The Legbar Thread!

[ronott1]

I hatched out a total of 8 eggs that I thought were from a leghorn hen x legbar rooster but it turned out that 2 were from the legbar x polish, so it will be interesting to see them grow. The 6 legbarhorns are all very active and all are crested. They should all be barred but only 4 have a spot. The plan is to breed the best hens from this batch back to the father. I also have a different line of leghorns that I am outcrossing to when they get old enough. This batch is for a production type line and the next will be to fix type some more. I will try to take pics as they grow so I can show how they turn out.

This is fantastic!

You are going for increased egg production while retaining the auto sexing--like breeding the RhodeBars back to heritage RIRs to improve the color and type but still be auto sexing?

This will take three generations?

I can't wait to see what you get.

Ron

Edited to fix grammar: Ron

 

[flyingmonkeypoop]

I can be picky when it comes to birds. I love the color of the legbars but the type is not for me, and same with production. I want a bird that will start laying closer to 5- 5 1/2 months old and have a better type. Plus I like rose combs so I am working on all of these things this year. The production hen I have is rose combed and she started laying around 5 1/2 months old but her type is much like the legbars with the funky tail. The pullets I have in the grow out pen right now are more show type so I'll cross them with the main rooster this fall and keep a few lines going at all times. When I feel that the different lines are good enough, I'll try to cross them together to get both. If I remember correctly, I make the first cross which gives me all light brown colored chicks with the crele coloring. I back cross to legbar and should regain the cream and those should be able to produce autosexing chicks, that is if all goes as planned.

 

[blackbirds13]

Wow flyingmonkeypoop. I cannot even imagine doing what you are doing at this point in my knowledge of chickens and breeding. I have to admit that while I love the look of the hen and the rooster color, I do prefer a beefier male. I love the look of the Black Copper Rooster. It will be interesting to see what you get so I hope you share as you go along. I will have to really work on organizing my pens and the like if I ever hope to get there. One day I hope to be able to 'create' my own chicken.... Can I ask why the rose comb? What do you like about it. I have not seen one - only single and pea combs so I am completely ignorant on that aspect.

 

[ChicKat]

Not to offend anyone, but my Cream Legbars have been pretty healthy and I have them at all ages running around. I even stuck chicks that were only 2 weeks old outside with no problems or issues arising. I personally am really not willing to nay-say the hardiness of this breed at this point.I have found mine to be no less hardy as all the other breeds I have or have had thus far. It seems that there are problems all over BYC with a variety of breeds and one unfortunate happenstance or another. The heat has been brutal and I don't think that helps either. JMHO.

Hi blackbirds13.

I hope that you are right about the hardiness. My cream legbar female is the first to start panting, and I think she feels the heat the most. I don't think that our heat agrees with her feathering. My Cream Legbar rooster has such thick feathers that when I wanted to worm him (I realized I wormed my female in plenty of time before she started laying eggs---like about 16 weeks-- but forgot him--and he just got neglected)-- when I was looking for a patch of bare skin....I could not find one on the back of his neck. Pretty awkward...so I searched and found one just under his crest. These birds are really thickly feathered. (England/Northern Europe cold & damp winters - and sometimes summers too?)

Heat is a very big concern for me.

In a couple of weeks, my hen will have reached that magic 7-months old and have been laying for long enough for the eggs she lays to produce healthy babies. I think I am going to try for a hatch at that time..... providing that our heat isn't perilous to any chicks.... Just think, the brooder should be 95-degrees and the outdoor temperature is 110 - Has anyone ever had to cool their chicks in a brooder? lol.

 

[flyingmonkeypoop]

Thanks! I like a more old fashioned, streamlined leghorn look with the graceful tail and all. I like the rose comb because up here in my neck of the woods, we get to -20 in winters and I don't want to have to deal with frostbite on birds with big floppy combs. The leghorn rose comb is more long and thin compared to a wyandotte.

