Cream Legbars

[KPenley]

Thankyou for getting back to me, and thanks again for your opinion.

Having just looked at some pictures of the CLB show winners from last year I agree that my girls do have a shorter keel - something I wasn't aware of before.Despite the fact that the majority of the pictures are of the birds pictured are pullets I must admit that they do lack the longer keel that is more acceptable - this feature has now been added to my to do list!

The tighter tails are more popular over here in the UK and I haven't bred my chucks in anyway to change that. At the moment I'm just trying to keep the heads how I want them and gradually change the colour of my girls to a more silver/cream opposed to the darker greys and golds seen in some other birds whilst also maintaining the all important egg colour! 

I really appreciate you taking time to give me feedback, without this I wouldn't have had the length of the keel brought to my attention - something I can improve on before I think about showing.

Many thanks 

Izzy.

You are more than welcome Izzy. I hope that you have a great show experience when you decide to give it a go. No bird is perfect, so don't wait until then

 

[chicken pickin]

Now that I look at the picture it isn't nearly as blue as I remember. I will blame it on the fluorescent lights in my kitchen

The third one from the left is my blue egg prospect, the other three are definitely greenish blue. I still don't have an oac color chart for any comparison.

Nice eggs! They look similar to the colors I get also. I have 2 that lay a powder blue like your #3 and my other CL so far lay green like the ones you have above. I do still have 2 pullets that I am waiting to reach point of lay, I hope they lay blue. My eggs cartons recently are only filled with green and olive eggs. I cant wait for spring and everyone is laying again.

 

[Flaming Chicken]

I knew someone would ask so I dragged out the food scale. It is 60grams. And OAC 151

 

[KPenley]

I knew someone would ask so I dragged out the food scale. It is 60grams. And OAC 151

That's a wonderful egg!

 

[ChicKat]

Now that I look at the picture it isn't nearly as blue as I remember. I will blame it on the fluorescent lights in my kitchen

The third one from the left is my blue egg prospect, the other three are definitely greenish blue. I still don't have an oac color chart for any comparison.

Nice set of eggs--- I can best see the 'blue' when it is beside green. And sometimes I think that they oxidize or something and they are bluer when we pick them up than when we go back and look -- but that is a nice set of colors and saturation.

 

[ChicKat]

Thankyou for getting back to me, and thanks again for your opinion.

Having just looked at some pictures of the CLB show winners from last year I agree that my girls do have a shorter keel - something I wasn't aware of before.Despite the fact that the majority of the pictures are of the birds pictured are pullets I must admit that they do lack the longer keel that is more acceptable - this feature has now been added to my to do list!

The tighter tails are more popular over here in the UK and I haven't bred my chucks in anyway to change that. At the moment I'm just trying to keep the heads how I want them and gradually change the colour of my girls to a more silver/cream opposed to the darker greys and golds seen in some other birds whilst also maintaining the all important egg colour!

I really appreciate you taking time to give me feedback, without this I wouldn't have had the length of the keel brought to my attention - something I can improve on before I think about showing.

Many thanks

Izzy.

Clucksworth, I have another great question for you! -- Is there anything that you do to promote the bluest egg color - other than just choosing the ones that are the bluest to use for hatching? :O)

 

[RangeChicks]

My crew is ~21 weeks now and showing signs of getting ready to lay. I want to learn as much about them as I can to be able to choose who to breed, who not to, and which roo to use with whom. Please give me as much detail (good points, bad points) as you can. Be very picky so I can learn, please. I really want to breed for the best. We are reading the proposed SOP, but being so new it's a bit challenging applying it to the actual critters. Color is still baffling me, too. Can you tell who is cream (single or double?) and who isn't? Peanut seems to have the most gold in her. Any help will be greatly appreciated!

I'll start with the roos.

Uncle Kracker is 21 weeks. 5.5# I caught him turning so his legs & toes look funky. They are fine. He is unrelated to Peanut, Butter or Jelly, but is related to Cookie.



Reese is from the Jill Rees line. He is ~20 weeks. 4.5# Seems to be developing more slowly (I've read the Rees birds do).





The hen above with Reese is Cookie. She is ~20 weeks. 3# She is related to Kracker & has always been the smallest of the girls.

Peanut, Butter & Jelly are all 21+ weeks & not related to Reese or Cookie

Peanut: 4#





Butter: 4#




Jelly: 4#

 

[chicken pickin]

My crew is ~21 weeks now and showing signs of getting ready to lay. I want to learn as much about them as I can to be able to choose who to breed, who not to, and which roo to use with whom. Please give me as much detail (good points, bad points) as you can. Be very picky so I can learn, please. I really want to breed for the best. We are reading the proposed SOP, but being so new it's a bit challenging applying it to the actual critters. Color is still baffling me, too. Can you tell who is cream (single or double?) and who isn't? Peanut seems to have the most gold in her. Any help will be greatly appreciated!

