Langshan Thread!!!

[ashandvine]

I have a chance to try out a few Langshans here without much cost. The gal who keeps them says they aren't her ideal meat bird but would constitute dual purpose. She also has yet to say anything about laying as her first hatch was mostly boys and this hatch is young. I won't keep a bird here just for egg color. I got rather lucky getting some Ams from good breeders but they are starting to wear on me as I find that they are not very dual purpose and that is what I want here. Any feedback from Langshan keepers on that?

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Forgive me if there are some misspelled words on here. I'm typing on my phone just before bed.

Of course, I will say "Go for it!" Langshans are an excellent dual-purpose bird. They are lighter in frame than the Brahma, so are not as meat-tendencied as the Brahma would be. But they are heavier than the Cochin without all the fluff. Their egg-laying abilities have far outreached my best expectations. I routinely get at least an egg or two a day from my breeder pens. Most are from the pullets as the hens are taking a siesta. I try to hold off Latin by manipulating the hours of light. The longer you can put off laying, the more the pelvic bones can grow and stretch and the larger the eggs will be. This will also help make a larger bird overall.

I have found that the bantams give the best payoff for meat. Why? They grow and mature faster than the largefowl. I was surprised at the amount of meat on an old cock had when I butchered him. Had I remembered that old roosters should be made into soup instead of baked, I'm sure he would have tasted great as well. Production lines of Langshans grow faster. Thing is, you will never reach the enormous size of the exhibition Langshan with production birds.

Then, there is the broodiness that Langshans have. Both largefowl and bantams make excellent broodies. I have a pullet broody for the first time. I'm "helping" her along by making her spot more secluded but she is taking all the changes in stride. I have yet to have a silkie go broody for me but, such is life. It's always the show birds that do it too!

I'm sure ashandvine would welcome any experience y'all on this thread have! Feel free to chime in and exalt the glorious Langshan!

 

[ashandvine]

I try to hold off Latin by manipulating the hours of light. The longer you can put off laying, the more the pelvic bones can grow and stretch and the larger the eggs will be. This will also help make a larger bird overall.
I have found that the bantams give the best payoff for meat. Why? They grow and mature faster than the largefowl. I was surprised at the amount of meat on an old cock had when I butchered him. Had I remembered that old roosters should be made into soup instead of baked, I'm sure he would have tasted great as well. Production lines of Langshans grow faster. Thing is, you will never reach the enormous size of the exhibition Langshan with production birds.
Then, there is the broodiness that Langshans have. Both largefowl and bantams make excellent broodies.

THIS is great information. It is not the first time I have heard someone say midgets/bantams are best for meat and fast development. I'm trying to stick to heritage breeds and not have anything production anymore. I use a lot of eggs in baking but I need to make the feed to meat ratio make more sense. Did you mean you try to hold off on laying, not Latin?? Could you explain to me how you manipulate light for this purpose?? I am supposed to get some Dorkings, Sussex, and Favorelles as well as Brahmas. I am going to 'try out' a few and see what happens. FWIW... I think going brood is like yawning; one chicken sees another doing it and has to. Its crazy.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Ah...I see my phone got the best of me again! Ha!

Yes, "laying" should be inserted for "Latin." My classes at the UofA helped alot with this. I have had lighting on in my coops since early November. It causes the pituitary glands to kickstart the breeding cycles. Which causes eggs to be laid and males that have been exposed to light, at least 14 hours of it, are more vivacious about breeding. So, I make sure that when I want my birds to begin breeding, that I allow for 14 hours of light, if not more. NOW. That being said...that barn was COLD. So, I put a heat lamp up there all night, which resulted in them getting 24 hour lighting, which again, was fine as I had chicks that were up there and needed the heat and a good source of food.

Now that I have reached the end of my breeding season (last batch of eggs went out and I am DONE), I have turned off the lights for the night time hours. This will cause my chicks, which are still growing, to cut back on their sexual maturity rate. It will also cause my females to drop off in egg production, and if I am lucky, begin their molting process.

