Langshan Thread!!!

[PetRock]

I am dabbling with my Langshan. I hatched quite a few chicks last year and just put my pullets/hens in breeding pens with my 2 best blue roos. We purchased land in Placerville this past year and hope to move some time this next year. Then I can have more control over my breeder flocks. I look forward to seeing your pics!

 

[Dirt Farmer]

My camera appears to no longer be able to hold a battery charge, but here's a few phone shots. They aren't show chickens but they're a start. I've have some unrelated stock coming from the east. (Hatching House)
My hens are rough from being in with some cockerels. I've since been able to separate and they're showing new pin feathers.
Can can enlarge by clicking on the pictures.

Showing width below, hair feathers to the right. (Not sure if that is good or bad but I like it. Very old timey.)
Photo bombing Isbar

This guy's not very leggy but still has good height.

 

[PetRock]

My camera appears to no longer be able to hold a battery charge, but here's a few phone shots. They aren't show chickens but they're a start. I've have some unrelated stock coming from the east. (Hatching House)
My hens are rough from being in with some cockerels. I've since been able to separate and they're showing new pin feathers.
Can can enlarge by clicking on the pictures.

Showing width below, hair feathers to the right. (Not sure if that is good or bad but I like it. Very old timey.)
Photo bombing Isbar

This guy's not very leggy but still has good height.

They look nice to me! I hatched quite a few chicks last year with my blue rooster over black hens. I sold some chicks that were subsequently sold to another person and her granddaughter's are winning at shows with them. This year, I have my oldest blue rooster in with blue hens and a younger blue rooster in with black hens. I am looking forward to having my own land and breeding set up in Placerville.

 

[PetRock]

Here are a few pics of the cockerels/roosters that made it through the final cull. They aren't perfect but it is a process, correct?!

 

[Dirt Farmer]

Thanks for the pictures. Yes it is a process, and the Langshan seems quite a difficult one. Who would think a solid colored bird would be so hard to perfect? I think it is the "balance" that breeders speak about. When you see it, you can appreciate it in an excellent specimen. To describe it is quite difficult. Seems that I've owned some Langshans that come close, but inevitably in undersized birds. The bigger the size the harder to keep the "balance".
Oh well if it was easy, everybody would be doing it. Thanks again.

 

[pellsworth]

I have been reading in a booklet called "The Asiatics" (link below). One article by I.K. Felch was quite interesting. He was the one who wrote the first langshan standard for the APA and was the first langshan judge. According to him, cochin breeders were not enthused about the introduction of the langshan breed because they looked at as a poor quality cochin. In defense of the breed Felch said that the langshan was already a 'thoroughbred' breed when it arrived in the USA (arrived here from both England and China). In other words, langshans were not spin-offs from cochins and the breed is quite quite similar to the original birds that came from China.

The standard weight for cocks was 10 lbs, which is 1/2 lb higher than the current standard. He said that the weight was placed at 10 lbs for cocks and not higher because of pressure from the cochin contingent to make the langshan as different as possible from the cochin. However, he argued that the breed standard should be 1/2 higher. Now it is 1/2 lb lower (9.5 lbs). The next article argued that 10lbs for a cock was about right.

So why is it now 9.5 lbs when the early breeders who were at the establishment of the breed thought that it should be 10 - 10.5 lbs?


http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/115444#page/89/mode/1up

 

[Dirt Farmer]

I don't really know why the current weights were chosen. I wonder if it was because the APA set the standard back when many of the breeds in the Standard of Perfection were still expected to have economic value. The argument put forth by the article for a higher weight seemed based on the ability to differentiate birds at shows. The 1915 Standard of Perfection speaks about the Langshan having "fineness of bone" (a desirable meat bird trait in old literature), and achieving a balanced appearance. Descriptions found in the APA's Plymouth Rock standard warn against oversized birds that are "clumsy", "non productive" and lacking in activity. I tend to agree that 9 1/2 pounds seems to be about the limit for producing fowl that can roost at normal heights, hustle a good portion of their own food, and return a fair amount of meat or eggs for the feed invested. The Cochin, as far as I know, was always about size and exhibition. I believe they had less expectation for being a thrifty fowl with farm value. These are just my musings, and could be totally off base. As an aside I believe the UK standard weight is 9 lbs.Thank you for your interesting post and welcome to BYC.

 

[PetRock]

My first Langshan chicks of the season are due to hatch Sat morning! There are 3 pips already. These eggs are from my blue on blue pen so I might end up hatching splash from my own flock!

 

[PetRock]

My first Langshan chicks of the season are due to hatch Sat morning! There are 3 pips already. These eggs are from my blue on blue pen so I might end up hatching splash from my own flock!

2 out and 14 with pips. One of the 14 is a Pita Pinta. The first one out is a blue and the second looks like a black. Come on, splash chickies!

 

[Finnie]

My first Langshan chicks of the season are due to hatch Sat morning! There are 3 pips already. These eggs are from my blue on blue pen so I might end up hatching splash from my own flock!

2 out and 14 with pips.  One of the 14 is a Pita Pinta.  The first one out is a blue and the second looks like a black.  Come on, splash chickies!

What all do you have in there?

Mine are hatching today too. I had 14 eggs: my Black Langshan rooster over Black and White Langshan hens. 4 of the WL hens' chicks are out and one of the BL's. Oh, and I put 3 WL eggs from the incubator under my broody BL hen, and she hatched two of them!

(She smashed the other one. )