I'll start with the roos.

Uncle Kracker is 21 weeks. 5.5# I caught him turning so his legs & toes look funky. They are fine. He is unrelated to Peanut, Butter or Jelly, but is related to Cookie.
I really love the Cream hackles on this male, I think this is a very nice rich but not too rich cream color that some strive for. The saddle might be a bit too chestnut or gold but I do like his coloring. You are right that his legs look a bit knock kneed in the picture but like you said Im sure it was just his odd movement at the moment. Its a bit tough to see his body type from these pics but his back looks of ok length ,his wings are tucked up nicely, barred well, beautiful big white earlobes and upright comb. He is a good starter male I think. I cant tell from the pictures but is he crested?


Reese is from the Jill Rees line. He is ~20 weeks. 4.5# Seems to be developing more slowly (I've read the Rees birds do).
I also like this male, he again has a long back though I cant tell if his body is unbalanced(front heavy) I do like his coloring, though the white wing triangle I don't believe is correct I believe it should be more gray and white barred. His wings are carried a little too low and should be more tucked up like male 1 but this seems to be a trait in Rees males.

Though this pullet to me has a very dark crest and body, also her salmon breast is a bit muddy I would use her just for her perfectly large round beautiful white earlobes. This pullet might just be your key to passing on nice earlobes to your future offspring. I also like her very full round breast.


The hen above with Reese is Cookie. She is ~20 weeks. 3# She is related to Kracker & has always been the smallest of the girls.

Peanut, Butter & Jelly are all 21+ weeks & not related to Reese or Cookie

Peanut: 4#

This pullet looks to have a very small crest maybe she only carries one cresting gene? What I like about this pullet is her beautiful evenly smooth salmon colored breast, very nice. And her extra long back and low tail angle are great traits to have.



Butter: 4#




Jelly: 4#

Over all very nice start. I would love to see some more pics of male num 1. Also have you ever taken any wing pictures of your males?

The pullets are nice but do seem a little dark in color and lack barring, but most of our pullets and hen do, it is something many of us are working to fix.

 

[ChicKat]

Hi Rangechicks,
Thanks for the great photos of your cream legbars...You have a lot to work with - and just like all of us you have a lot of work to do. -- Probably one thing that would help you the most is decide what your priorities will be for the breeding season ahead...and exactly what you most want to work on- If you plan to have two lines of CLs and you have the space -- you could use each of your cockerels for one of the lines. If you don't have space/capacity for two lines -- you need to select one of them -- and that may be where you want your efforts to go this year.

When you first show Uncle Kracker - I thought that he was 'knock kneed' (the hock joints too close together) - but you explained it was the photo angle and in the next photo he looks just fine leg-wise. I'm impressed by two things on him - one is the very symmetrical chest barring - I think that looks good. I also think that his hackles are cream colored. There is a nice dark breast and light hackles contrast there which we think is more correct for CL.

Since I am not a fan of the very light birds, take this with a grain of salt. The second cockerel has more irregular barring to my eye - and his wing triangle looks solid white which isn't 'correct' for a Cream Legbar. If you are a big fan of the Jill Rees birds then he is the one you would select. As I said if you could use both -- yay -- you are on your way.

For your pullets -- each has pros and cons (like all our pullets) I particularly like the long backs and lower tail angles -- my flock has high angles and that is way to the top of my priorities this year, and I have some stock here that I think will really make a difference in that direction in my birds. I am guessing that they aren't laying yet...and that they are just maturing. You may want to select the one with the largest egg to put with your smaller cockerel - or you may want to put the one with the most regular barring with your Jill Rees bird to bring more symmetry into the plumage.

Of all the pullets, I think the top one has the most dark feather edging on the breast feathers. In my flock I probably wouldn't hatch eggs from her unless she lays a blue color that knocks your eyes out. The bottom pullet looks quite dark - that may just be from the photos and lighting, and the middle one has a lot of chestnut on her head and her crest and her earlobes are a bit less bright white than perfection calls for.

What we never know is exactly which of the genes the parent bird will pass to offspring -- so you have to spin the roulette wheel and hatch and see what you get. Evaluate your pullets among other things you will want to look for nice solid bodies and good colors of your eggs -- and your pullet that gives you a lot of eggs IMO -- and begin your flock development -- focus on the things that you want to improve from those chicks in successive years.

 

[ChicKat]

Perfect example - of how people see things differently and the same. Really good insights from Chicken pickin' we posted at the same time and didn't compare notes LOL - and great food for thought for you Range chicks -- Looking forward to hearing what others will see in your flock - and what you will do -- and then when you come back in 5-6 months with the results of your hatchings!
Good Luck with them.