Cream Legbars

[henless]

I'm so excited! Originally, I won an auction for 12 random chicks from Greenfire Farms but when I talked to Josette, I told her about how much I love their Cream Legbars. She ended up giving me 5 extra female Rees Cream Legbars.. as long as 2 extra Bielefelders, 7 extra Swedish Flower Hens, and 2 extra Swedish Black Hens. That's a total of 28 chicks and I only paid $165 plus $35 for shipping. Everyone else would be jumping for joy - and trust me, I am.. but I cannot possibly have that many chicks! I don't know what to do now. Currently, I have a total of 17.. now with the 28.. that'll just be too much. I guess I'm just going to sell the chicks. If anyone is in Southern California and can drive to area code 91706 - I will be selling at least 2 female Cream Legbars for only $15! I'm not posting in the BUY~SELL~TRADE section yet because they have not made it here so there may be some casualties. Please PM me if interested and I will keep you updated through PM!

What a great deal you got!!

If you've got the room to keep them as chicks, just get to work on building another coop. Then you can keep them all!!

 

[GaryDean26]

Originally Posted by henless Or you can do what farmers, exhibitors, and breeders do... keep the top 10% in growth rates, vigor, production, health, etc, and cull the rest. In every flock you will have a favorite hen. If you start with 35 and only keep 3-6 of your favorites then you will have a better flock.

I would start by looking at the growth rates around 8-12 weeks and anyone that is well under the average for their breed would get a black legband to be sold. At that age I also would sell anyone else that has imperfection that you don't want to keep in your flock. If you sell 30-60% then you won't run out of room as they grow. The rest of the pullets would all be laying by March or April. You can then start to figure out who your good layers are and who the slacker are. The Hogan method, Culling by Head points, and flock culling (Ref 2 , Ref 3) all can help determine the good layers if you can't spread the pullets out to different pens or trap nest. The Hogan method measured the distance from the end of the keel to the pelvic bones, the width of the pelvic bones, and the conditioning of the bird judged by amount of meat on the keel to determine who are the top layers. The Culling by Head Points method looks for birds with a correct heads to determine their vigor and laying potential (i.e. eyes in the front 50% of the comb, head being more flat from side to side than rounded, the distance from the ear lobes to the beak being well proportioned to the distance from the eye to the comb, etc.). The flock culling involves checking the vents of all the hens in the flock every week as they come into lay to see who starts to lay when. Color depletes from the laying hen so there is also clues from that that can determine how long a hens has been laying. Then starting in July you vent check the flock once a month. Anyone that stops laying in July is a cull. Anyone that is not laying in August is not a good contributor to the flock either. Your hen that are poor layers typically stop laying in September. Your hens that are good layers usually stop laying in October. Only your top layers will typically make it to November before they stop laying for the winter molt. In October you can cut the flock down 3-4 of your favorite hens then you will have the coop space to win another Greenfire Farms auction and start the process all over again. In a few years you will have a flock of 6-10 of your favorite hens.

Farms cull their flock because the flock is not profitable if they keep hens that are not good layers. Exhibitors cull their flock because not every bird is a champion and they are after the very best examples of the breed to show as ambassadors for the breed. Breeders cull their flock because pure bred flocks involves a lot of inbreeding and if they don't cull the weakest birds and focus on breeding the strongest inbreeding depression will lead to a reduction in size, reduction in health, reduction in production, and reduction in fertility.

 

[terrip824]

Thank you! You can see those tiny little crests coming..... it looks like a little patch of mowed grass. When I took these pictures I left the top door open. I turned around and babies were flying everywhere! The pen is 2 feet high. They are agile! Was it you that said they run away and then run back to you..... that is what mine do.

Yes I did. I think some want to see if I have their treat bowl and some think they have to run from all humans. Their new trick is being afraid of the local birds who sit on top of their cage and talk to them, when they are no longer hawk food they can join the birds.

 

[FancyFarmQ]

Any of you need a legbar doctor.... I know the best one around.

 

[Red Banks]

Any of you need a legbar doctor.... I know the best one around.

Does she make house calls? So cute!

 

[ChicKat]

Does she make house calls? So cute!

X2 adoable!

 

[Exotica]

Oh man, and I thought *I* had chicken math bad.

I wish I was closer - the Swedish Flower Hens and Svart Hona are on my drool list... (As if *I* need more chicks.)

So, what is your outdoor housing plan for all these chickens?! Have you built your coop yet? (I'm building my second one!!!!)

- Ant Farm

Actually, I guess I had read it wrong.. I ended up with 16 chicks! Which is only 4 over and only one has died so far. They all came happy and lively, but no idea why one died. That's still really good! Much better than my last experience with a breeder! I have someone that's going to buy a few Swedish Flower Hens for $15 each so I'm only going to sell perhaps 2-3. I'm keeping the rest because they are just so cute!

This is my coop! : https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1023386/finally-finished

If I was closer I would take you up on the offer as I'm hoping to get some more CL up to breeding age for next year... The last two dozen shipped CL eggs I set this season were/are not as fruitful as I would have liked so I'm still on the hunt for more eggs before winter fully sets in...

I also wish you were closer!! I hope you get viable eggs that give you a excellent hatch!!

What a great deal you got!!

