Ah, excellent. I will watch for that. Thank you!
Lavender patterned Isabel duckwing barred - lavender brown cuckoo barred - project and genetic dis
- Thread starter ChicKat
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- #352
A lot has been happening! -- Most significant is that The Isabel flock, in total, has moved to a new home with hhong3138. If you want to get hatching eggs of Isabel leghorns or project eggs she could be a source for you. Sad to see them go. It is like your kids go off to college. They are on to the next phase of their lives. Or like you have a good employee who gets a better job. - you are happy for them and you will miss them.
To my mind it is especially good that Buddy Henry's 9-years of work that went into creating the Isabel Leghorn can be carried forward to other people who want Isabels, and it is good that they went as a flock.
For practical reasons though - their pens will be needed for the ones that are in the brooder now and will be going outdoors in about a week and a few days. So eggs around here will only be from the laying flock -- and I may reunite some Legbars with a legbar rooster before the end of summer to do a hatch for sustainability of my legbar flock, since I want one that has no blood from Jill Rees line and no greener eggs. There are a few folks around that have 'seed stock' from my flock - and those are the only places I would really want to get any legbars for future breeding, other than the ones I have.
I also have some Silverudd's Blue Isbars. These are wonderful gentle birds that lay very well -- but they haven't had a lot of longevity for me - and I will keep the ones I have but not get more in the future most likely - as much as they are beautiful and I love the birds, and I particularly love that from the same breed you can get varied shades of green so you can know exactly who has laid an egg that day. For that little flock, I will probably keep only a trio or a quad.
That puts all the rest of the 'eggs in one basket' or a lot of them anyway for me -- relying on the chicks now in the brooder and growing out to be my future producers. The one split pullet who's first egg was a double-yolker seems to be about an every-other-day layer -- with a few extras thrown in -- I suspect that she will lay around 150-180 eggs a year. An O.K. layer but not a stellar performer. Probably a hen would have to pass 200 + eggs a year to be considered a really good layer IMO. However, when she is fully mature and paired with an Isabel barred male she will produce all chicks with at least one barring gene. If the male passes his one barring gene to a son, that male will have the magic recipe of double barring.
One female got a photo op before she departed -- - since the focus is always more on the males for plumage -- she sure deserves a few phtos for posterity of the project:
You can see from the way the light is reflected (and the tail isn't that dark, there is a shadow of a porch pillar over her tail) -- you can seethe ehcho of the brown leghorn's gold duckwing plumage pattern. the hackles a warm straw color with a lavender stripe down the center of each feather for example. She is showing a nice white earlobe too that 'pops' with contrast.
no! no! don't walk out of the picture! Oh well too late. If you look at her feather color here -- it is more like you would see in 'real life' -- that shot above this one is a bit more saturated.
She has a nice long back and a deep body too in the picture above -- even if it is cut off on three sides.
You can see that her tail is like a 'tent' -- there is width in her abdomen. Chickens that don't have the wider bottom tapering to the top like a tent are reputed not to be as good layers. I think I have some Legbars that have what would be called 'pinched tails' (very narrow at the bottom') - but they break the rules and are good layers. The hen in this picture is the one that laid that very very large egg - and all her eggs are quite big and very white, where as some of the other Isabels have an egg that is more 'tinted'. Offspring from this bird with the white egg may be more likely to have a blue egg, HOWEVER, white leghorns have a coloration supressor in their white - so I have seen from a posting by TAdkerson on BYC - that supresses browning - does it supress blue? Remember brown is a coating, but blue is incorporated in the shell -- so the jury is still out on that one for this project. In theory there should be no white eggs - only greens and blues -- but there isn't enough data to know anything for certain from my project as yet. There has been 1 white, 1 clear blue, and 1 green. Everyone else is too young.
If you look at her comb. It is moderate for a Leghorn, and it is all upright. Since she is 1-year old, therfore fully grown I project that most likely she won't have an overly floppy comb, ever. Since I'm a fan of smaller combs - she can pass on to her offspring a not overly-large comb, HOWEVER, reading some of the older literature, they say that a big big big comb on a rooster is a sign of vigor and fertility and virility -- and female chickens like males with big combs. (supposedly female lions also prefer males with big manes -- another sign of health and vigor)
A close up headshot - showing the white earlobe and the effect of the hackles when lavender dilution has done its work. The pale straw would be gold and the lavender would be black if she lacked the double recessive lavender genes.
