Langshan Thread!!!

[Freia]

I'm still mystified about my Lilly/William's gender. S(he) is 8 weeks now. Comb and wattle are still developing and light pink, so I've been telling him what a lovely little rooster he is. However, there isn't a single pointy or shiny feather on him anywhere. ALL feathers are nice and round and soft and very feminine-looking. Wouldn't I be seeing some pointy roo feathers coming in by now?

I know I know. When he crows or lays an egg, I'll know for sure. I guess I'm still trying to hold out hope that I might see an egg before I hear a crow.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Freia, please feel free to post an updated pic of him! Cockerels usually start developing their sex feathers (pointed saddle and hackle) at about 4 or 5 months. Other breeds go sooner.

 

[Freia]

8-week portraits for William Shakesfeather (still hoping Lilly will pull through though).

 

[BGMatt]

8-week portraits for William Shakesfeather (still hoping Lilly will pull through though).

8 weeks? Yeah, I feel pretty safe saying that's a cockerel. Still like his head though!

 

[Freia]

I don't just like his head and gorgeous big eyes, I like everything about him. He's nothing fancy - he's from the feed-store, but his penciling and heavy feathering and proud stance is so cool. And I know all bets are off once he hits rooster-puberty, but so far he has the sweetest, gentlest personality of any chick we've ever had. Can a chicken be patient? If so, he is. We love him to bits, and everybody handles him several times a day to try to improve his odds of staying nice so he can stay in the flock.

I think I'm already seeing his protective rooster-behavior to some extent. That little Brahma chick next to him in the pictures is his little sister (soon-to-be mistress). They spent a couple weeks in the brooder together. Whenever I pick up and handle the brahma, William comes and stands at my feet and waits for me to put her back down. I hope he's learning through this that we can handle the hens without being a threat to them or him.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Haha! Yes, I would say that is a cockerel. I've noticed that Langshans are VERY tolerant and very patient. I have full grown pullets that share pen space with 6 week old chicks. A normal breed would pick on them but not the LF Langshans even though they are 6x the size of the bantam Speckled Sussex chicks. It's amazing how much more gentle they are than any other breed I have ever worked with. I actually bought some bantam Buff Brahmas and although one is an excellent broody, both fail miserably in being tolerant of other breeds or ages. It's insane, same class completely different spectrums of personalities. Get used to the looking up at you. Any time I handle a hen, the rooster will be at your feet waiting. My first male was the calmest bird until you grabbed a hen, then all bets were off and he would nail you. You'd have to pick him up first, then handle his hens. He was the same way with small chicks as well.

 

[gootziecat]

Do the bantams have the same personality traits the LF have in being tolerant of other breeds, sizes/ages and other roos?

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

So far, I have not had an issue with any of my males picking on each otuer . the blues are a bit more in your face but the whites seem the calmest and most relaxed as well as friendly. If forced to choose between the colors on my bantams, it would be the whites hands down.

 

[ChickieWickies]

Somewhere in the old replies, someone posted a link to an old book with the breed standards for Langshans. I read the link, but I forgot to save it to my computer. Does anyone know it? I'd hate to have to read through 194 pages of replies again!!

Thanks in advance!!

 

[Dirt Farmer]

Was it this? http://archive.org/details/cu31924003117920

thorleif provided this and many others. May be faster to go to his profile and look at all his posts on this thread.