Post Pics of your Leghorns

[Alaskan]

So.....I have been reading through the SOP.... How many of you'll have leghorns who's backs look too long? Mine are all very long in the back.

 

[chiklee]

Ozzie and harriot 4 month old brown RC

 

[Alaskan]

Ozzie and harriot 4 month old brown RC

Ooh! So pretty! First, WHERE DID YOU GET THEM???? Second, what do you think about about the SOP and the back length/shape?

 

[chiklee]

Ooh! So pretty!

First, WHERE DID YOU GET THEM????

Second, what do you think about about the SOP and the back length/shape?

mcmurrary

and I think this is a nice shape I think they are beautiful birds Just perfect to me.

 

[cluckcluckluke]

Ozzie and harriot 4 month old brown RC

They are beautiful! Defiantly wouldn't have picked them from a hatchery.
On your rooster is his wing supposed to be that vertical?

 

[Alaskan]

Quote:
Oh, I hope it didn't sound like I was saying your birds weren't nice looking. I do like them, and I actually think they might even be better looking than mine *sniff*

I had really hoped to start some at least decent breeding, and worked hard to find some Rose Comb Leghorns...and now that they are growing out well, I am actually rather disappointed with them. I mail ordered breeder eggs.

I am wondering, if I had gotten 25 from McMurry, maybe I would have ended up with a few I really liked.

I will try to get a better picture of mine tomorrow, and show you what I mean.

I am toying with the idea of simply eating all of my leghorn cockerels, focusing on the other breeds that I bought, and try some better quality Leghorns in two years.

 

[Alaskan]

Quote: They are a definitely a handsome pair, but not perfectly to SOP (but then what birds are?)

Anyway, a perfect male would have the wings horizontal and more of a swoop to the back.

This is what you want to aim for:

See how marvelously his back swoops? My roosters have a much flatter back, and a very low tail. The Rooster's tail is supposed to be at a 45 degree angle, and the hen's at 40 degrees.

 

[Alaskan]

Oh, also, as to wings.

A bit of the wing angle can be caused by exercise. If he never flies, they might droop a bit more than they would if he flaps a great deal.

Also, simply the mood of the bird can affect the way the wing is held.

I am having a problem properly evaluating my flock, because the cockerels lower down on the totem pole tend to hold their tails lower, simply as an act of submission, and because they are more stressed.

 

[cluckcluckluke]

Yeah that's what I thought but as you guys are in the US I thought it may be different.

Yes I know what you mean, one day an individual can look fabulous but then the next, not so. It's not that they are bad, it's just how they are holding themselves.
What don't you like about your birds? I don't think I could manage just eating all my birds if I had put a lot of effort into them, even if they aren't at the point I had hoped they be.

 

[Alaskan]

Yeah that's what I thought but as you guys are in the US I thought it may be different.

Yes I know what you mean, one day an individual can look fabulous but then the next, not so. It's not that they are bad, it's just how they are holding themselves.
What don't you like about your birds? I don't think I could manage just eating all my birds if I had put a lot of effort into them, even if they aren't at the point I had hoped they be.

I have three male Leghorns. I bought Rose Comb Dark brown Leghorns, and well, one has a single comb

(now, I know that many breeders of rose comb birds keep a few single comb birds in the flock to supposedly help improve fertility, but still

)

All three have very long backs and very low tail sets.

I will try to take good pictures tomorrow and post them. They are just very disappointing. Not that I expected perfect, to SOP birds. But, I did expect better than what I got. Of course, they are clearly Dark Brown leghorns, so maybe I should be happy with that.