Cream Legbars

[ChicKat]

Hello everyone! I am new to BYC but wanted to say hello. I hatched out 13 CL eggs this past fall and got 7 roos and 6 hens. The eggs were from CLs that were from the Greenfire Farms 2010 import.

The chicks are now 16 weeks old. I think I would like to keep 3 roosters (to be with the CL hens but also with my current layers), but I am not sure how to choose the keepers. Fastest growing? Color? Correct comb?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Part of your criteria for selection will depend upon what your plans for the future are for your flock and for your CLs. Congratulations on getting Cream Legbars-- I think that you have to have made 10 posts before you can upload pictures - so you will be able to put some pictures up in no time at all.

In general you would select the ones that adhere to the "Standard of Perfection" - and a draft copy of what the Cream Legbar Club is working on is on the website for the CL Club (link in my signature below)--- it is Item 29a2a (who decided that funky numbering system I llike to know... but I digress) -- Do you see particular health, vigor, size or disposition that appeals to you in some of them? -- One thing that is important is a straight and upright comb. Nice neat crests are important also. The Club may introduce into the SOP the disqualification in shows for Cream Legbars lacking crests. Although it is an automatic Disqualifier for a breed that is supposed to have a crest to show up without one in a Poultry Show--- not everyone has the APA Standards book -- so there are some who still don't know that it is a "DQ" -

Then the saying is 'build the barn' before you paint it--- which is harder for those of us starting out with showing poultry - because it's easier to see the colors. -- Read these threads on CL - and you can also search on BYC for much much more by putting Cream Legbar or even just Legbar in the search line in the upper left of these BYC web pages. Ask questions here on the thread..and post pictures of your cockerels -- you will get a lot of help/advice from this community.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Cream Legbars!

ETA - love your dog -- reminds me of my Grandfather's

Starting at post 343 in this thread there is a walk-thru of the SOP with some illustrations of UK Cream Legbars cut from photos.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...on-for-alternative-legbars-sop-discussion/340

 

[DRGLENNON]

Hello everyone! I am new to BYC but wanted to say hello. I hatched out 13 CL eggs this past fall and got 7 roos and 6 hens. The eggs were from CLs that were from the Greenfire Farms 2010 import.

The chicks are now 16 weeks old. I think I would like to keep 3 roosters (to be with the CL hens but also with my current layers), but I am not sure how to choose the keepers. Fastest growing? Color? Correct comb?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Hi! I look forward to seeing photos of your birds.

 

[chicken pickin]

Hello everyone! I am new to BYC but wanted to say hello. I hatched out 13 CL eggs this past fall and got 7 roos and 6 hens. The eggs were from CLs that were from the Greenfire Farms 2010 import.

The chicks are now 16 weeks old. I think I would like to keep 3 roosters (to be with the CL hens but also with my current layers), but I am not sure how to choose the keepers. Fastest growing? Color? Correct comb?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Welcome to BYC and to our Cream Legbar threads!!! So happy to have you with us. @ChicKat gave some good advice already. Like she says it does really depend on what your goals for your flocks are. It might help if you post all your males in good clear pictures and we can give what feedback we can on each male. Seeing what others have to say about each individual male might help you decide the path you need to go. Posting pictures of your pullets always helps also because they of course are the counterpart so in a sense looking at the females to see what you have to work with might help you decide what male might be best paired with them.

For your layer flock, do you have a certain goal there? For instance if you want to create chickens that lay colorful eggs any CL male will do. But if you intend to sell extra cockerels or even plan to put them in your freezer I would go with the largest fasting maturing male you have.

I cant wait to see your CL and also to hear what your plans will be...

 

[caychris]

The lady hatching my eggs candled and said 11 of 18 are developing. Only one of the air sacs was saddle shaped but the chick id developing.
A few clears and a couple of blood rings. here is hoping for a good distribution. Need at least 1 boy that will have a reasonably straight comb.

I need some advice on record keeping with this batch since I don't know the parent birds at all what should I be looking for.

Ill probably keep all the females because layers are always good around here but the boys are what I'm wondering about.

I recently read an article about raising the boys and girls separately after about 4 weeks giving them each their own diet and feeding regiment. (cant find the link now probably on my other comp)

Should I weigh the chicks every so often ( how often) to get growth/vigor data?
What kind of things would you look for and at what ages.

