Langshan Thread!!!

[Dirt Farmer]

I don't think she's short in the legs at all. I also love the amount of spacing inbetween her legs. It shows a good, wide body. Be careful of that cockerel in the background, his legs look to be a bit cowhocked. You can sometimes breed a nice wide-legged female to a male like that, but the males can get a little wonky later on down the line.

How did you know he's a cockerel from that picture? He and his brother are from a third line. They are 14 weeks. I have 5 pullets from the same line. One looks pretty good to me. She has a wide body and tail. (I hope that's a good thing in pullets.) She has stronger looking legs than her brother. I'll try to get a picture of her up later for assessment. Since I've have very little experience with Langshans, I greatly appreciate the comments provided here to create my breeder flock for next year. (I know, its way early.)
I wish I had had more stock from which to choose. Interesting that the on line auctions and craigslist were loaded with "rare" breeds but Langshan sources were in short supply. I ended up with 3 cockerels and 6 pullets in my attempt to find mates for my original cockerel that I brought home from the PPBA show last January (Lincoln).
I intended to raise only Blacks but given my small numbers have decided to breed the Blue and/or the Splash if they're the better birds. I'm guessing its easy enough to come back to Black down the road.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

LOL! I've raised Langshans for much shorter time than many on this thread, but have noticed a few things throughout the years. I couod do an in depth thing if you like but alot of it is just knowing the differences in how thr genders grow and no two birds are quite exactly alike in how they develop. I've been able to start sexing at about a week or two. Used to be able to do it at a day but I stopped practicing the skill.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

BTW, that pullet looks to have a bit of Beauford blood in her. If I might ask, where did ahe come from?

 

[Dirt Farmer]

BTW, that pullet looks to have a bit of Beauford blood in her. If I might ask, where did ahe come from?

I was so desperate to get started I bought 6 eggs off of Ebay. They sent me 7, 2 hatched (its a long way from FL to CA), the splash pullet and a blue cockerel. If anybody is interested I could look back and get the seller's Ebay name. They frequently have listings.

The third line was from Pagetts Exhibition Poultry, also from eggs shipped from FL. I had a better hatch. Here's a picture of the pullet I was writing about in the last post. Actually as I was looking at them today, 2 or 3 are very similiar; good uniformity. They are big if nothing else, and I do like my big birds. The waterer bucket is 20 inches off the ground. Her tail is about an inch above it as she walks under. She's 14 weeks as I mentioned above. The cockerel is from the same hatch and is the smallest of the three but has a stout stance.

 

[Dirt Farmer]

duplicate post

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Was it Skyline? That pullet doesn't have the same flow as their usual birds. If I remember correctly, Padgett got his Langshans from Superior Farms who got their birds from Forrest, Britt and I think Richard Schock.

 

[Dirt Farmer]

Was it Skyline? That pullet doesn't have the same flow as their usual birds. If I remember correctly, Padgett got his Langshans from Superior Farms who got their birds from Forrest, Britt and I think Richard Schock.

I looked up the EBay breeder of the splash pullet, goes by Coups-Coops. I'm glad to hear I may have gotten a little Beauford in the mix. I'm overall pleased. I think for only having 10 birds I did alright. If I can get three respectable Langshans, I've got a start.
I've noticed that Lincoln and the blue cockerel have a gap between the main tail feathers at the top. They have overlapping feathers on the side but the main tail is open at the top. With the cock, his sickles kind of fill the gap but the cockerel looks odd. Is this normal? Its not what I would call a split tail because the gap is parallel; the two sides are not sweeping away from each other. They just don't complete an A shape. It was less noticeable until Lincoln lost his two main sickles.

 

[Dirt Farmer]

I meant to address flow. I think I see what you're talking about. The overall impression in this picture is it doesn't show the balance and gracefulness characteristic of the breed. The stance is slightly Cornish. I have other pictures where the neck is elongated and she looks better. When they are older I intend to bore everybody with pictures to help me make some good choices. For now I'll feed them and watch them grow.

 

[Dirt Farmer]

Everything keeps showing up twice. Edited duplicate entry.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Don't think we are bored by this! I personally love it because I am waiting on a cockerel that is now 6 months old to start to look like a cockerel instead of a lump of chicken. When he's done, he'll be a dandy though. As for the tsik, completely normal. My males never get those top main tail feathers and top sickled until they are WELL into maturity.