Langshan Thread!!!

[BGMatt]

Any lurkers in the Pacific Northwest that are looking for a start in Langshans, I just picked up a trio of young large fowl that was donated by Sherry Parker in CA for the Prairie Hatcher 4-H Auction (anyone can bid, all proceeds go to the 4-H club). They are gorgeous birds and would make a fantastic start for someone. The event is Feb 22nd at Clark County Fairgrounds just outside of Ridgefield, WA

 

[PetRock]

These 2 pullets that I bought yesterday haven't started laying yet. They sure look close to POL though. Hopefully, they will start laying in a couple weeks after they have adjusted to their new farm home!

Went to the farm today to drool over my new birds! The pullets are laying! My friend found 3 eggs in their coop today and no other birds have access to it! Whoo hoo!!!! Unfortunately, she mixed them up with the Bresse eggs. I'm going to put them all in the incubator and see if the Langshan ones develop. The chicks will be easy to tell apart from the Bresse. I also took some pics that I will get downloaded to my computer and post.

 

[PetRock]

Meet my new LF black breeding trio! My daughter likes naming our chickens so they are Shang, Mulan, and Lucy Lu. I know that they aren't perfect but bigger and better than most of my other birds. The cockerel is the bigger than all my cocks with the exception maybe of Thor. I only have one or two hens that are as big as these pullets. They are 10 months old so still have some growing to do. I would love comments so I know what area to work on improving.

Shang and Lucy Lu. Shang doesn't have his tail very high in this pic. All 3 were not too sure what I was up to. I used meal worms to bribe them out of the corner.

Shang, Mulan, and Lucy Lu

Shang





Beautiful beetle green color!

Shang and Mulan


Mulan with tail up


Mulan with tail not so up


Lucy Lu - She kept sitting down like this. Hopefully, she is just a lazy, laid back girl and doesn't have some kind of problem.

 

[brahmabreeder]

That sheen

 

[Laingcroft]

Lovely!

 

[Chickengirl1304]

Pretty Langshan egg in the middle

 

[PetRock]

Pretty Langshan egg in the middle

Very pretty eggs!

 

[Dirt Farmer]

Well I've separated my pullets for a couple months from the cockerels, and today I started to assess my breeder options. I'm concerned because most of my flock is undersized. I have two eleven month old cockerels that are up to standard weights, 8 lbs 3 oz and 8 lbs 10 oz. The rest of the flock is 1/4 pound to 1 1/2 lbs under the standard, including my two year old cock at 8 lbs 8 oz.. As it turns out the two smallest pullets are also of the poorest type, so I wouldn't use them anyway. Is there any conventional wisdom on how to breed for increasing size? I've heard that you should use the cockerel with the largest frame and the pullet with the most meaty build. Any truth to that? Can I expect to get big birds from smaller birds or do I need to find birds with the correct genetics?

 

[BGMatt]

Well I've separated my pullets for a couple months from the cockerels, and today I started to assess my breeder options. I'm concerned because most of my flock is undersized. I have two eleven month old cockerels that are up to standard weights, 8 lbs 3 oz and 8 lbs 10 oz. The rest of the flock is 1/4 pound to 1 1/2 lbs under the standard, including my two year old cock at 8 lbs 8 oz.. As it turns out the two smallest pullets are also of the poorest type, so I wouldn't use them anyway. Is there any conventional wisdom on how to breed for increasing size? I've heard that you should use the cockerel with the largest frame and the pullet with the most meaty build. Any truth to that? Can I expect to get big birds from smaller birds or do I need to find birds with the correct genetics?

Hatching a lot and culling hard for size. For younger birds shank diameter is a pretty good indicator of eventual size, and foot size too, kind of like a dog. Broad skulls help too. These are still asiatic birds even though they don't have the super huge heads of the Brahma or Cochin. Breed from the biggest you have, hatch as many as you can. Feed the chicks a good starter (20%+ protein) with some meat in it, if you can with your flock situation hatching from hens and bigger eggs means bigger chicks too. As soon as you can tell cockerels and pullets apart, raise them separately so they don't harass each other for food. If you look around there's some studies on light exposure and growth rate on growing chicks as well.

When breeding for size don't neglect width. There is a tendency to breed for height only, and while usually the tallest birds have good width too you don't want to neglect it.

The fact that your younger birds are bigger than your older birds is good, it means you're headed in the right direction!

 

[Dirt Farmer]

Thanks BGMatt. I wish I could take credit for the larger cockerels. I hatched them from eggs I bought last year. This will be my first home grown generation.