What is a good length of time to give an obvious culled cockerel a chance to develop before processing. I processed some last year way too early and were right around 2 pounds dressed.

 

[dretd]

So I got my first egg from my Greenfire chicks but I don't know if it was from a CL or one of my Isbar packing peanuts that came with them. Either way it exactly on her 23 week birthday!!! I heard one of the girls making the worst racket this morning - i looked out the window but all was calm so i just figured that someone was making a fuss about an egg. I guess those first eggs are a surprise, even if they are small! Poor little girl - must have been labor pains.

When I saw it in the coop I yelled BLUE!

but when I got it inside, not so much.

At first I thought it was a OAC 151 but it's too green.


More OAC 122 I think.



Frankly I'm terrible with colors. It's a little bluer in real life than OAC 122 but a little greener than OAC 151. Argh.

I wonder if I could put a game camera in my coop to see if I can figure out who is laying what.

Congrats on your first eggie! Did you happen to weigh it?

It is very similar to the primary Cream Legbar color I get--usually somewhere between OAC 123 and 151, although I have had some that are more grey. I thin of it as a seafoam or minty green.

I have not done it yet, but I have read of some people taking a small amount of food dye--maybe a drop--and placing it just inside or right on the vent opening. When the hen lays an egg, it is damp and its supposed to pick up the color as a streaking on the egg. It was recommended to avoid biological colors like red (blood) or yellow(yolk) and to go with purple or green or similar. Obviously you would only do one hen at a time or select very different colors for different hens.

I've been toying with the idea of an RFID tag on the hen either as an ankle bracelet or on the back with a reader at the entrance of the nest area so that you can tell when she is in the nest or at least when she comes and goes. The problem is getting/making a reader that is powerful enough to read more than a couple of inches away so the project is not progressing very quickly, unfortunately.

 

[chicken pickin]

The lady hatching my eggs candled and said 11 of 18 are developing. Only one of the air sacs was saddle shaped but the chick id developing.
A few clears and a couple of blood rings. here is hoping for a good distribution. Need at least 1 boy that will have a reasonably straight comb.

I need some advice on record keeping with this batch since I don't know the parent birds at all what should I be looking for.

Ill probably keep all the females because layers are always good around here but the boys are what I'm wondering about.

I recently read an article about raising the boys and girls separately after about 4 weeks giving them each their own diet and feeding regiment. (cant find the link now probably on my other comp)

Should I weigh the chicks every so often ( how often) to get growth/vigor data?
What kind of things would you look for and at what ages.

What is a good length of time to give an obvious culled cockerel a chance to develop before processing. I processed some last year way too early and were right around 2 pounds dressed.

I have read about housing males and females separate starting at a young age maybe it was about 8weeks I cant remember though about the exact age. Many breeders keep them separate and only put them back together for the short breeding season and then separate again for the rest of the year.

I plan to try this this year. I think I will make a male and female separate grow out pens, and I think I will house all my cocks together in the goat yard separate away from the female for part of the year to give the hens a break. Im not sure of how my exact schedule will go but it is something I have been thinking about.

As for how old to let cull roosters grow, I like to process between 12-16weeks (maybe closer to 16weeks for CL) if your stock produces good size males you should have a decent bird on your plate or in your slow cooker. We just ate a 14 week old CL yesterday for lunch and dinner He was slow cooked in a garlic and herb marinade overnight the night prior. We dont eat huge servings so he was enough meat for our family of 5 to eat lunch and dinner it was the chicken and juices were served on top of Jasmine rice YUM!

This is a 14 week old CL processed young enough to still roast in the oven and have tender meat.
CL on left / CL cross on right

CL on bottom / CL cross on top
Ive posted these pics many times so I apologize to others.

This is just my personal preference, others prefer a much older bird.

 

[ChicKat]

Hello everyone! I am new to BYC but wanted to say hello. I hatched out 13 CL eggs this past fall and got 7 roos and 6 hens. The eggs were from CLs that were from the Greenfire Farms 2010 import.

The chicks are now 16 weeks old. I think I would like to keep 3 roosters (to be with the CL hens but also with my current layers), but I am not sure how to choose the keepers. Fastest growing? Color? Correct comb?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Forgot to say -- I have one hen that is a progeny of the very first GFF imports. She is the one that lays the largest egg on the place. She lays 2.25 oz + (Extra Large by USDA weights) Nearly - but not quite jumbo...and she is about 1-year old.

