Cream Legbars

[chicken pickin]

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.

I like your assessment. I think it is funny to because you say here how you are not a fan of the light birds, and we both know I am lol. But I really am liking her first cockerel that has a little more color on him better than the Rees male. I don't necessarily like the larger amounts of chestnut on his shoulders or the brighter saddle but I am really really liking the cream on those hackles! Also yes he does have much crisper clearer barring than the Rees male.

@RangeChicks do you plan to keep both males or only one male?

 

[tdhenson86]

I see a lot of very experienced people giving advice to others on their birds. Once I wean down my flock a bit and am more prepared for spring, I may be posting additional pictures of other hens/cockerels I have and asking opinions. I really like hearing and learning from others. While I do my best, the saying goes "two heads are better than one". Such a cool thread here!

 

[ChicKat]

I see a lot of very experienced people giving advice to others on their birds. Once I wean down my flock a bit and am more prepared for spring, I may be posting additional pictures of other hens/cockerels I have and asking opinions. I really like hearing and learning from others. While I do my best, the saying goes "two heads are better than one". Such a cool thread here!

I agree, there is so much to learn on these threads! -every day I learn something new-

 

[ChicKat]

I like your assessment. I think it is funny to because you say here how you are not a fan of the light birds, and we both know I am lol. But I really am liking her first cockerel that has a little more color on him better than the Rees male. I don't necessarily like the larger amounts of chestnut on his shoulders or the brighter saddle but I am really really liking the cream on those hackles! Also yes he does have much crisper clearer barring than the Rees male.

@RangeChicks do you plan to keep both males or only one male?

I agree - and I think that we (people who raise the breed) - put so much pressure and such high expectations on the breed...expecting ever newly hatched chick to be a 100% match to the SOP -- and a grand champion at any poultry show it would enter. I think that we have ultra high expectations for the Jill Rees line -- and some of them won't turn out to be the best chicks - because that is how nature works. I think Tim's flock has some really good examples of the Rees line - as does yours and some others -- but it is easier to lump them all in one sack and have certain expectations.

I love it when I see something the same way as chicken pickin - cause it makes me think I 'm right on target....

-- And that goes for a lot of others who post on these threads....so thanks everyone for being brave and forthright with your views (even if they aren't a match for mine)----

One thing I do think makes it easier is to select just certain things to concentrate on in each breeding season - rather than expecting to get the perfect flock right away. Or to fix everything at one time -- and of course good record keeping to see how to get yourself to your vision for your flock.

Spring is on the way - egg laying is picking up --- time to dust off the incubator -- and plan for the 2015 hatches!!

 

[RangeChicks]

I like your assessment. I think it is funny to because you say here how you are not a fan of the light birds, and we both know I am lol. But I really am liking her first cockerel that has a little more color on him better than the Rees male. I don't necessarily like the larger amounts of chestnut on his shoulders or the brighter saddle but I am really really liking the cream on those hackles! Also yes he does have much crisper clearer barring than the Rees male.

@RangeChicks do you plan to keep both males or only one male?

Thank you both so much for your input. What great info you shared. I currently plan on keeping both Roos. I do have the ability to keep different lines. Currently, Cookie is living with the Rees male. Peanut, Butter & Jelly are with Kracker. I separated them this way since Cookie & Kracker are related. I can swap things around easily. I will also be putting each pullet with the male individually when we are ready to hatch so we know which combo results in what.

As to what the goals are for this year, I'm guessing that body type and large blue eggs should be the first priorities. Is that correct? I'm partial to correct color, so I can't help but select for that.

I just ordered some of the Rees line pullets, so they will be factored into the next round. I guess I'm hooked on CL's.

It will be interesting to see what others have to say, too, since different people spot different things........

 

[RangeChicks]

I agree - and I think that we (people who raise the breed) - put so much pressure and such high expectations on the breed...expecting ever newly hatched chick to be a 100% match to the SOP -- and a grand champion at any poultry show it would enter. I think that we have ultra high expectations for the Jill Rees line -- and some of them won't turn out to be the best chicks - because that is how nature works. I think Tim's flock has some really good examples of the Rees line - as does yours and some others -- but it is easier to lump them all in one sack and have certain expectations.

I love it when I see something the same way as chicken pickin - cause it makes me think I 'm right on target....

-- And that goes for a lot of others who post on these threads....so thanks everyone for being brave and forthright with your views (even if they aren't a match for mine)----

One thing I do think makes it easier is to select just certain things to concentrate on in each breeding season - rather than expecting to get the perfect flock right away. Or to fix everything at one time -- and of course good record keeping to see how to get yourself to your vision for your flock.

Spring is on the way - egg laying is picking up --- time to dust off the incubator -- and plan for the 2015 hatches!!

Such good insight. Breeders of any critter tend to want to have perfection in what they produce. To me, that takes much of the fun of the project out of it. My original thought was to keep the Rees line separate from the others. Now, I'm leaning toward just breeding the best to the best. I will decide on that when the Rees chicks are old enough to add into the mix.

 

[caychris]

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.



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#

Take everything Im saying with a grain of salt because Im a real novice at this stuff anyway so here it goes

Like Kracker alot since all my hatch boys were inferior to him I would take him in a heart beat.

Really Like cooke too (I would be sure to see if a cockerel from Krakers matings with the other hens comes out nice and breed him back to her.

Dont know about Reese though. If you have the space and time to play with a match to Cookie I would but otherwise I think you may have a lot of work for that mix but you never know I would just expect the painting to be an issue for some time if you are working on body and other things and have the space to see how it goes sure just keep good records.

I like and dislike things about the other pullets Probably like Peanut the best over all but like Butters head better (like the darker crested ones)

Jelly isnt bad but her protruding keel to me shows shape issues. But what do I know. And paired with a good cockerel who knows what would result

 

[chicken pickin]

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

That's a wonderful egg!

X2 I agree that is a wonderful egg!

 

[chicken pickin]

Such good insight. Breeders of any critter tend to want to have perfection in what they produce. To me, that takes much of the fun of the project out of it. My original thought was to keep the Rees line separate from the others. Now, I'm leaning toward just breeding the best to the best. I will decide on that when the Rees chicks are old enough to add into the mix.

I hope you continue to post pics and your progress with your flock, like who you decided to pair with who and what offspring looked like. I have the Rees line also and my personal choice is to keep I the Rees line separate. I find some of the Rees males have undesirable traits and I do not want to introducing some of those traits in my other CL flock.

I do think you have a decent starter flock and definitely a few good pairing options so I wish you luck in moving forward.

 

[KPenley]

Jelly isnt bad but her protruding keel to me shows shape issues. But what do I know. And paired with a good cockerel who knows what would result

I will try to be back on later to give Rangechicks some feedback, but I wanted to take a second to educate on keel length. Jelly has a proper length keel and nicely rounded breast from the side. If you look at Peanut you can see a slanting from the top of the breast to the legs indicating a short keel. They are young and will get more flesh over the next year, but this 20-24 week time period is ideal for checking width of heart girth, length and straightness of keel, and tail angles. You can also wait until 12-18 months if you want you choose breeders based on how well they flesh out. I hope that helps! Best wishes!