Cream Legbars

[FancyFarmQ]

This is adorable!!! You should enter it in the family and fowl photo contest here  https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1021893/official-byc-family-fowl-photo-contest

Thanks so much! If I win first prize I'll share with you!

 

[terrip824]

Any of you need a legbar doctor.... I know the best one around.

She's so sweet. We always need more chicken drs.

 

[GaryDean26]

I apologize for asking you to elaborate, but is "culling" killing the chicken or can I give it away? Would it be better to humanely kill and consume the chicken rather than giving it away and potentially spreading it's genetics?

Culling mean removing the bird from the breeding pool. Killing is the most thorough way to do this but certainly not the only way. Most pullets and young hens can be rehomed to a backyard laying flock that doesn't breed chickens. There they can live out their life as layers like they were developed for. likewise some people keep separate laying flocks (culls) and breeding flocks. Traditional egg farmers that developed their own breeding lines of pure bred stock might keep a flock of 100+ laying hens but only select a half dozen birds from that group every year to breed. If you just have a few surplus pullets then it may not be worth your time to process them for meat even if you have all the processing equipment and the skill. If you have large grow out groups every year though processing skills and equipment is almost required. Young cockerels don't lay eggs and so if they make it to a plate at 4-1/2 months they have lived the full life they were developed for. It might as well be your plate and not someone else's if you are the one that has feed them for 4-1/2 months. A surplus of young cockerels is bad thing. It is better to process them for meat at a young age.

 

[Exotica]

Culling mean removing the bird from the breeding pool. Killing is the most thorough way to do this but certainly not the only way. Most pullets and young hens can be rehomed to a backyard laying flock that doesn't breed chickens. There they can live out their life as layers like they were developed for. likewise some people keep separate laying flocks (culls) and breeding flocks. Traditional egg farmers that developed their own breeding lines of pure bred stock might keep a flock of 100+ laying hens but only select a half dozen birds from that group every year to breed. If you just have a few surplus pullets then it may not be worth your time to process them for meat even if you have all the processing equipment and the skill. If you have large grow out groups every year though processing skills and equipment is almost required. Young cockerels don't lay eggs and so if they make it to a plate at 4-1/2 months they have lived the full life they were developed for. It might as well be your plate and not someone else's if you are the one that has feed them for 4-1/2 months. A surplus of young cockerels is bad thing. It is better to process them for meat at a young age.

Oh okay! How do you dispatch your chickens, Gary? In your opinion, what is the best way? And also, why is it better at a young age? Sorry! I've just never killed anything and am a bit worried, but I do want to try how they taste, as everyone has gave gleaming reviews! Also, so cockerels taste better than pullets? I know pullets are often spared because they lay eggs to contribute, but I've read of people "caponizing" cockerels and was curious if they went through the extra process because they taste better?

 

[GaryDean26]

Oh okay! How do you dispatch your chickens, Gary? In your opinion, what is the best way? And also, why is it better at a young age? Sorry! I've just never killed anything and am a bit worried, but I do want to try how they taste, as everyone has gave gleaming reviews! Also, so cockerels taste better than pullets? I know pullets are often spared because they lay eggs to contribute, but I've read of people "caponizing" cockerels and was curious if they went through the extra process because they taste better?

There usually is a difference between the way I do things and the way I think is the best ways to do things. Lol. I will just stick with the way I do things.

I start looking for good cockerels at about 4 months old. At 4-1/2 to 6 months old the cockerels start to fight so as soon as someone draws blood, I know I am out of time and set a day aside to butcher chickens. Some years my wife has only let me keep on cockerel So I pick out my favorite and the rest get processed and we keep them for table meat. Those are some of our favorite meal that we look forward to all year by the way. Most years I try to hold on to 4 cockerels. That way if I lose one to a predator, one falls off the roost dead in the middle of the might for not apparent reason, and one is infertile I still have one to breed. Just Kidding... It usually is 9-10 months before I know which one in the group is the best. The other 2-3 can be sold as breeders to others.

It is best to dispatch of cockerels at a young age because 1) the succulent meat is better than the meat of a 10 month old cockerel 2) cockerels will eat you out of house and home. Their fastest growth rate is from 0-3 months after that the feed conversion isn't very good so you save your self money by getting ride of them young 3) once they hit the 4 month old age they will start chasing the pullets and can damage feathers etc. So you need another pen by that age if you aren't culling young. 4) not only are they damaging the feather of the pullets but they are also competing for feed so the pullet don't grow as well when they are with a big group of cockerels 5) in addition to chasing pullets at 4 month they are fighting other cockerels at 4 months. In a big group of cockerel it is just a matter of time before someone get and ear lobe tore open or a comb cut up.

After the cockerel are thinned I shift my focus and start to look at the pullets. I pick out the ones that have poor type and will some times sell them by 6 months old. Some times I will hold onto them for the eggs until October or November then sell the ones with poor type. I try to figure out who the best layers are. Some years I have been able to spread them out over 12 pens and it has been pretty easy to tell who is laying what because I only had 1-2 blue egg layer in that pen. Other years I have relied on laying type and vent checking to guess which hens were the best layers. At 12 months old I pick out my favorites. I try to keep one pullet for every hens or every pen that I hatch from. So I usually end up with about 3 pullet and about 1 cockerel in the keeper group every year. I then sell all the surplus which include older breeding hens that are being replaced by pullets that are better in quality and all the pullets that aren't in the favorites group. I usually offer them at fire sale prices because I always need to open up pen space for the next round of chicks that are hatching. On occasion I will luck out and find someone that is looking for breeding stock and get to sell them retired breeding hens with a #2 or #3 cockerel in a breeding trio. Old hens that no longer have a laying life (i.e. 3+ years old) will also be processed to eat. The older hens are usually too tough to crock-pot so they are usually used for in the stock pot.

