Cream Legbars

[BuffyBugSlayer]

Looks like lonnyandrinda already mentioned the crests.

I have just one cockerel and I have posted pics of him already. He has a small crest and for a while a nice straight comb. It is starting to flop now at 15 weeks. It is really big and I am wondering if it is just too large to stay straight?

 

[chicken pickin]

Looks like lonnyandrinda already mentioned the crests.

I have just one cockerel and I have posted pics of him already. He has a small crest and for a while a nice straight comb. It is starting to flop now at 15 weeks. It is really big and I am wondering if it is just too large to stay straight?

It could be that his comb is too large, more likely it may be that his comb is too thin. I think another thing we all need to be looking for and breeding towards are males with thicker combs. Having a thicker comb will help keep the combs from flopping over.

Thicker smaller combs may also help us in the colder regions avoid frostbite.

 

[lonnyandrinda]

psssst.... not white ear lobes. Cull for red ear lobes.

Whoops typo.... I think you figured that out!!!

 

[BuffyBugSlayer]

It could be that his comb is too large, more likely it may be that his comb is too thin. I think another thing we all need to be looking for and breeding towards are males with thicker combs. Having a thicker comb will help keep the combs from flopping over.

Thicker smaller combs may also help us in the colder regions avoid frostbite.

Interesting. I hadn't thought about it being too thin. I am sure that contributes to the floppiness. I am also worried about frostbite this winter. Last winter was very cold and even my little barred rock hens got some minor frostbite.

 

[dretd]

Man, I know what you mean about feed bills. I was going to hatch more this summer and several factors put the breaks on and one of the biggest was the feed bill! On the plus side you have a good group of boys to choose from. All of the advice you have gotten is excellent.

I would add that you should look at the girls and see what you need to improve on with them. If they are all really small you may want to prioritize large size in the male. If they have gigantic crests and want smaller ones then a smaller crested male gets priority. You run the risk of fixing traits you don't want into your flock if you have that same unwanted trait in the male and female. Go for balance, or choose to improve the next generation.

The banding is really a great idea. This year I hatched 6 boys in one clutch and weighed them and banded on hatch day. I went back to them in 2 weeks and reweighed and looked very carefully at their structure, especially the shape of the head and whether the comb was straight or whether it was pushed to one side at the back or whether it had a fold at the front. I made notes in my book on each one and put an X for cull (4 of them) or wrote keep next to the ones (2) I would consider keeping--purely as a gut-feeling. Fyi-Color is not important to me at this time as I am working more on type.

I have come back to them at 14 weeks and looked once again reweighing and assessing color and type. It may be random happenstance, but I will cull 3 of the 4 that were marked cull, two are maybes (one was in the cull and one in the maybe keep) and the one boy I for sure want to keep is one of the 2 keepers I had picked. So based on my notes, I would have kept the one I like the best now. I will be tracking the next batch due to hatch next week and see how accurate my gut feel is this time.

So I guess I am trying to say
1) figure out what traits are important to you so you can better prioritize the traits and boys you want to keep
2) keep notes as you go so that you can track how they develop and learn early tells that will allow you to eliminate the boys early on.

eta: I like this boy pictured because his back looks long and his comb looks decent. As others have mentioned, the larger the crest the more likely it will deflect the blade of the comb off to the side at the back. The one boy I am going to keep has a medium crest, but it its farther back on his skull and doesn't seem to be impacting the comb, thankfully. This is something I was able to see at 2 weeks old.

 

[chicken pickin]

I may be picking up a juvenile Rees line Cream Legbar pair tomorrow morning. I will be picking through a few males and a few females. I hope I have luck and will find a pair that will add some strengths to my CL flocks later.

 

[chicken pickin]

Picked up my Rees pair this morn. Fingers crossed some good things come from them. I plan to keep my Rees line separate so I am definitely happy for the genetic diversity I can add later to my CL flock.

 

[WalleyWaller]

Very Nice! I love the Elvis Hair Doo on the Pullet! JK!

LOL! They look great. Cant wait to see more pics of them as they mature. Beautiful!

 

[KPenley]

Pretty juvies chicken pickin! Congratulations! Did you see my babies...if you went where I think you went? I can't wait for them to be shipped!

 

[chicken pickin]

Pretty juvies chicken pickin! Congratulations! Did you see my babies...if you went where I think you went?

I can't wait for them to be shipped!

I only had a few to pick from, so yours were separated already from the ones I veiwed so I didn't get to see them I believe one of your girls looks similar to the pullet I posted. How many are you getting? She told me she was shipping you out some birds, Ill be anxiously awaiting to see some pics of the ones you got.