Cream Legbars

[ChicKat]

Hi ChicKat, thanks for the post, I have never seen that coloration on a CL chick! It is really a striking combination. Has anyone else seen this in their flock? Interesting to read how her colors evolved.

Hi sol,

I hadn't seen it before either. I thought that she was going to be light...but she is the darkest pullet of the ones she hatched with. I think I have a lot of melanizers in my flock -- my barring seems very dark compared to some others. I will try to get a photo of her... She needs a weigh-in today anyhow....

So here she is at ...12-weeks today (First Photo) Next photo is her sister from the same hatch (Middle photo) and (Last Photo) is their Mother -- ruffling it up to look like the first Queen Elizabeth. LOL

Something else with these 3 pullets dark marks on their beaks...they are carrying a lot of black pigment.

 

[ChicKat]

Hi Chambe94 -

I like your roosters one-and-all. I don't believe I would use a non-crested rooster for breeding - As far as your lanky one... it does seem like they go through a period of being all legs--and in some ways big feet, long legs may portend a bigger rooster. Your zazoo zazaaa (like that name - tell your 4-year old that someone on BYC said he has flair!) Is showing a dark breast very young...seems on mine it was not until they were about a year old that they showed the darker breast feathers. There is no chance is there that he could have only one barring gene? Sometimes that will give a darker, blacker barring. So I guess I am most favorable toward your professor ... JMO.

Whhoo HOO you have Isbars. They are so beautiful ... I should PM you with talk about Isbars. I think that they have the most beautiful eyes...and (I guess this is a Legbar thread though) -

 

[lonnyandrinda]

Had an interesting chick hatch this weekend- an obvious boy with no headspot!



Here's some color variances from this hatch. I have marked the two gray ones as keepers. The cinnamon tinted boy is a cull in my program.

 

[sol2go]

Uncrested rooster. He's was kind of a jerk to the other chickens, but is much better now that I've moved him to a "bachelor pad". He is uncrested, but more substantial than the other two.

Hi this profile pic caught my eye. He seems to have the deeper chest that Walt pointed out at the Novato CL type evaluation. You might run it by GaryDean26 and see what he says. Some other comments we heard at the type evaluation included look for a roo that doesn't drop his wings and one that does have a lower tail angle.

A key admonition was to wait until the birds are a year old as they change so much. I have noticed that my CL flock doesn't really develop a mature body until they are well over a year old. My oldest roo was closer to 2 yrs. old before he really filled out.

While this may not be popular with everyone, I would suggest that a minimal to absent crest on the roo may not be a problem while you are developing your flock. That attribute may be one way to help breed out floppy combs and S-curves. Breeding to a hen with a nice crest seems to result in well crested offspring.

There are different approaches to type vs feather color, that having been said, I hope you have hens that are double for cream.

 

[sol2go]

Hi sol,

I hadn't seen it before either. I thought that she was going to be light...but she is the darkest pullet of the ones she hatched with. I think I have a lot of melanizers in my flock -- my barring seems very dark compared to some others. I will try to get a photo of her... She needs a weigh-in today anyhow....

So here she is at ...12-weeks today (First Photo) Next photo is her sister from the same hatch (Middle photo) and (Last Photo) is their Mother -- ruffling it up to look like the first Queen Elizabeth. LOL

Something else with these 3 pullets dark marks on their beaks...they are carrying a lot of black pigment.

Fun pics and commentary =)
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on melanizers and the examples. I have also seen a wide range of heavy barring and spotted chests on the females, my flock and others. Now I'm going to go look at beaks...
You must be really happy with the feather color of the sister in the middle photo!

 

[sol2go]

Had an interesting chick hatch this weekend- an obvious boy with no headspot!



Here's some color variances from this hatch. I have marked the two gray ones as keepers. The cinnamon tinted boy is a cull in my program.

Did you change anything in your flock / mating combos? I would be interested to know if the missing head-spot just made an appearance in your regular breeding group. It seems like you have covered a lot of territory in your program (lots of hatching?).

In the next group, do you have any predictions based on the two you are not culling? The one in the center seems to have much lighter down than the one on the left. Any attributes that you regularly see? Thanks!

 

[lonnyandrinda]

Did you change anything in your flock / mating combos?  I would be interested to know if the missing head-spot just made an appearance in your regular breeding group.  It seems like you have covered a lot of territory in your program (lots of hatching?).

In the next group, do you have any predictions based on the two you are not culling?  The one in the center seems to have much lighter down than the one on the left.  Any attributes that you regularly see?  Thanks!

although I do have some new pullets that started laying about march in the breeding pen they all look normal. The rooster is the same one I've used all year this year and last. I will grow him out a few weeks to convince myself he does have the proper barring gene but he will not be marked for a possible breeder.

On the boy basket, I've established that the cinnamon boys are always too much chestnut in my flock. Dark boys about 50/50, maybe because their darkness hides the cinnamon? Light boys are rarely too colorful. I would call these two a dark and a medium, or two darks if I was pressed. I have a light boy growing out who is about 6 weeks now, I am very impressed with him and I can see an obvious difference between him and the chestnut boys his age. I will try to get some photos of that age group tomorrow.

 

[sol2go]

although I do have some new pullets that started laying about march in the breeding pen they all look normal. The rooster is the same one I've used all year this year and last. I will grow him out a few weeks to convince myself he does have the proper barring gene but he will not be marked for a possible breeder.

On the boy basket, I've established that the cinnamon boys are always too much chestnut in my flock. Dark boys about 50/50, maybe because their darkness hides the cinnamon? Light boys are rarely too colorful. I would call these two a dark and a medium, or two darks if I was pressed. I have a light boy growing out who is about 6 weeks now, I am very impressed with him and I can see an obvious difference between him and the chestnut boys his age. I will try to get some photos of that age group tomorrow.

that would be great!
thanks for your other comments.
With regards to the "dark" & "medium" dark/not cinnamon boys, do you have any expectations regarding barring patterns? melanizers? autosomal red?

 

[DoubleMM]

I'm new to legbars. Any suggestions on good source materials, photos etc on standards and characteristics for choosing good breeding stock?

 

[ChicKat]

I'm new to legbars. Any suggestions on good source materials, photos etc on standards and characteristics for choosing good breeding stock?

I would suggest the Cream Legbar Club. There is a "Clubhouse" that houses articles, archives of all the newsletters, meeting minutes, a tiny bit of discussion, some photos etc. It's so easy for things to get lost in BYC and they you spend a L O N G time trying to find a post. some of those references and articles - (like the ones about the blueness of the eggs)-- are in the Clubhouse.
welcome to Legbars.