Langshan Thread!!!

[rodriguezpoultry]

Usually egg judging is done at the 4H or FFA level of competition nowadays. Probably a good thing as most Araucana's would fail miserably. I can't tell you how many I've seen that lay brown eggs but have ear tufts and a nice tight pea comb.

So far *fingers crossed* I haven't lost anything to the heat yet. It was 110* with 78% humidity yesterday. It was AWFUL. *blech* I have hens that are brooding on eggs and I kid you not, they set off of the eggs during the heat of the day.

 

[Dirt Farmer]

Usually egg judging is done at the 4H or FFA level of competition nowadays. Probably a good thing as most Araucana's would fail miserably. I can't tell you how many I've seen that lay brown eggs but have ear tufts and a nice tight pea comb.

So far *fingers crossed* I haven't lost anything to the heat yet. It was 110* with 78% humidity yesterday. It was AWFUL. *blech* I have hens that are brooding on eggs and I kid you not, they set off of the eggs during the heat of the day.

They better start blowing on, and fanning, those eggs.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Kinda sad, they were ruffling their feathers back and forth. I now have an official maternity ward with 4 broody hens on eggs in there. *facepalm* Some of them are even hens that went broody in March, went back to laying and are now broody again. Others are pullets that just started laying. I KNOW it's from all the rain we're getting and the weird weather.

 

[msladyhawke]

I have almost NO Langshans laying right now. Not that i have a ton, but 80% are broody darn it. Some laying on nothing since i removed the eggs.

 

[Aspudis]

Can someone roughly age my Langshan Bantam hens. I know it is hard to age hens but am after a few guesses/opinions. I Have only had them a week.

 

[informative]

Can someone roughly age my Langshan Bantam hens. I know it is hard to age hens but am after a few guesses/opinions. I Have only had them a week.

I would guess 8 weeks? Bantams maybe 12 weeks? Those feet are nearly featherless mine have like full chaps and boots - I call them cowboy chickens

 

[Dirt Farmer]

That's a really tough one Aspudis. I don't know of any way of determining an exact age. Obviously an older bird will be heavier bodied and have more leathery legs/skin. Very young birds have a pliable keel and pelvic bones. After the initial couple laying seasons, egg quality is generally not real good. (At least not a as good as the first couple seasons.) Some people believe you can tell age from bleaching of the yellow areas of the bird, but I think its been pretty well shown to be an indicator more of how many eggs have been laid recently.
You don't have the advantage of having seen and handled this line before. My overall impression off the picture is that these are younger birds, less than two years. I can't say exactly why. Rodriguezpoultry should weigh in. She once identified a cockerel in one of my photos by seeing a partial photo showing its hock.
As an aside, I visited Australia once. We were riding through Sydney and I mentioned to my wife that it reminded me of "San Francisco on steroids". Later I found out that Sydney and San Francisco are sister cities. No wonder they look alike.

 

[Dirt Farmer]

I should have asked. Are they laying?

 

[informative]

They came from a line of Orpingtons from Australia. That is why they are called AustraORPS. As in Australian Orpingtons.

It said "I knew Australorps were derived from Orpingtons" maybe I don't understand your point.

The fun fact I was pointing out was that Orps were derived from Langshans with short legs thus Australorps are indirectly bred from Langshans which is why they are so similar.

 

[informative]

I have almost NO Langshans laying right now. Not that i have a ton, but 80% are broody darn it. Some laying on nothing since i removed the eggs.

get them a rooster so they will have something to brood on maybe.