Langshan Thread!!!

[BooPeeps]

Thanks for your thoughts! I'm here to learn and appreciate the feedback. These guys are only 15-16 weeks old and I've never had the opportunity to talk to any chicken people. So I'm glad to hear that my thoughts about their top line is confirmed and I may have actually learned a thing or two reading online and looking at everyone else's great Langshans in this thread. Can't wait to go to my first chicken show. These guys were the result of my first Langshan hatching from eBay eggs and so I had no great expectations, but have had a lot of fun. Who would have ever thought 6 months ago that I'd be so into CHICKENS. And what a nice breed, Langshans. Thanks again BGMatt!

 

[BGMatt]

Langshans are a great breed, and yes the hobby can really grow on you. The best advice I can give a new person in the hobby is invest in a Standard of Perfection. They can be purchased directly from APA, or you can hunt around and find an old one somewhere, either one is equally fine. Read it, understand it and learn from it. As long as you stick to what is written in the Standard, you cannot go wrong.

 

[BGMatt]

So, I've seen the picture of the blue Langshan PetRock got from Privett, does anyone else have any adult pictures of their Langshan stock?

Edit: removed reason for question because I was confused and had bad info. Will leave the question because the pictures could be educational if anyone has them.

 

[msladyhawke]

My 1st two babies out for the Easter-Hatch-Along: Splash maybe!?! (Hope so!)



(bantam langshan chicks)

 

[PetRock]

My 1st two babies out for the Easter-Hatch-Along: Splash maybe!?! (Hope so!)



(bantam langshan chicks)

How adorable!!! I am looking forward to hatching Langshan chicks next month! I got a new Genesis 1588 and just had my first hatch in it. I set 10 mixed breed chicken eggs that a friend gave me. 8 made it to lockdown and 7 hatched. I am also doing a staggered hatch with the Bobwhite quail eggs that came with the incubator. I have 25 that made it to lockdown and the first one just hatched! I LOVE having chicks!!!

 

[PetRock]

We've been pretty quiet on this thread. I was able to spend some time with my Langshans at the farm this past weekend. We are building hoop style breeding pens out of 5 ft x 16 ft welded wire cattle/horse/utility panels but it is slow going with the first one. We are trying to figure out the best way to build them and that takes time. I left the men to discuss options while I went to the field to spend time with the birds. The boys are still growing! I'm happy with their size but not so happy with their tail spread. But we are going to have to start with what we have. I am hoping to get some hatching eggs from the AZ breeder some time in the next couple of months. That should help introduce some very wide tail spreads into our flock. . I wish that I had 40 years to work on them!

I'm not happy with their current condition and I am going to have to persuade my friend that we need to buy a better quality of feed for them or find a supplement. Their feathers are just not as nice as they were when I took them there. You can see it most noticeably in their tail feathers. I was planning on waiting to give them better feed until we separate them for breeding but I've changed my mind and want to do it sooner rather than later. What kind of feed and supplements do you give your breeding stock?

Here are some pics of them. They were running all over the place in and out of the tall mustard and generally not cooperating with the photo shoot!

The roo band and one tiny, black mutt hen who is their groupie!


One of our black roos.


Side view of same roo with groupie hen posturing behind him!



One of our splash roos. We have 3 of them and they are getting difficult to tell apart. Our biggest one keeps losing his id band!


Not sure which of the 3 this is.




One of our two blue roos. Notice the brown/brass in his feathers. Is this common? The splash and whites have yellowing in their feathers from the sun. Could this be from the sun?

I think that this is the other side of the same blue.

This is a head shot of our second blue roo.


I didn't get any full body pics of our white roo Gandalf. This pic shows the width of this body. He has the widest tail spread of all of our roos. My friend loves him!

My daughter, Monet, also loves Gandalf!




One of our 2 splash pullets.


One of our blue pullets running for a treat. This girl is from you, Mikaela, and so is our lover boy, Gandalf!