Note: I know that many of the cull hens that we sell end up being bred. We don't feel too bad about that as long as they are sold as breeders culls. We know that some people that get hatching eggs or day old chicks don't cull as heavy as we do and that some of our culls may be a lot better than what people could get to breed from chicks or hatching eggs. We can't monitor the gene pool of the the whole breed. Just our own flock. We work on improving our own flock and everyone else does the same. If they can improve their flock with our cull we are happy for them. If not then they will pass on them and they will go to laying flocks.

 

[Exotica]

Sorry, I am about to run to class so I will thoroughly read and respond to your comment after! But quick, before I go - I really need everyone's help.
As you all know, Greenfire Farms sent me 7 Swedish Flower Hens and 5 Cream Legbars amongst 2 Bielefelders/2 Svart Hona's.
One of the Swedish Flower Hens died this morning, so I have a total of 6 now. I have somebody that is interested in buying 2-3 of my Swedish Flower Hens and I am supposed to send her pictures tonight of the one's that I am willing to sell to her. The problem is, I have no idea how to pick them apart. I mean, I have a general idea but I'd love it if you guys could help me out!

I deeply apologize because this is going to be a looooong post! (I'm not going to post the one's that are obvious to me)

Chick #1:







Chick #2







Chick #3:







Chick #4






Chick #5:







Chick #6:







Chick #7:







Chick #8:






Which one's are the Cream Legbars? I am so confused and definitely do not want to accidentally give her something else!
Thank you!

 

[Sylvester017]

Any of you need a legbar doctor.... I know the best one around.

THIS NEEDS TO BE ENTERED IN A KIDS' OR CHICKENS' OR CALENDAR CONTEST!!!

 

[Sylvester017]

Thanks Ant Farm for clarifying! I know it's silly, but I'm torn with giving them away or eating them. I've never dispatched anything in my life so I'm afraid. I've heard that chickens that you raise yourself taste just marvelous!! What would be the best way to humanely dispatch a chicken? I know every breed tastes different, but if you could just summarize how a chicken you'd buy at the market vs. one you've grown yourself tastes, I'd appreciate it!
Oh okay! How do you dispatch your chickens, Gary? In your opinion, what is the best way? And also, why is it better at a young age? Sorry! I've just never killed anything and am a bit worried, but I do want to try how they taste, as everyone has gave gleaming reviews! Also, so cockerels taste better than pullets? I know pullets are often spared because they lay eggs to contribute, but I've read of people "caponizing" cockerels and was curious if they went through the extra process because they taste better?

Hi - Market and Restaurant industry 99% use Cornish Crosses and these birds are engineered breeds to grow fast for market distribution. They are killed at 8 to 10 weeks which hasn't given them time to get a real chickeny taste. These birds have to be brined, heavily seasoned, and basted with heavy sauces to give the meat any kind of flavor. On the farm our Leghorns were not particularly big birds but enough for our table and they tasted so-o-o good without a bunch of seasoning. My friend processed her Cornish Crosses at 2 months and her EE Cockerels at 6 months. She had to brine the Cx's for 24 hours to give the meat SOME kind of flavor where the EE Cockerels were smaller but naturally flavorful. Chickens/roos processed older will have tougher texture but good to use for boiling, slow cooking, and for soups. Market meat has huge pieces of cut up chicken in their packages but absolutely no flavor without lots of seasoning/brining.

 

[terrip824]

Sorry, I am about to run to class so I will thoroughly read and respond to your comment after! But quick, before I go - I really need everyone's help.
As you all know, Greenfire Farms sent me 7 Swedish Flower Hens and 5 Cream Legbars amongst 2 Bielefelders/2 Svart Hona's.
One of the Swedish Flower Hens died this morning, so I have a total of 6 now. I have somebody that is interested in buying 2-3 of my Swedish Flower Hens and I am supposed to send her pictures tonight of the one's that I am willing to sell to her. The problem is, I have no idea how to pick them apart. I mean, I have a general idea but I'd love it if you guys could help me out!

I deeply apologize because this is going to be a looooong post! (I'm not going to post the one's that are obvious to me)

Chick #1:







Chick #2







Chick #3:







Chick #4






Chick #5:







Chick #6:







Chick #7:







Chick #8:






Which one's are the Cream Legbars? I am so confused and definitely do not want to accidentally give her something else!
Thank you!

They are adorable. The easiest way would be to call or email GFF and ask about the leg banding. They should have a list. Chick 1 is showing some leg spraddle. There is some good info on here to help with that. Aren't they all supposed to be auto- sexing? From these pics I only see 1 possible male, chick 3. Chick 6 could be a cream Legbar. Good luck!

 

[cooliechick]

When I raised cornish crosses, I butchered the cockerels at the normal time stated for these chickens. They were packaged for frying. The pullets I let grow for another month or two. They made LOVELY roasting birds and I had no problems with growth disorders. Worked great for me.

I lost the better one of my Cream Legbar hens. One of my dogs climbed the 6' tall kennel he was in and played too roughly with her. <huge sigh>