Liege Fighter crosses

[MissLavender]

Yea he looks big already, much bigger than my phoenix cross lol. I've had crosses that take after the Lieges size but they've all had weird solid brownish red coloring and no long tail. I'd like to cross my new guy back to the Liege hens. Especially now that I have a couple of up and coming splash hens in the mix. Old picture but this one filled out fairly well and she's about laying age now.

If you’re looking to add the long tail to the mix, I recommend crossing to Hmong. Most of them have longtail genetics that carry over well into other game crosses.

 

[Dnorton]

Does anybody know if the size gene is sex linked? In other words, is it the hen or the rooster that determines how big the offspring will be? Does it vary by breed?

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Does anybody know if the size gene is sex linked? In other words, is it the hen or the rooster that determines how big the offspring will be? Does it vary by breed?

F1 cock in first pic, F2 stags in second and third pics.

After I made my F1 cross of aseel cock to Liege hen I thought that [size is sex-linked] was the case. All of the F1 and F2 male offspring grown out both in my care and in the care of others came out in the 6-7lb range with little room for additional growth into their second or third years. The F2s were produced by breeding the F1 cock back to the Liege, making 3/4 Liege offspring.

I have recently produced 2 F2 stags that appear that they'll be the size of a Liege rooster when mature based on their current sizes and rates of growth. There was no Liege rooster used in their creation so now I no longer suspect that the rooster size is sex-linked.

 

[Dnorton]

Thanks. My juveniles are growing up. Hatched in august. They all look to be bigger than my hen already. I think I have at least 5 cockerels. Will need to reduce that number. I have 3 chickens from 2 other blood lines, so I will have 3 breeding pens. Will be interesting to see how they turn out and how the next generation looks.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

My brother raises a lot of Greenfire stock Liege and they seem to grow fast. His stags at 9 or so months are much taller than a mature Liege hen of 2 years old. They're definitely at or near a mature height by the first year. My F1 aseel crosses grew slow. My F1 brood cock is going on two years old and I believe he is still growing, albeit very slowly. I don't think he'll add any height but he may add another pound of muscle over the next year.

The current F2s seem to be growing fast, more like the Greenfire stock. The orange F2 stag I call Azog has put on .8oz a day over the past month since I wormed him for the first time. Most of that time was free range, but I gave him high protein treats daily. Usually old meat from the butcher. For the past several days he's been penned with my layer hens and I haven't weighed him again, but I suspect his growth is maintaining or accelerating as he now has access to feed all day. Tonight I felt his breasts on the roost and he's filling out nicely.

 

[MissLavender]

Liege x Hmong update:
He has earned the name Bahamut, and is now 7 months old. These photos were taken at 5 months. I’ll try to get newer pics soon.

 

[MissLavender]

Bahamut, Liege x Hmong, 7 months

 

[Dnorton]

What cross produces the biggest birds? I’ve seen pics of Adele/gigante that look like dinosaurs

 

[AGeese]

Liege x Hmong update:
He has earned the name Bahamut, and is now 7 months old. These photos were taken at 5 months. I’ll try to get newer pics soon. View attachment 3334390View attachment 3334391View attachment 3334392View attachment 3334393View attachment 3334394View attachment 3334396

Looking good!

 

[RobG7aChattTN]

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F1 cock in first pic, F2 stags in second and third pics.

After I made my F1 cross of aseel cock to Liege hen I thought that [size is sex-linked] was the case. All of the F1 and F2 male offspring grown out both in my care and in the care of others came out in the 6-7lb range with little room for additional growth into their second or third years. The F2s were produced by breeding the F1 cock back to the Liege, making 3/4 Liege offspring.

I have recently produced 2 F2 stags that appear that they'll be the size of a Liege rooster when mature based on their current sizes and rates of growth. There was no Liege rooster used in their creation so now I no longer suspect that the rooster size is sex-linked.

I had a problem with my Grey and Ceylon hybrids being too small and both laid small eggs although the Grey hybrids laid EXTREMELY small eggs. The only really large bird that I brought into my flock was an O Shamo hen. She not only was quite huge but also laid very large eggs. She was enough to give me both large hens and roosters. Her sons looked quite a bit like O Shamo but here’s one of my males that has both Ceylon and Grey in him and I specifically put some feed on the top of an overturned bucket to show his size. My hybrids that don’t have O Shamo in them are tiny little things.