his authority!

 

[nicalandia]

This is my one remaining cockerel from my hatch last August. He is now with some of my laying hens and doing well. He has certainly asserted his authority!

Wow I love his asserted looks and stand I like his overall color except the Red shoulders

 

[LONDON HENS]

Wow I love his asserted looks and stand I like his overall color except the Red shoulders

What colour should the shoulders be?

 

[nicalandia]

What colour should the shoulders be?

Going by the SOP they should be Cream with "Some" chestnut allowed, the issue with your bird is that his shoulders are vivid red and the entire shoulders are red, not some red on them but the entire shoulders.

how how would "some chestnut" on shoulders should look like?

take a look a this bird's shoulder, he exhibits some chestnut, but keep in mind he is not genetically cream(lacking cream) but he is not red enhanced at all

 

[dretd]

Going by the SOP they should be Cream with "Some" chestnut allowed, the issue with your bird is that his shoulders are vivid red and the entire shoulders are red, not some red on them but the entire shoulders. how how would "some chestnut" on shoulders should look like? take a look a this bird's shoulder, he exhibits some chestnut, but keep in mind he is not genetically cream(lacking cream) but he is not red enhanced at all

Hi Nicalandia. I just want to be clear with this fellow you have posted: he is not a Cream Legbar but rather a Dutch? He looks diluted to me. If not by cream, is he diluted by the double barring only? And how can I ( a layman) tell the difference between a non red enhanced crele and a cream crele and a crele with no cream but rather silver. ChicKat posted a link to the Brabanter with many different examples of cream and they varied between quite pale and buff. Is the difference in intensity because a bird has 1 instead of 2 copies of cream gene or is it because the base color of the pale one was so much lighter to begin with ( I have seen BBS birds that carrying 1 copy of the blue gene varying from light grey to almost black). You have posted the above fellow as an example of what to look for but he is not cream so he is not really what we are looking for. I think that's why I am so very confused! Please help me understand! I need a basic lesson from an expert!