Here is a top view of the hen, she has a fairly wide area to store her egg-making factory, and plenty of room for lungs and heart to work. She has a nice frame -- and BTW weighs in at 6.5 pounds which is pretty hefty for a hen around here. There is the possibility for a chicken to get 'too fat' -- and it accompanies dual purpose breeds. Someone's book on poultry that I read was berating the barred plymouth rock for eating a lot and laying few eggs. BPRs are generally considered dual purpose. My golden comet produced a large to extra large egg daily for at least 200 eggs in a row. Her weight was about 3 1/2 pounds. So size of chicken has influence on the egg production but it could possibly be inverse to what one would think. That being said an underfed chicken wouldn't be able to produce high volumes of eggs. Sometimes mine will lay extra heavily the day after they have had a feast. I think that is one reason that commercial hen feeds usually only have about 16% protein -- it would certainly lessen the chance of a 'fat hen'.
To be continued in the next post
To my mind it is especially good that Buddy Henry's 9-years of work that went into creating the Isabel Leghorn can be carried forward to other people who want Isabels, and it is good that they went as a flock.
For practical reasons though - their pens will be needed for the ones that are in the brooder now and will be going outdoors in about a week and a few days. So eggs around here will only be from the laying flock -- and I may reunite some Legbars with a legbar rooster before the end of summer to do a hatch for sustainability of my legbar flock, since I want one that has no blood from Jill Rees line and no greener eggs. There are a few folks around that have 'seed stock' from my flock - and those are the only places I would really want to get any legbars for future breeding, other than the ones I have.
I also have some Silverudd's Blue Isbars. These are wonderful gentle birds that lay very well -- but they haven't had a lot of longevity for me - and I will keep the ones I have but not get more in the future most likely - as much as they are beautiful and I love the birds, and I particularly love that from the same breed you can get varied shades of green so you can know exactly who has laid an egg that day. For that little flock, I will probably keep only a trio or a quad.
That puts all the rest of the 'eggs in one basket' or a lot of them anyway for me -- relying on the chicks now in the brooder and growing out to be my future producers. The one split pullet who's first egg was a double-yolker seems to be about an every-other-day layer -- with a few extras thrown in -- I suspect that she will lay around 150-180 eggs a year. An O.K. layer but not a stellar performer. Probably a hen would have to pass 200 + eggs a year to be considered a really good layer IMO. However, when she is fully mature and paired with an Isabel barred male she will produce all chicks with at least one barring gene. If the male passes his one barring gene to a son, that male will have the magic recipe of double barring.
One female got a photo op before she departed -- - since the focus is always more on the males for plumage -- she sure deserves a few phtos for posterity of the project:
You can see from the way the light is reflected (and the tail isn't that dark, there is a shadow of a porch pillar over her tail) -- you can seethe ehcho of the brown leghorn's gold duckwing plumage pattern. the hackles a warm straw color with a lavender stripe down the center of each feather for example. She is showing a nice white earlobe too that 'pops' with contrast.
no! no! don't walk out of the picture! Oh well too late. If you look at her feather color here -- it is more like you would see in 'real life' -- that shot above this one is a bit more saturated.
She has a nice long back and a deep body too in the picture above -- even if it is cut off on three sides.
You can see that her tail is like a 'tent' -- there is width in her abdomen. Chickens that don't have the wider bottom tapering to the top like a tent are reputed not to be as good layers. I think I have some Legbars that have what would be called 'pinched tails' (very narrow at the bottom') - but they break the rules and are good layers. The hen in this picture is the one that laid that very very large egg - and all her eggs are quite big and very white, where as some of the other Isabels have an egg that is more 'tinted'. Offspring from this bird with the white egg may be more likely to have a blue egg, HOWEVER, white leghorns have a coloration supressor in their white - so I have seen from a posting by TAdkerson on BYC - that supresses browning - does it supress blue? Remember brown is a coating, but blue is incorporated in the shell -- so the jury is still out on that one for this project. In theory there should be no white eggs - only greens and blues -- but there isn't enough data to know anything for certain from my project as yet. There has been 1 white, 1 clear blue, and 1 green. Everyone else is too young.
