Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

Altogether a nicer infestation (though they do destroy a garden almost as fast as chickens do!).

Why my garden is fenced, well, rabbits and chickens!

 

[MaryJanet]

@CrazyChookChookLady , if you are bringing chicks for Ribh, I hope you are bringing enough for the rest of the class. Me, MJ and Lozzie would like some too!

I'm definitely in the line!

 

[MaryJanet]

Ok, here is the history of the creation of the legbar as best I have learned.

The breed started with the Gold Legbar which was made by crossing a Brown Leghorn and Barred Plymouth Rock.

By crossing the Gold Legbar with White Leghorn and Silver Cambar you wind up with a Silver Legbar.

What is a Cambar you ask? Well it is a Barred Plymouth Rock crossed with, imagine this, a Gold Campine!

Cream Legbars were made by crossing Gold Legbar with White Leghorn and cream-coloured Araucana chickens.

So the Cream Legbar is:

• 25% Brown Leghorn
• 25% White Leghorn
• 25% Barred Plymouth Rock
• 25% Araucana

The White Legbar is a result of breeding Cream Legbars together. Occasionally true white offspring would result. It is because of a double recessive gene that produces the White color. They breed true because of it.

So essential the Legbar is a 50% leghorn chicken. Egg production is easy down to 180 to 200 per year vs the leghorn 250 to 300 per year. The standard Barred Rock lays about 200 per year as a reference.

Did the araucana add longevity along with blue eggs? I'm not very informed on how genes work.

 

[MaryJanet]

Maggie update
Maggie continues to be Maggie - see below her terrorizing the young ladies and her fluffy butt grazing on the lawn this morning.
But the signs are not good. She has not passed either another lash egg or laid a real egg in over a week. So what the vet felt cannot be a regular egg.
He wants to see her again today and maybe give her an X-ray.
I am pessimistic but she didn't seem stressed going in to see him the first time so I am taking her in this afternoon.

View attachment 2349102

An xray is a good call, it will show which part of her reproductive system has the infection, giving more precision to the diagnosis.

 

[LozzyR]

Maggie update
Maggie continues to be Maggie - see below her terrorizing the young ladies and her fluffy butt grazing on the lawn this morning.
But the signs are not good. She has not passed either another lash egg or laid a real egg in over a week. So what the vet felt cannot be a regular egg.
He wants to see her again today and maybe give her an X-ray.
I am pessimistic but she didn't seem stressed going in to see him the first time so I am taking her in this afternoon.

View attachment 2349102

I am hoping for a good outcome but realistically, it’s probably good that you’re steeling yourself for the worst.

 

[LozzyR]

Do it. View attachment 2349173View attachment 2349174

Enabler!

 

[goldenfingers]

I mucked out the chicken pen today and took the spoils over to the garden. Thanks girls!

Got it all mixed in and raked out nice and level, but the supervisors didn't approve and proceeded to show me how it's done.

There! Fixed it!

A couple of fluffy butts, just for kicks.

I hope it doesn't fry my vegetables next year!!

 

[TheOddOneOut]

Although, CCLBs are great. Same thing, really. And they are autosexing, correct?

 

[goldenfingers]

Maggie update
Maggie continues to be Maggie - see below her terrorizing the young ladies and her fluffy butt grazing on the lawn this morning.
But the signs are not good. She has not passed either another lash egg or laid a real egg in over a week. So what the vet felt cannot be a regular egg.
He wants to see her again today and maybe give her an X-ray.
I am pessimistic but she didn't seem stressed going in to see him the first time so I am taking her in this afternoon.

View attachment 2349102

So sorry to hear about all this. I'm over here hoping for the best possible outcome.

We are in a similar situation. I think our chickens are about the same age, and mine are hybrid production birds. This is Mrs. Howell off in a corner by herself trying to deal with a stuck egg...again.

This is a constant thing with seemingly at least one of the three having problems on any given day. I used to rush out and try to help them along --I've become quite the proctologist-- but it became such a burdensome and traumatic thing for both the chickens and me, that I've had to just back off and let things happen as they will. So far they have all managed to deliver the problem eggs eventually. It's always a soft-shelled, or no-shelled mess, which they then instantly devour.

Oh well, live and learn, I guess. This is our first flock and I will be wiser and more informed in the future. I share your anger.

 

[BY Bob]

Did the araucana add longevity along with blue eggs? I'm not very informed on how genes work.

The Araucana brought creme colored feathers, blue eggs, fewer eggs, and genes that had not been seen in England before. That should have created fresher gene pool which should help with longevity among other things.