 

[thorleif]

Many nice pics, breed from them all, and select from that, I would say. Gandalf looks a nice chap, keep a son or two, but take those that has smaller headgear and wattles than himself. Eyecolor looks good, so does type. Word of advice, go for one or maybe two colors, otherwise you are going to need an incredible number of pens in a year or two. Love them! You were on about feed, I dont think you have a big problem, but maybe some Brewers geast will help their feathers a bit?

 

[PetRock]

Many nice pics, breed from them all, and select from that, I would say. Gandalf looks a nice chap, keep a son or two, but take those that has smaller headgear and wattles than himself. Eyecolor looks good, so does type. Word of advice, go for one or maybe two colors, otherwise you are going to need an incredible number of pens in a year or two. Love them! You were on about feed, I dont think you have a big problem, but maybe some Brewers geast will help their feathers a bit?

Thank you, thorleif! I was shocked to see how big their combs and wattles were! I was only planning on primarily breeding blues with some black & splash. But then, along came Gandalf and there are so many things that I love about him that we added white to the list. We'll start with all four and try to narrow it down this next year. Thank you for the tip on Brewers yeast.

 

[thorleif]

That's it, it is cheap enough to try. Another very cheap and good thing for them is a bit of milk. It is a very good way of making sure they get som animal proteins down them. Especially while you breed from them, ensures strong embryos. And they love it, so I suppose in your climate it is important that they drink enough. Another thing.You must remember, Pet, you live in California, I live near the North Pole (that's what it feels like), so your birds will probably need a bit more salt than mine. The food you buy for them is more than likely good enough, but we have to adjust a bit for things the Nature throws at us. And, the feed you buy will be too low on Animal Proteins. The producers are not allowed to mix in enough of good proteins, it is not their fault.
And, you were saying about wattles and head-gear, it is one of the easiest things to alter through selective breeding, myself I have only just started breeding with that in mind, type and egg-laying capabilities has been given a priority here, they are the things that can take a while to achieve. But, they will come, Langshans has very strong genes. Breed from hens that lay well, they will lay 150 to 200 eggs a year in the end. I always let them lay eggs for a year before I breed from them, so I get a strain that lays eggs.

 

[PetRock]

That's it, it is cheap enough to try. Another very cheap and good thing for them is a bit of milk. It is a very good way of making sure they get som animal proteins down them. Especially while you breed from them, ensures strong embryos. And they love it, so I suppose in your climate it is important that they drink enough. Another thing.You must remember, Pet, you live in California, I live near the North Pole (that's what it feels like), so your birds will probably need a bit more salt than mine. The food you buy for them is more than likely good enough, but we have to adjust a bit for things the Nature throws at us. And, the feed you buy will be too low on Animal Proteins. The producers are not allowed to mix in enough of good proteins, it is not their fault.
And, you were saying about wattles and head-gear, it is one of the easiest things to alter through selective breeding, myself I have only just started breeding with that in mind, type and egg-laying capabilities has been given a priority here, they are the things that can take a while to achieve. But, they will come, Langshans has very strong genes. Breed from hens that lay well, they will lay 150 to 200 eggs a year in the end. I always let them lay eggs for a year before I breed from them, so I get a strain that lays eggs.

Good info! Thank you! My friend who owns the farm also has a cow that just calved and is producing milk like crazy. She has been fattening up our extra roos with raw milk and a higher quality feed mixed in. I'm going to see if she has extra milk for the breeders. When they lived with me, I gave them plain yogurt with active cultures and black oil sunflower seeds raw & sprouted for extra protein. They loved it! As soon as we have the pens set up, I will be out there at least once a week so I can keep a closer eye on them plus be in charge of their supplements. What do you feed your birds to add animal protein to their diets? Would fish meal work? My pullets started laying eggs towards the end of January. Right now, they are all together with 4 Silver Pencilled Plymouth Rock pullets and some mutt hens which will be culled soon. They live in a field with the boys where they free range during the day and sleep in a large converted horse trailer at night. My friend's son collects the eggs so, until they are put into breeding pens, I am not going to know which ones are the best layers. It will be interesting and I'm excited to get started! My backyard flock's head hen, a black Australorp, is currently broodie and I gave her four hopefully fertile eggs to sit on. Two of those are Langshan eggs from the farm. I will know in another week whether they are developing or not.