Hey yall im breeding Opal legbar chickens

[wf1992]

Now that I've read all about the genetic origins of opal legbars, I want to get myself a white leghorn for my ee rooster and see if I can get a more productive ee, plus test whether he's got double or single blue egg genes. Unless there's such a thing as a barred white-egg layer? To result in a sex-link ee... Sooooo many chickens!

 

[paintedChix]

Sorry, I realize this is unsolicited and off-topic, but we've been told (through years of 4H pigs) that feeding pigs meat can make them aggressive and spread disease. While I'm not worried about my home-grown chicken carcasses being diseased, I have seen what a 300lb feeder can do accidentally, and I'd hate to deal with an actively aggressive one! I believe a lot of places also have rules about feeding animal products to pigs, particularly if there's any chance you'll be selling them.

Quite frankly, at my house, it's the chickens who get what's leftover when I'm done making broth...

Thank you for letting me know.

I am still learning about "homestead pigs", and we haven't invested yet. I've started working full time again, plus am moving our oldest daughter's family up to MT to my Mom's property and may be there helping with maintenance and some infrastructure building for several months, so pigs (goats) are being put off for a while. I know that my mom's family farmed in IA but what was done then isn't necessarily done now, so ...

I hadn't gotten as far as looking up NC laws regarding pigs/feeding. At first, no, we will only be doing pigs for our family. Eventually we might get to point of selling piglets and older stock(if we breed) or meat, but that's not where we are starting. I know that I want smaller breed that can be pastured/forested and if needed or wanted, we can process ourselves.

I have had some local contacts that do feed various forms of meat to their pigs including family farm/homestead chickens, though not all. I thought "what a neat/great way to take care of a carcass that isn't used for broth/soup..."

On my grandparents' farm (Mom's family), as a child, the pig pens/barns were OFF LIMITS to us kids when we visited or stayed for a while. Those pigs were forerunners to today's commercial pig operations and if a person fell into the pig sty - they had better be able to run/climb fence in a hurry or have good lungs, because yes, those hogs made short work of a human! More than a few people lost their lives on some of the local IA farms. Gram and Gramp said " part of farming"... Mom said that some of those pigs/hogs were well over 800#s and even though the tusks were removed, it made no difference and some were mean during farrowing (birthing) and raising piglets and some just plain old mean. By the time I was 10 yrs old, the livestock portion of Gram and Gramps farm was done/gone. Mom married a Navy man, so our family was moved around a lot from the time I was born till Dad was "out", so farm life was when we visited and when we were really young - usually 2 weeks at a time or so (Christmas) and once for 3 months (Dad in a school in Omaha, NE). By the time Dad out of Navy, I was 12 and Gram and Gramps were negotiating with others to take over farming for them while my sister and I stayed with them for several months while mom/dad finding home/jobs in CO. Not long after, in 1977, they moved into a little one story home in Kiron, IA and just visited the family that was leasing the farm... I can't remember what year they actually sold the farm, but I know it wasn't easy for anyone in the family (themselves, 1 son & 3 daughters).

Yep, guess we did stray away from the subject of "breeding Opals". Sorry!

 

[The Moonshiner]

Now that I've read all about the genetic origins of opal legbars, I want to get myself a white leghorn for my ee rooster and see if I can get a more productive ee, plus test whether he's got double or single blue egg genes. Unless there's such a thing as a barred white-egg layer? To result in a sex-link ee... Sooooo many chickens!

California Grey are barred white egg layers.

 

[wf1992]

I'm sure our project pigs are pretty different than commercial operations, because my kids go in the pen with our pigs in shorts & flip flops, armed with a bucket or an apple. They bathe these things for showing. I doubt the fact they're vegetarian accounts for all their tolerance, but we're sticking with it.

We buy weaners in the spring and they're gone long before winter, so I have no experience with keeping pigs full-time or breeding. Although, at least here in Canada, I think that's the only way to go if you're looking for pork that's cheaper than in-store.

You will never catch me with goats - little trouble makers. Good luck with all your plans!

Chickens are currently the only things that we have year-round, and since we finally had a broody (and yet there's always a broody when you don't want one!?) hatch chicks for the first time this past summer, I'm all kinds of excited about making more new chickens this year, and the opals have inspired me

 

[wf1992]

California Grey are barred white egg layers.

That would be perfect! I'll keep my eye out, but I've never heard of those can't imagine where they'd be available.

I'm pretty much stuck with what I can find locally, because 1) I'm in canada and hatchery options are limited, 2) I can't house as many as I'd need for a minimum order (bad chicken math, bad!), and 3) I'm not allowed to brood chicks in the house anymore

 

[SweetLittleChicks]

Sorry, I realize this is unsolicited and off-topic, but we've been told (through years of 4H pigs) that feeding pigs meat can make them aggressive and spread disease. While I'm not worried about my home-grown chicken carcasses being diseased, I have seen what a 300lb feeder can do accidentally, and I'd hate to deal with an actively aggressive one! I believe a lot of places also have rules about feeding animal products to pigs, particularly if there's any chance you'll be selling them.

Quite frankly, at my house, it's the chickens who get what's leftover when I'm done making broth...

i agree pigs can also get mad cow diease if they eat meat,

 

[SweetLittleChicks]

There would be ZERO benefits to breeding back to Orpingtons. All the detrimental undesirable things we have in the lavender legbars are because of the lavender orpingtons however many generations ago via the Isabella Leghorns.

you can use the isabelle leghorn and cream legbars to try to make opal legbar but its gonna take few genration. But please dont use lavender orpingtons its not gonna work.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

i agree pigs can also get mad cow diease if they eat meat,

Only if it's infected meat. Just like humans, they can only get sick eating tainted meat