Langshan Thread!!!

[rodriguezpoultry]

We'll be moving to center Pennsylvania. Literally, smack dab in the middle. I think it's around State College? We're hoping to get a home + land near it. I'm sick of college towns though...My fiance is going to custom build a barn for my birds. It will have electricity, running water, heat and an "incubation room" so that I won't be hatching eggs in the house anymore...

 

[hcammack]

Quote:
Well the barn sounds awesome. Hope your not to close to State College and hopefully its not in to much of a college party area. I am a college students and I don't even like college towns. I want to live on a farm ha ha.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Same here. I just got done with the last of my college courses and I am just DONE with it all. I never partied so I suppose that's part of my wanting to get away. I want a farm, land and my own space where I can set out a grill without worrying about getting cited for it being too close to my porch.

 

[teddiliza]

Hi Everyone! I bought 5 Langshan pullets in the fall and they are growing up. I'd bought them from Ideal Hatchery. They are wonderful and sweet, so laid back. I am really enjoying them. This year I will be deciding what Large fowl I want to stick with: Langshans, Jersey Giants, or some other breed I haven't raised yet......

 

[hcammack]

Quote:
Ha ha yes I am ready to have birds and get away from the party animals to. Some of my friends are saying they want to go to grad school. I want it to be in out and done as painlessly as possible. I am doing some interesting dairy stuff while there though.

Henry

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Quote:
I honestly believe that even with production birds, there's no way to go wrong with a Langshan. They are stately birds and most of them "flow" together without too much of a weird angle going on with their tails. I have not seen a good production male but the females seem to follow the standard to a point.

Hopefully this week I will be able to tell if at least one of my females is a dominant white or a recessive white. The blue x white egg is the only egg still progressing and should hatch out this Sunday if not sooner. Pretty excited! After it hatches, I'll be putting in more eggs from whichever pen I have.

On a side note, I'm really debating just eating this male:

The more I look at him, the more I hate him. He's hock-kneed, has too narrow of a body, has a poor tail, possibly has a wry-tail and is just stumpy. I really think he'll look better in a soup bowl. For the moment, he's keeping the old rooster company...bleck. Any comments on the white bird? Feel free to tear him apart, he is not a keeper, at least for me.

 

[Illia]

I'll join in.

I in no means have experience raising, showing, owning any Langshans but I've been spending a LOT of time learning their SOP, their faults, drawing ideal and non-ideal ones, etc. So, I'd love to actually participate here and not just lurk. Langshans are such a neat breed, but my family would kill me if I got some. They find they're very ugly with the short body, long legs, and high tail. Don't shoot me, they're the ones that think that.


From the photo I see - Two things I will definitely agree with - Wry tail and "stubby" legs. Even though Langshans, like many other breeds, are slow growers - They should already look lanky, leggy, and teenage in appearance by now.

The knock-kneed and narrow body I'm not seeing though, but that's because I just have this one photo. I believe you showed him earlier too with a series of faulty young whites?

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Oh no, none of the whites have ever been shown. I saw promise in the pen of whites and decided to purchase the whole bunch of them. Never bad to have extras...but in this bird's case I'll make an exception.

Let me see if I can find a photo of the white cock bird and my blue cockerel that I'm using:
This is the white cock, I like his width, he's evenly distributed. He's just very difficult to get photos of. Now that his tail is coming in, he's holding it higher than it was at Shawnee in the cage. I'd like to see a better U, but these birds are not perfect. Will need to do some outcrossing to the blacks and blues and breed back to get better conformation.

Blue cockerel who is apparently several months younger, he's still growing QUITE a bit and is a very promising prospect:

I will have to take several more photos today...I have been meaning to for a while now, but just haven't had the time.

Oh please Illia! Feel free to join in! Believe me, I have never looked at a bird and thought "Ew..." but this bird (thank goodness he was free) has changed my mind about that.

I am curious about the yellowing, I'm certain they weren't kept in the best conditions so once their new feathers come in, should be interesting to see if it was environmental or genetic.

 

[Illia]

No, I didn't mean shown at a show, but shown here on the thread.

Yes, I've lurked enough to say I've always been a fan of your blues and blacks. That cockerel there is very nice.

I will have to admit though, the whites seem pretty tame in tail angle, and the white cock - Is his tail normally like that?

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Fortunately no. His tail is a bit higher than that. When their front half goes down, the back half makes a line with their back. Something like this:

The white's tail is lower than I'd like, which is another area I'll have to work on. The younger white male seemed to have a higher tail angle, but I won't sacrifice tail angle with a pinched tail. I have other colors I can use to better the white tail angle. I will have to get more photos of the white male. The females are not awful but one of them reminds me more of a White Plymouth Rock than it does of a Langshan (which is why she is with a high-tailed male that has a wide-spread tail back home in the "cull" pen).

Today, my goal is to get photos of ALL of the white breeders as well as some of the blues. I know the blacks by heart and know what they will produce. The blues are going to be tricky as some are very, very good in some areas, but are lacking (to me) in other areas.

Illia, thank you for your kind words. So far, I'm impressed with the attitudes of the whites. They all seem very similar to the blacks. The male seems to look for fights with other birds. Much moreso than my other males. I have never had Langshans fight each other before. They seem to have an attitude of a Great Dane (which is probably a good thing, otherwise I might have had a broken arm from them).