I think too much about chickens. When I am at work or laying in bed, all I think about are chicken genetics and how I can come up with something new and interesting, or how I can fix a color by breeding in something else, all that fun stuff. We are working on our own farm breed now, nothing big, just production type bird that is easy for us to breed and sell. We have a market for basic layers here but we want something that is pleasing to the eye for us to deal with. It is a slow process that we aren't rushing, just when the right birds come along, we'll add them in. The cream legbar rooster will help me lots with some other side projects we're doing too

 

[madamwlf]

Hi blackbirds13.

I hope that you are right about the hardiness. My cream legbar female is the first to start panting, and I think she feels the heat the most. I don't think that our heat agrees with her feathering. My Cream Legbar rooster has such thick feathers that when I wanted to worm him (I realized I wormed my female in plenty of time before she started laying eggs---like about 16 weeks-- but forgot him--and he just got neglected)-- when I was looking for a patch of bare skin....I could not find one on the back of his neck. Pretty awkward...so I searched and found one just under his crest. These birds are really thickly feathered. (England/Northern Europe cold & damp winters - and sometimes summers too?)

Heat is a very big concern for me.

In a couple of weeks, my hen will have reached that magic 7-months old and have been laying for long enough for the eggs she lays to produce healthy babies. I think I am going to try for a hatch at that time..... providing that our heat isn't perilous to any chicks.... Just think, the brooder should be 95-degrees and the outdoor temperature is 110 - Has anyone ever had to cool their chicks in a brooder? lol.

I had my Legbar chicks off heat by 4 weeks old. They have done great. As far as hardiness, I'm not sure about that. I've already lost 5 pullets and they are the first to pant in the heat. Someone was saying that over in England there isn't a huge climate change like there is in the US. And even in Florida there isn't a big climate change where they are imported. Maybe it will take time for them to acclimate to the shifting climate some parts of the US have.

 

[anniesmom]

I had my Legbar chicks off heat by 4 weeks old. They have done great. As far as hardiness, I'm not sure about that. I've already lost 5 pullets and they are the first to pant in the heat. Someone was saying that over in England there isn't a huge climate change like there is in the US. And even in Florida there isn't a big climate change where they are imported. Maybe it will take time for them to acclimate to the shifting climate some parts of the US have.

Sounds like our Pacific Northwest weather may finally be good for something.

 

[boykin2010]

Hi blackbirds13.

I hope that you are right about the hardiness. My cream legbar female is the first to start panting, and I think she feels the heat the most. I don't think that our heat agrees with her feathering. My Cream Legbar rooster has such thick feathers that when I wanted to worm him (I realized I wormed my female in plenty of time before she started laying eggs---like about 16 weeks-- but forgot him--and he just got neglected)-- when I was looking for a patch of bare skin....I could not find one on the back of his neck. Pretty awkward...so I searched and found one just under his crest. These birds are really thickly feathered. (England/Northern Europe cold & damp winters - and sometimes summers too?)

Heat is a very big concern for me.

In a couple of weeks, my hen will have reached that magic 7-months old and have been laying for long enough for the eggs she lays to produce healthy babies. I think I am going to try for a hatch at that time..... providing that our heat isn't perilous to any chicks.... Just think, the brooder should be 95-degrees and the outdoor temperature is 110 - Has anyone ever had to cool their chicks in a brooder? lol.

Why are you waiting to 7 months to start hatching eggs? I never wait to hatch the eggs from mine. I put the very first eggs she ever laid in the incubator and all hatched out fine... Nice big healthy chicks. I do this with other breeds to and have never had a problem. I am just wondering is it the size of the egg you are worried about? Or something in the hen's body that does not function until 7 months?

 

[normanack]

 I think too much about chickens. When I am at work or laying in bed, all I think about are chicken genetics and how I can come up with something new and interesting, or how I can fix a color by breeding in something else, all that fun stuff.

So what reference works -- books, articles etc.-- are you finding most useful for your projects? I need to start at the beginning, but hope to work up to the hard-core sources if my brain doesn't explode first.

p.s. and wow, your work sounds exciting!

 

[Flaming Chicken]

Sounds like our Pacific Northwest weather may finally be good for something.

The Pacific Northwest climate is very close to England. My Legbars are tolerating our "heatwave" just fine.