If you've got the room to keep them as chicks, just get to work on building another coop. Then you can keep them all!!

Thank you! Actually, I ended up getting 16.. but that's still a great deal! I now have 7 Swedish Flower Hens, 5 Cream Legbars, 2 Bielefelders, and 2 Svart Hona's! I'm selling off 2-3 Swedish Flower Hens this weekend but keeping the rest of my babes!

Or you can do what farmers, exhibitors, and breeders do... keep the top 10% in growth rates, vigor, production, health, etc, and cull the rest. In every flock you will have a favorite hen. If you start with 35 and only keep 3-6 of your favorites then you will have a better flock.

I would start by looking at the growth rates around 8-12 weeks and anyone that is well under the average for their breed would get a black legband to be sold. At that age I also would sell anyone else that has imperfection that you don't want to keep in your flock. If you sell 30-60% then you won't run out of room as they grow. The rest of the pullets would all be laying by March or April. You can then start to figure out who your good layers are and who the slacker are. The Hogan method, Culling by Head points, and flock culling (Ref 2 , Ref 3) all can help determine the good layers if you can't spread the pullets out to different pens or trap nest. The Hogan method measured the distance from the end of the keel to the pelvic bones, the width of the pelvic bones, and the conditioning of the bird judged by amount of meat on the keel to determine who are the top layers. The Culling by Head Points method looks for birds with a correct heads to determine their vigor and laying potential (i.e. eyes in the front 50% of the comb, head being more flat from side to side than rounded, the distance from the ear lobes to the beak being well proportioned to the distance from the eye to the comb, etc.). The flock culling involves checking the vents of all the hens in the flock every week as they come into lay to see who starts to lay when. Color depletes from the laying hen so there is also clues from that that can determine how long a hens has been laying. Then starting in July you vent check the flock once a month. Anyone that stops laying in July is a cull. Anyone that is not laying in August is not a good contributor to the flock either. Your hen that are poor layers typically stop laying in September. Your hens that are good layers usually stop laying in October. Only your top layers will typically make it to November before they stop laying for the winter molt. In October you can cut the flock down 3-4 of your favorite hens then you will have the coop space to win another Greenfire Farms auction and start the process all over again. In a few years you will have a flock of 6-10 of your favorite hens.

Farms cull their flock because the flock is not profitable if they keep hens that are not good layers. Exhibitors cull their flock because not every bird is a champion and they are after the very best examples of the breed to show as ambassadors for the breed. Breeders cull their flock because pure bred flocks involves a lot of inbreeding and if they don't cull the weakest birds and focus on breeding the strongest inbreeding depression will lead to a reduction in size, reduction in health, reduction in production, and reduction in fertility.

Thank you so much, Gary! I always learn so much from you and want you to know how much appreciate that you always take time out to help me grow as a poultry keeper. I'll always be grateful!! I'll take your advice to the heart! Sorry, I apologize for asking you to elaborate, but is "culling" killing the chicken or can I give it away? Would it be better to humanely kill and consume the chicken rather than giving it away and potentially spreading it's genetics?

 

[chicken pickin]

Any of you need a legbar doctor.... I know the best one around.

This is adorable!!! You should enter it in the family and fowl photo contest here https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1021893/official-byc-family-fowl-photo-contest

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

Actually, I guess I had read it wrong.. I ended up with 16 chicks! Which is only 4 over and only one has died so far. They all came happy and lively, but no idea why one died. That's still really good! Much better than my last experience with a breeder! I have someone that's going to buy a few Swedish Flower Hens for $15 each so I'm only going to sell perhaps 2-3. I'm keeping the rest because they are just so cute!

This is my coop! : https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1023386/finally-finished

OMG, this is AMAZING! Great set up! Looks like you have plenty of room (though do be careful - chicken math can overwhelm even the largest of coops!)

(snip)

Sorry, I apologize for asking you to elaborate, but is "culling" killing the chicken or can I give it away? Would it be better to humanely kill and consume the chicken rather than giving it away and potentially spreading it's genetics?

I'm not Gary, but I understand culling to mean either killing OR not letting it breed - either way, the purpose is accomplished to allow only the best and strongest chickens pass on their genes. For instance, in my current batch of Naked Necks and New Hampshires, I was hoping for some New Hampshires that I could keep to breed good meat chickens. However, they are turning out to have the body type more typical of layers (not surprising, as they are from a hatchery). So I will not be breeding from any of them - for the purposes of my meat bird breeding program, they are culls. Original plan was to just eat them all (and try for a better source for New Hampshires in the spring). HOWEVER, a friend of a friend has a coop but hasn't gotten around to getting chickens yet (got sidetracked by life). As these are not really turning out as meaty birds, I may give a few of the nicest pullets to her rather than eating them. And I reserve the right to keep one or two of the nicest ones as layer pets if I find room. Lucky number 6 is starting to sit on my lap at every opportunity - clever girl.

That being said, given that the original problem (before you revised your numbers) was too many birds, I think Gary meant cull as in kill or give away, keeping the best examples for your flock. (I'll stop speaking for Gary now!

)

- Ant Farm

 

[dheltzel]

I'm trying to get some pictures of eggs from my Legbars and Ameraucanas. What background should I use to best show any subtle differences in color?
I used a black cloth in the past, but I'm not sure if that is the best with a digital camera.