Cream Legbars

[Sylvester017]

I currently have 58 chickens (hopefully cutting this number down soon) and they free range my small yard, no large acreage here. Current flock consists of 19 Cream Legbar, 6 Silkies, 6 Marans, 1 Cochin, 21 Barred Rocks, and 5 mixed breeds.

Here are my DDs feeding some of them treats in the front yard

Beautiful! That is a HUGE acreage - I have a small tract home cottage yard and zoned for only 5 hens (no roos). It was difficult adjusting from 25 acres down to a small retirement cottage. What a lovely setting you have for your family and chickens! No wonder your different breeds get along - they have an abundance of space - lots of room to stay occupied while foraging. Lovely, lovely.

 

[Sylvester017]

I resisted chicken math today. GFF sent a notice of a BOGO sale on CL chicks - buy 1 pullet get 1 free, buy 1 cockerel get 2 free or something like that!

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

I've heard nothing but good feedback about NNs - never heard one negative comment about these gentle giants. But with our blazing SoCalif climate I just couldn't submit their skin to our brutal sunrays. I correspond with a NN owner who has many other breeds and she always raises new NN chicks - but she will process her EEs around 2-yr-old or younger because they are her poorest layers (she has an egg business and processes any hens that aren't producing) - I can't blame her as our Amer is a poor layer too. I had a NHR as a single individual backyard pet decades ago and she was a hoot foraging through my vegetable garden all day long - but having RIR breed history I never knew what she would've been like in a mixed flock since she was alone. I bet you'll wind up really liking your NNs and I understand they're decent egg-layers too.

You might want to check out the NN thread, re: sunburn risk. There are lots of folks with your climate keeping NNs very well. That skin gets really tough, as I understand. We certainly have blazing sun in south central Texas...

The NN chicks are now running up to me when I come to the brooder. They find my fingers fascinating...

- Ant Farm

 

[ChicKat]

Thank you all for, once again, a very rich, thoughtful discussion!

Sigh....I was afraid of that, that understanding has evolved beyond some of those earlier theories. Yes, I think I picked it up, ChicKat, from one of your comments, which lodged in my memory as I was thinking of my desire for smaller crests!

OK, so I will warn people that my little ones, even those crested, may produce non-crested offspring, and that it could take a couple generations of culling to remove the heterozygous crest genetics. I think the folks I am talking with so far are not interested in breeding and more interested in a neat breed for a backyard flock, but I will make sure they understand.

Know what? the Cresting gene (CR) is considered to be incomplete dominant. So on the female you can tell. Here are some more shots of the one that I suspect has only 1 cresting gene - she went to a new owner yesterday -- who appreciates the idea of a good blue egg-layer.










Regarding the bright cinnamon color of her back and wing feathers...I'm thinking that this is the designator of a gold bird. You may note that her previous photo she was grayish.... If anyone recalls the 9-part grid I made to discuss colors, the female had a very burnt-orange color back and feather section. Her new owner held her for the photos - which is a heck of a lot easier than expecting her to stay still. In real life she wasn't quite this good a poster child for the burnt-orange color. I wonder if when my dog knocked the camera off the coffee table it plunked into saturate photo mode -- or the reflections of brick and stained concrete enhanced her cinnamon - The new owner knows she isn't a breeder.

Because of her face-images, I suspect with really careful scrutiny the single crested birds could be identified - at least in females. Incomplete dominance is a bit of a help to us.

 

[fowlman01]

You might want to check out the NN thread, re: sunburn risk. There are lots of folks with your climate keeping NNs very well. That skin gets really tough, as I understand. We certainly have blazing sun in south central Texas...

The NN chicks are now running up to me when I come to the brooder. They find my fingers fascinating...

- Ant Farm

There are more NN's in hot sunny climates than anywhere else.

Walt

 

[ChicKat]

Oh - just found this -- and thought it was interesting while talking about crests. Although these are pigeons - and pigeons aren't chickens -- the idea may tell why there are different manifestations of the crest - beyond just the incomplete dominance:
Other Genes Influence Crest Size and Shape

While one gene controls whether a pigeon has a crest or not, a variety of other genes influence crest size and shape. These genes are often called “modifier” genes—you can think of them as genes that modify the basic crest phenotype.
All of the birds shown on the right carry two copies of the ‘crest’ allele. Some of the crests are subtle, and others are quite extreme. The differences are due to different modifier alleles. There are probably several modifiers, each with slightly different effects. These genes were likely selected for by multiple breeders who were working with different breeds.
We don’t understand the inheritance of these modifier genes, or exactly how they affect crest. If they behave like other modifiers, they may code for proteins that interact directly with EPHB2 or other proteins in the same molecular pathway.
References

Here's the complete article:
http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/pigeons/crest/




It is in their learn genetics series. So just to be real clear no, I don't think pigeons are chickens, but I do think that there could be modifier genes that we are totally unaware of -- in the CLs that affect the differences.





What do you all think?

​

 

[sol2go]

I currently have 58 chickens (hopefully cutting this number down soon) and they free range my small yard, no large acreage here. Current flock consists of 19 Cream Legbar, 6 Silkies, 6 Marans, 1 Cochin, 21 Barred Rocks, and 5 mixed breeds.

Here are my DDs feeding some of them treats in the front yard

Looks like the Barred Rocks have the winning numbers this week!
Very pretty setting, fun to see daughters and chicks out there.

 

[chicken pickin]

Looks like the Barred Rocks have the winning numbers this week!
Very pretty setting, fun to see daughters and chicks out there.

Thanks! I don't have near the amount of land I would like but Im happy with what we have. My 3DDs love the chickens, not so much the chores and such but they like to hang around with them.

The Barred Rocks do have the numbers, and they are going to win! This pic is a bit older and the Rocks are older now and just so stunning to watch. I just have to go with the Rocks.

For a short while I will hold onto a CL male and maybe 3 CL females. Im in the process of trying to rehome all the other CL.

I have 2 nice looking cockerels (in my opinion) and one ok looking cockerel that will be going to the freezer in about 3 weeks. If there is someone that is local and is in need of a nice CL cockerel with some good qualities you are welcome to PM. I have some nice quality pullets point of lay that need to go as well.

 

[napdognewfie]

I am so tempted to go for a long road trip.

 

[chicken pickin]

I am so tempted to go for a long road trip.

Lol. You have a few weeks to plan if you would like one