Cream Legbars

[KPenley]

My Rees male showed a new behavior this morning, he is normally calm and tolerant around people, he seems people friendly. But this morning when I was giving them food and water I bent over to put the water bucket down and he jumped at my face to peck me, thankfully he just barely got me but he tried. I hope its not the start of more bad behavior. Ill need to hatch lots this Spring and hopefully get a better son to replace him with  in the future.


@KPenley
 that is a very lengthy detailed post above, Im very much looking forward to reading it. It is nice to have someone be able to share so much information in so much detail.

Thank you. Have you tried the water squirt bottle thing? I would carry one with a splash of lemon juice or vinegar, and squirt him if he gets close. Your cockerel may just be acting protective of new layers or maybe something odd upset him. Best wishes for sweet roosters.

 

[chicken pickin]

Thank you. Have you tried the water squirt bottle thing? I would carry one with a splash of lemon juice or vinegar, and squirt him if he gets close. Your cockerel may just be acting protective of new layers or maybe something odd upset him. Best wishes for sweet roosters.

Im thinking it might be because the pullets are newly laying and each day we lean in through the house to the nest box to gather the eggs (its sometimes easier than going through the nest box door to collect). Maybe it was making him nervous so when I leaned he was just "protecting" the hens. I told DH we need to start gathering again through the nest box door and see if that helps.

 

[ChicKat]

Im thinking it might be because the pullets are newly laying and each day we lean in through the house to the nest box to gather the eggs (its sometimes easier than going through the nest box door to collect). Maybe it was making him nervous so when I leaned he was just "protecting" the hens. I told DH we need to start gathering again through the nest box door and see if that helps.

That makes a lot of sense.... twice in two different pens, I have had the roosters try to protect the eggs when I gather them. (I open the egg door and they rush over to try to peck at the invader. LOL) They are there for their hens and their future off spring aren't they?

 

[RangeChicks]

Thank you KPenley for taking so much time on your response. The detail is exactly what I was hoping for. I am saving everyone's comments and going outside later to really study our Crew. I will also take wing pictures and post them.
Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to educate us!

 

[caychris]

Thanks for the input it really goes to show how much I dont know

 

[RangeChicks]

Thanks for the input it really goes to show how much I dont know

I was completely clueless, too! That's what makes this group so wonderful. People are willing to share knowledge openly. I appreciate the way people here will correct us newbies without embarrassing us. It's just great info from great people. A great learning environment. Always have to keep learning! That's part of the fun.

We printed out all the comments and went out to really studied our birds yesterday. Learned a lot about them. They loved all the attention! I have a better idea of where I'm going now. I will post pix of the wings later today.

Again, thanks to everyone for making this such an open, inviting and comfortable environment in which to learn about these fun birds.

 

[sol2go]

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.






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

Yummy naming convention =)

I envy the nicely barred tail feathers shown above, something I continue to work on.

 

[RangeChicks]

Yummy naming convention =)

I envy the nicely barred tail feathers shown above, something I continue to work on.

Hubby & granddaughter were on a roll....... I added in Uncle Kracker once I saw the writing on the walls..... Perhaps we can do some egg swapping down the road. My girls are just getting ready to lay.

 

[sol2go]

Also, I remember the discussion about silver, cream, and gold. There are some theories on the colors. Can someone help me with examples of hens that are considered silver, cream, or gold. I have two coloration patterns in my current birds. I have bred out or sold off the gold hens--basically a yellow/gold in the hackles. I now have only silver and what I would consider a cream color and I'm trying to figure out what is considered SOP and what's not since the SOP is a little vague on explaining what they mean by the coloring.

Thanks in advance!

P.S. Any pictures would be great!

I have been wondering if the chestnut we see in the males is a factor in the more colorful crested hens who seem to otherwise be double for cream. Along this line of thinking, I have been looking at this as more buttery or less buttery, but always cream not silver. Here's some examples from hens (you've seen before I think).

the one on the left: split for cream, gold crest
the one on the right cream: more buttery


cream: less buttery


after reading through all the posts, I will add that the salmon on the chest does vary in ways that seems to relate to cream, gold, red, and the black melanizers i.e. black tips.
What I'm trying to figure out is if it shows up in the chick down - lighter face and chest vs more colorful

 

[sol2go]

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