If you look at her comb. It is moderate for a Leghorn, and it is all upright. Since she is 1-year old, therfore fully grown I project that most likely she won't have an overly floppy comb, ever. Since I'm a fan of smaller combs - she can pass on to her offspring a not overly-large comb, HOWEVER, reading some of the older literature, they say that a big big big comb on a rooster is a sign of vigor and fertility and virility -- and female chickens like males with big combs. (supposedly female lions also prefer males with big manes -- another sign of health and vigor)
A close up headshot - showing the white earlobe and the effect of the hackles when lavender dilution has done its work. The pale straw would be gold and the lavender would be black if she lacked the double recessive lavender genes.
Here is a top view of the hen, she has a fairly wide area to store her egg-making factory, and plenty of room for lungs and heart to work. She has a nice frame -- and BTW weighs in at 6.5 pounds which is pretty hefty for a hen around here. There is the possibility for a chicken to get 'too fat' -- and it accompanies dual purpose breeds. Someone's book on poultry that I read was berating the barred plymouth rock for eating a lot and laying few eggs. BPRs are generally considered dual purpose. My golden comet produced a large to extra large egg daily for at least 200 eggs in a row. Her weight was about 3 1/2 pounds. So size of chicken has influence on the egg production but it could possibly be inverse to what one would think. That being said an underfed chicken wouldn't be able to produce high volumes of eggs. Sometimes mine will lay extra heavily the day after they have had a feast. I think that is one reason that commercial hen feeds usually only have about 16% protein -- it would certainly lessen the chance of a 'fat hen'.
To be continued in the next post
@ChicKatThank you! I will try to get a photo if I can. I would actually be glad if one or two were a boy. I want to do a Speckled Sussex- Brown Leghorn cross project, and I am having the devil of a time finding any SS males, which I would prefer. But if I get a BL male, I can stop searching.
And I do think this cutie looks boy:
I can't zoom in on any BYC photos on my phone, so I will have to wait until I can get to my PC to look closer at your M's.
@campingshawsCute chicks!
And I do think this cutie looks boy:
I can't zoom in on any BYC photos on my phone, so I will have to wait until I can get to my PC to look closer at your M's.
@campingshawsCute chicks!
Should be able to tell now if theyre 6 or 7 weeks old.
My cockerels are getting comb color in by 3 weeks and have a lot more comb by then too.
Our pullets usually dont get pink in until theyre close to laying age.
By 6 or 7 weeks there should be no doubt by the difference in comb size and color.
- Thread starter
- #355
In that case, we're hoping for a boy. Sounds like a neat project.@ChicKat Thank you! I will try to get a photo if I can. I would actually be glad if one or two were a boy. I want to do a Speckled Sussex- Brown Leghorn cross project, and I am having the devil of a time finding any SS males, which I would prefer. But if I get a BL male, I can stop searching.
And I do think this cutie looks boy:
I can't zoom in on any BYC photos on my phone, so I will have to wait until I can get to my PC to look closer at your M's.
@campingshaws Cute chicks!
Thanks for the info.
- Thread starter
- #356
Continued from the hen pictures......
Same hen, same morning, same training cage. This shot shows that she does have a pale salmon in the breast feathers. This is a fairly definite and undoubted salmon. Even more saturated I would love to see, but this is good. The barring gene shouldn't lighten this color -- or at least it doesn't lighten the Cream Legbar's. It would be ultra nice to get the contrast of salmon breast with the rest of the chicken that silver duckwing shows -- but I think lavender won't allow that. never-the-less -- selection for the clearest and most saturated salmon possible (even though it is going to be diluted) is something that is a priority for me (down the road)
Her butt fluff, and her yellow legs. This hen is laying well too -- so her yellow is pretty strong and clear. My Legbars will lose yellow until they molt, or go broody like the one I have now -- and then the yellow is restored. It could be the morning light, or it could be the chicken -- but in that fluff -- I see a warmer color than just plain gray/lavender.
