Standardbred Leghorn Thread

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

Color faults on a light brown male:

Mossyness through the shoulder, slight shafting in the hackle, I also dislike the fact that this male has more purple sheen in the black than green.

I think that one's pretty obvious.

Overall, this male is also lighter built and rangier and lacks the substance and width of his brothers. I took a personal disliking to him because he's a scrapper and always fighting. Cull pen.

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

Color fault on a female. Can you spot the difference?

 

[cmom]

Not really but if you pointed it out I would probably take notice. Not very obvious. I have Rose Comb Dark Browns.

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

Not really but if you pointed it out I would probably take notice. Not very obvious. I have Rose Comb Dark Browns.

The female on the left lacks salmon coloration on her breast. This is called "partridge breast" according to Bud. I didn't catch it until I sent him this photo and he pointed it out.

 

[cmom]

Now I notice.

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

Now I notice.

It's too bad, otherwise I like her a lot. I think I'll throw her in with my Isabella male. I'm half anticipating culling everything he produces anyway.

 

[cmom]

I have what I call my general population coops and pens. Birds I'm not going to use for breeding go into the general population. I sell eggs so it works out good.

 

[cmom]

Self service.

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

I have what I call my general population coops and pens. Birds I'm not going to use for breeding go into the general population. I sell eggs so it works out good.

It's funny you say that, lol. I don't sell eggs so I was about to give a few of my cull friends to a hen when my mom had a fit. The cull hens are the only ones making eggs we can actually eat since everything else gets hatched!

My biggest problem is that I have a ton of extra males in my "general population" pen and it would cause chaos to add just two or three cull hens in there, not to mention it would be cruel to the girls! I could put them in the Legbar pen because I'd be able to tell their eggs apart, but I already have only one male to 8 females and don't want to risk reduced fertilization. I guess maybe they can go in with those ugly little Columbian Rock bantams I've got out there, lol.

 

[Geckolady]

I bought my first chickens, 3 pullets and a cockerel, from a man who shows leghorns and takes chicken shows quite seriously. It's probably best not to mention names. Anyway, mine are cuckoo leghorns and he sold them because he wasn't happy with some things about their coloring. As a former dog show person, I know about breeding to a standard, and would like to know where I can see a copy of the standard. My birds are young and just barely started laying (got my first two eggs today--yay!), and I'd like to hatch some chicks in the spring.

Now, I can look at a standard (if I ever find a copy), and while it may specify back length, since I have no frame of reference in my head, I'm not sure what constitutes long or short. The same with other features. I bought a book on leghorns hoping to find out this sort of thing, and also how the color and pattern genetics of leghorns works, but the book disappointed on both topics.

Can someone take me under their leghorn wing and guide me on this?