You can further alter the lighting period, but hanging dark covers over the windows of your barn. (Mine are in an enclosed barn, I do NOT want a bear in my chicken pens thank you very much!) This will drop the photoperiod (light time). The longer it takes for your birds to reach sexual maturity, the larger your bird will be. Why? Because they are not focused on reaching sexual maturity and using their resources for reproduction. Instead, they are using their resources to continue to build their bodies up.

Langshans are a very large bird, the first thing I want them to build up is their frame. Once the frame is built, then the muscling can begin. A good male is not fully muscled until 2 or 3 years old. Most culls are LONG gone by that point. But, the females are usually done with their growing by a year. And, since you have staved off the reproduction at an early age, are able to begin hatching almost immediately as the eggs will be larger as the reproductive tract has had time to mature (muscling!) instead of being rushed by hormones that have been triggered by the hours of light.


Did that make any sense at all?

As for the broodiness, I am inclined to agree. First, it was Lil Ropo (a gifted) Cochin bantam, then it was my sweetest Langshan bantam (she-devil from Hades now with chicks!!!!) and now it is my best Largefowl Blue Langshan pullet. Let's hope no more decide to "mother" me to death! I'm kind of in shock she did it. She had been threatening it for months!

 

[ashandvine]

This does make some sense. Have you any comparisons to make all that concrete? I'm not trying to doubt you but I am a 'see it to believe it' girl.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Yes I do.

This male was grown in natural lighting:





This male, the son of the male above, was raised during the winter with constant lighting to maintain a good temperature in the barn for growth:


See how his legs do not match his body? They are "shorter" than the male above. His comb was also larger than his father and he was only 8 months old in this photo.


Both of these birds had photos taken at a similar age. They are pure Forrest Beauford lines. See the differences in the frame, legs and head? I kept very close tabs on his chicks, and while the blue male looks odd, he did not give his offspring shorter legs or oddly proportioned bodies. Both were fed the same feed, only lighting and temperature were the differences. The blue male and the black male were housed together after these photos. No heating was given last year. The blue male got frostbite whereas my black male did not.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

And for some fun for me today...I took some very poor photos of my "keeper" birds for this year. These are the young Langshan pullets I've decided to keep out of the hundred I hatched:

Blue Pullet:



Splash Clean-Legged (Modern Project) Langshan:


And my favorite. My black pullet:


I am in shock as to how wide she is already:

 

[ashandvine]

Okay, now the pictures aren't making sense to me. I thought I understood but am not seeing what your showing me. I do see 'shorter legs' but are you saying that is because he was grow in darkness?? The first one looked nice to me, well proportioned. I can't judge the combs by the pic. Maybe if you pm me with the basics of how you make this work it would be better. I wonder if I should be raising my chicks at a certain time of year and inside. The heat lamp raises some questions for me.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

The black male is well-proportioned. He took a nice, LONG time to develop. Why? Because he was grown with natural lighting. The daylight hours fluctuated enough to state off sexual maturity, so his frame was built first.

The second male, the blue, was housed in a colder environment with heat lamps on 24/7. Instead of taking a long time to develop, the increased photoperiod caused his sexual maturity to take precedence over his frame development. The rapid onset of sexual maturity stunted his growth, causing him to look "incomplete."

 

[ashandvine]

Got it now. This would argue for hatching in the late spring, summer up here, which is usually when folks are ready to buy. Everyone wants a bird ready to go-- unless they are looking for fuzzies for their kids so that presents a marketing problem but if the investment could be made time wise it would suggest better birds. No one likes to wait for things anymore. Its a subtle difference you are pointing out in these pictures but I can see it and that makes the difference between show/breed quality and a back yard chicken. To ask again about the heat lamp: Because it is left on all hours, how do you adjust for that? Here, on account of winter, I would have to heat the space without the lamp but I'd worry about them not getting enough to eat. I guess back when mother nature (or hen) did this work she just made sure they got plenty of bugs and worms the next day so maybe supplementing the food during normal daylight hours is enough to offset not using the heat lamp overnight. Now I have to think about an alternative heat source. Hm. Thoughts?