A nice shot of the tail for color, and structurally -- this is more of a fan-tailed look than the tapered tail. Also showing in this light, in this shot her tail is more saturated - if she were a brown leghorn look - it would be black or brown. In other shots her tail may not show this much contrast, but the contrast is nice. Henk's chicken calculator shows some areas of contrast in the bird -- and I think solid lavenders don't have the coloration gradations that Isables have. Someone correct me if I'm wrong please.
Here is the graphic from Henk's chicken calculator:
and here is the 'poster girl' chicken from the .pdf file at the beginning of this thread:
Same hen, same morning, same training cage. This shot shows that she does have a pale salmon in the breast feathers. This is a fairly definite and undoubted salmon. Even more saturated I would love to see, but this is good. The barring gene shouldn't lighten this color -- or at least it doesn't lighten the Cream Legbar's. It would be ultra nice to get the contrast of salmon breast with the rest of the chicken that silver duckwing shows -- but I think lavender won't allow that. never-the-less -- selection for the clearest and most saturated salmon possible (even though it is going to be diluted) is something that is a priority for me (down the road)
Her butt fluff, and her yellow legs. This hen is laying well too -- so her yellow is pretty strong and clear. My Legbars will lose yellow until they molt, or go broody like the one I have now -- and then the yellow is restored. It could be the morning light, or it could be the chicken -- but in that fluff -- I see a warmer color than just plain gray/lavender.
A nice shot of the tail for color, and structurally -- this is more of a fan-tailed look than the tapered tail. Also showing in this light, in this shot her tail is more saturated - if she were a brown leghorn look - it would be black or brown. In other shots her tail may not show this much contrast, but the contrast is nice. Henk's chicken calculator shows some areas of contrast in the bird -- and I think solid lavenders don't have the coloration gradations that Isables have. Someone correct me if I'm wrong please.
Here is the graphic from Henk's chicken calculator:
and here is the 'poster girl' chicken from the .pdf file at the beginning of this thread:
I have 8 Isabel Leghorn chicks available. These are the last isabel Leghorn chicks I'm offering this year, possibly ever, as I divert my resources instead to work on projects. PM me for details if you are interested in the chicks. There are 8 chicks. They are four weeks old. I believe there are four pullets and four cockerels.
The chicks offered are siblings to this pullet. Possibility of getting some great color in these chicks.
The chicks offered are siblings to this pullet. Possibility of getting some great color in these chicks.
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #358
Great hatch! What a nice crowd - thank you for posting! That chick on the left -- has the sweetest chicken expression on it's face. Oh - and I found those baskets at WalMart - as you suggested, the food serving ones and I think they were 4/$1.00 - so not bad at about 25-cents each.Ask and ye shall receive!All photos from this morning.
They're more than ready to be out of the hatcher! I've been running behind schedule on nearly everything, so I'm just now scrubbing the brooder.then I'll move the chicks and candle the remaining eggs.
They're in the brooder! Here are the basket pics like I see y'all do.
Isabel:
Splits:
I was expecting my OE cochin eggs to hatch blue. Not sure what this color is, but I was afraid I'd get them mixed up. Forgot about those feathered legs!
One of the isabel chicks hatched with unabsorbed yolk. I've kept it separated, and it seems to be doing better.
Edit: so that was 7 isabels and 2 splits out of the dozen. 3 didn't hatch. The other two splits were from "my" eggs.
Isabel:
Splits:
I was expecting my OE cochin eggs to hatch blue. Not sure what this color is, but I was afraid I'd get them mixed up. Forgot about those feathered legs!
One of the isabel chicks hatched with unabsorbed yolk. I've kept it separated, and it seems to be doing better.
Edit: so that was 7 isabels and 2 splits out of the dozen. 3 didn't hatch. The other two splits were from "my" eggs.
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #360
Thank you for pictures! they're just WONDERFUL.
For other people's hatches I get almost as excited as for my own. Hope that yolk sack will absorb. It looks like the chick will be a bit behind the others -- but if kept warm will catch up to them in a week or so, would be my guess. - Fingers crossed for that one. You got a NICE proportion of recessive lav hatchlings.
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