Cream Legbars

[dheltzel]

anyone having troublesome cockerels? Mine was hatched out in July last year so he's now 9 months old. He was hatched in an incubator but raised by a broody. He's started behaving more an more aggressively towards me when I try and "herd" th flock (him and 4 hens) back into their coop, to the point where if I try and "shoo" him in a directions he will jump/attack my foot... Not sure how to handle it, he's always been fine up until a week or so ago. If I crouch down with treats he's still happy to come and eat corn from my hand with the hens (not pecking me or anything just feeding happily). Can I try to correct his behaviour or shall I just get rid of him? Thanks

I have problems with my Jill Reese cockerels getting people aggressive. I butchered one because he would stalk me, even after I put him out to free range on the farm. Now his brothers are starting to challenge me. I've determined I will raise up more cockerels than I was planning to, just so I can cull for personality.

I didn't see the problem with my older lines, but since I replaced all those cockerels with the JR ones, perhaps I just didn't have them long enough.

Aggressive roos is the only problem that I have found with my Legbars, other than that they are the perfect chicken. Well, maybe the frostbitten combs are another gripe, but not nearly as severe.

 

[rottlady]

http://www.skarabraefarms.com/cream-legbars.html

Wonder where tbey are imported from

$200/dozen eggs holy mackeral

 

[caychris]

$200/dozen eggs holy mackeral

Canada
and The website is sketchy if you ask me. Might be out of date many pages have missing info and the website has no designer disclaimers etc.

 

[caychris]

http://www.skarabraefarms.com/cream-legbars.html

Wonder where tbey are imported from

I think they are Canadian importing Greenfire birds

Site is a bit thin and some pages are blank and missing info.

 

[sol2go]

anyone having troublesome cockerels? Mine was hatched out in July last year so he's now 9 months old. He was hatched in an incubator but raised by a broody. He's started behaving more an more aggressively towards me when I try and "herd" th flock (him and 4 hens) back into their coop, to the point where if I try and "shoo" him in a directions he will jump/attack my foot... Not sure how to handle it, he's always been fine up until a week or so ago. If I crouch down with treats he's still happy to come and eat corn from my hand with the hens (not pecking me or anything just feeding happily). Can I try to correct his behaviour or shall I just get rid of him? Thanks

Hi, I suppose I've had a fair run with CL cockerels, and a small minority have been aggressive, a few have tested the boundaries, but most have been trustworthy all the way through. My oldest CL rooster is closing in on 4 years and no glitches. I have several breeding groups, those guys have all been fine in close quarters and when I handle the hens. I also have a rooster run which I walk into all the time with no problems.

Others on the thread have had suggestions to distract the rooster's patterns/behavior. One that seemed useful to me is a spray bottle, with plain water or a weak vinegar solution.

I'm not sure if your absence would make a significant difference. I have a helper that comes and goes, may not interact for weeks at a time, and the roosters don't seem to behave any worse with him. Actually, if they were aggressive with me, they were often not aggressive with him unless he spent more time with them.

I don't keep aggressive roosters in any of my breeds, but I have learned that sometimes a change of location/people changes their attitude. If a rooster was a problem for me, they may be perfectly fine in a new location. While I wouldn't rehome an aggressive rooster to a family (with one exception, as that person had some magic with animals), they usually end up in a barnyard setting with lots of other animals and less of a structured coop in, coop out.

 

[dheltzel]

$200/dozen eggs holy mackeral

Whatever the market will bear. If that is the only source of Legbars in Canada, then the first people they sell to should be willing to pay a high price, after all, they are creating their own competition.

If you lived within driving distance of the US, you could drive across the border, but a dozen CCL eggs for about $30 and tell customs they are eggs you are taking home to eat. I bet that happens all the time.

But if you are far away from the border, the trip might be more expensive than paying the $200.

 

[windyridgefarm]

Good luck with your plan -- there is a thread someplace devoted strictly to white recessives:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/827877/white-sport-cream-legbars

don't know how active it is ETA- perhaps some resources, contacts or answers there for you.