 

[ChicKat]

The lady hatching my eggs candled and said 11 of 18 are developing. Only one of the air sacs was saddle shaped but the chick id developing.
A few clears and a couple of blood rings. here is hoping for a good distribution. Need at least 1 boy that will have a reasonably straight comb.

I need some advice on record keeping with this batch since I don't know the parent birds at all what should I be looking for.

Ill probably keep all the females because layers are always good around here but the boys are what I'm wondering about.

I recently read an article about raising the boys and girls separately after about 4 weeks giving them each their own diet and feeding regiment. (cant find the link now probably on my other comp)

Should I weigh the chicks every so often ( how often) to get growth/vigor data?
What kind of things would you look for and at what ages.

What is a good length of time to give an obvious culled cockerel a chance to develop before processing. I processed some last year way too early and were right around 2 pounds dressed.

There are some forms in the Cream Legbar Club's Clubhouse for tracking chicken information, and there is a chick weight tracking chart -- go to the website and enter the very first record for your chicks -- and then I will send access to the resulting spreadsheet to you. You can continue updates - mostly on a weekly basis when they are little -- and then by the time they get to 3-years old - it is half-yearly -I think if memory serves. You can see what some other folks chicks weighed at the same age.

 

[ChicKat]

I have read about housing males and females separate starting at a young age maybe it was about 8weeks I cant remember though about the exact age. Many breeders keep them separate and only put them back together for the short breeding season and then separate again for the rest of the year.

I plan to try this this year. I think I will make a male and female separate grow out pens, and I think I will house all my cocks together in the goat yard separate away from the female for part of the year to give the hens a break. Im not sure of how my exact schedule will go but it is something I have been thinking about.

As for how old to let cull roosters grow, I like to process between 12-16weeks (maybe closer to 16weeks for CL) if your stock produces good size males you should have a decent bird on your plate or in your slow cooker. We just ate a 14 week old CL yesterday for lunch and dinner He was slow cooked in a garlic and herb marinade overnight the night prior. We dont eat huge servings so he was enough meat for our family of 5 to eat lunch and dinner it was the chicken and juices were served on top of Jasmine rice YUM!

This is a 14 week old CL processed young enough to still roast in the oven and have tender meat.
CL on left / CL cross on right

CL on bottom / CL cross on top
Ive posted these pics many times so I apologize to others.

This is just my personal preference, others prefer a much older bird.

Those always look so good. yep you should post them often. I think that it is 2-3oz meat is considered a normal serving by the American Heart Assn. - so if one avoids restaurants where they always give too much food - a normal CL would be a good meal for a family...(especially if you had good sides - like jasmine rice!) ;O)

 

[Scatterknit]

Congrats on your first eggie! Did you happen to weigh it?

It is very similar to the primary Cream Legbar color I get--usually somewhere between OAC 123 and 151, although I have had some that are more grey. I thin of it as a seafoam or minty green.

I have not done it yet, but I have read of some people taking a small amount of food dye--maybe a drop--and placing it just inside or right on the vent opening. When the hen lays an egg, it is damp and its supposed to pick up the color as a streaking on the egg. It was recommended to avoid biological colors like red (blood) or yellow(yolk) and to go with purple or green or similar. Obviously you would only do one hen at a time or select very different colors for different hens.

I've been toying with the idea of an RFID tag on the hen either as an ankle bracelet or on the back with a reader at the entrance of the nest area so that you can tell when she is in the nest or at least when she comes and goes. The problem is getting/making a reader that is powerful enough to read more than a couple of inches away so the project is not progressing very quickly, unfortunately.

No, I need to get a scale. It's on my ever growing list of things to buy for this chicken addiction I can't control.

But it was small. And bluer than my EE eggs, but really those girls all lay sage and olive. It's the one in the middle.



Yeah, still green. Hoping Isbar.

The RFID tag idea sounds amazing! That would be completely cool - and if you figure it out, I'm sure there are lots of us addicts that would slap it on our list of "must haves". My girls all lay in the same nest box (they have 5 nesting boxes but NOOOOOO - only one of the boxes is not haunted and possessed by the devil.) So I never know who lays what and unless I separate them, I'll never know.

I've tried to spy on them and catch them in the act, but when I open the nesting box flap on my coop, I feel like I've walked in on my mother sitting on the toilet - that "OMG EXCUSE ME" feeling.

And of course the girl on the nest is like