- and there is one that was eying SOP for whites:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-not-breeding-to-the-proposed-cream-standards

Not trying to rain on anyone's parade, but I maintain that a solid white CL wouldn't be autosexable..... and it is surprising that there aren't larger flocks of or presence of the whites?

ETA - I'm also not sure that the same understanding of 'breeds true' is shared by all. Some think that birds with a white recessive gene set could be a parent, my understanding is that the offspring must replicate the parent.

I did quite a bit of reading when I got my first white. People say they are sexable (mine was), but there is also a lot of talk of the problems people have had when they tried to pair whites together. Many suggesting a lethal gene others inbreeding and limited gene pool but basically failure to hatch and thrive. I doubt a lethal gene and suggest outcrossing to unrelated lines to increase vigor.

 

[caychris]

Hi, I suppose I've had a fair run with CL cockerels, and a small minority have been aggressive, a few have tested the boundaries, but most have been trustworthy all the way through. My oldest CL rooster is closing in on 4 years and no glitches. I have several breeding groups, those guys have all been fine in close quarters and when I handle the hens. I also have a rooster run which I walk into all the time with no problems.

Others on the thread have had suggestions to distract the rooster's patterns/behavior. One that seemed useful to me is a spray bottle, with plain water or a weak vinegar solution.

I'm not sure if your absence would make a significant difference. I have a helper that comes and goes, may not interact for weeks at a time, and the roosters don't seem to behave any worse with him. Actually, if they were aggressive with me, they were often not aggressive with him unless he spent more time with them.

I don't keep aggressive roosters in any of my breeds, but I have learned that sometimes a change of location/people changes their attitude. If a rooster was a problem for me, they may be perfectly fine in a new location. While I wouldn't rehome an aggressive rooster to a family (with one exception, as that person had some magic with animals), they usually end up in a barnyard setting with lots of other animals and less of a structured coop in, coop out.

I also have experienced them taking a particular dislike to colors and objects. If I carry one of the offending objects or wear the wrong color their behavior changes. One lady's roo developed an animosity to here blue feed bucket and would attack (the bucket) whenever she brought that one into the run. Any other bucket was ok it seemed. I heard tell from one person that their boy would only attack if she wore jeans. Changes in your smell etc could easily set them off too. I only cull the aggressive ones if a pattern is developing. Isolated incidents in long patterns of peace are likely acute disturbances. We have to be mindful that to them changes in routine actions can be more alarming and disturbing than we realize and often be something we arent even thinking about. Animals have a way of picking up even the smallest of changes, often to things that do not involve them directly. I wouldnt be surprised to find out that stress in the home transfers to the flock as you interact with them and your normally happy boy goes into protection mode because you are bringing the negative vibe so to speak. I took the one and done route with one bird and have since learned a few things and now wish I had him back (out of the freezer) and had given him a bit more of a chance. He was generally sweet till one day...

Also give a little latitude during spring hormones being what they are.

 

[duluthralphie]

I did quite a bit of reading when I got my first white. People say they are sexable (mine was), but there is also a lot of talk of the problems people have had when they tried to pair whites together. Many suggesting a lethal gene others inbreeding and limited gene pool but basically failure to hatch and thrive. I doubt a lethal gene and suggest outcrossing to unrelated lines to increase vigor.

This is interesting..

I am hoping to beat these odds...


Here are two I sold to a guy this spring. He wanted roosters. one was a little ambiguous. Turns out it is a hen. take a look at the picture he sent me. Looks like a pretty nice young hen for a rough start.

 

[caychris]

This is interesting..

I am hoping to beat these odds...


Here are two I sold to a guy this spring. He wanted roosters. one was a little ambiguous. Turns out it is a hen. take a look at the picture he sent me. Looks like a pretty nice young hen for a rough start.

Im wondering if the autosexing features of this breed are impacted by some of the "intersexed" chickens. My friend has a silkie that went from laying eggs to crowing to mounting the hen and fertilizing eggs. Ive seen the article about the chicken that is half male and half female. Just wonder if some of the ambiguous chicks have a little bit of this going on