The Legbar Thread!

[TheTropix]

Hi y'all,
I don't know if I should start a new thread for this question, but since it's about Cream Legbar eggs, specifically, here it goes. Lately I've hatched Marans, Marans/BO, GL Cochins, and Cream Legbars. I've had good hatch rates across all these eggs (not shipped). EVERY single time, without exception, the CL eggs have very small air sacs compared to any of the other eggs. Like comparing a dime to a quarter or something. They hatch very well and are healthy, sturdy chicks. One other thing.. this one CL hen (it's her eggs I'm hatching) seems to throw girls far more than boys. Out of now 10 eggs that hatched (out of 14) from different dates, there has only been 1 boy. Last night 3 more little girls hatched, Mostly though, I wonder why they have such a small air sack? Have any of y'all noticed the same thing?
Thanks and T.G.I.F. Sherry

 

[KPenley]

Hi Sherry! Now that you mention it, the CLs do have a smaller air sac than my Silkies. No idea why

If you have a hen that makes more girls than boys, then woohoo!!!! Keep her girls to breed from and maybe they'll get mama's tendency to make more girls than boys!

 

[blackbirds13]

Yep! Once I have a batch of CREAM girls (growing now....

) my 3 gold girls will be moving the my BCM pen to do exactly that!

I think I'm going to do exactly that next month.
I've been trying to come up with a plan and I'm thinking of selling off my Madcuff and 1 or 2 Cream girls in his pen (Pen A) once I see exactly what pops out of the other pen with Macbeth (Pen B). I'm going to be placing the 2 gold hens in that Pen A into a Marans pen that I'm currently working on re-starting. This depends on how my young boys grow out as I really worry about having just one breeding rooster - my luck has been plum awful.
Over winter, I plan on keeping Macbeth and his 3 Cream girls as I LOVE how they look - they all have lighter crests and pale more salmon colored breasts and decent tail angles. I'm hoping that this quad will produce only cream so I can then focus more on type issues. I'm going to add in a few of the girls I'm growing out also. I'd like to get to about 6-10 hens in that pen. I'd like to then create pens for next spring with these and the chicks I hatch from this pen and line breeding.
For males, I'm hoping to get 2 decent males from my batch of current chicks. I'd like one from the GFF chicks and one from my own so I'd have 3 boys and then the trio of white sports (the whites would replace my Jubilees in the long term). I have a number of correct cream colored hackle female chicks in the brooder and grow-out so I will let them grow a bit more then choose a few and sell off the rest. The boys will take much longer for results.

So far my live bird sales are all local so it's slow going but I'm going to start switching things up pen and bird wise next month in preparation for next spring. Everything depends on what pops out the incubator next month.

as I'm only going to hatch from Pen B for now.

 

[TheTropix]

Hi Sherry! Now that you mention it, the CLs do have a smaller air sac than my Silkies. No idea why

If you have a hen that makes more girls than boys, then woohoo!!!! Keep her girls to breed from and maybe they'll get mama's tendency to make more girls than boys!

That's what I'm hoping, too! I have a young rooster, who isn't related to anyone, waiting in the wings. It won't be long and I'll have 2 pens of unrelated roosters with hens they aren't related to either. In fact, I was working on a temp pen just now, but came in for a coffee break. Guess I ought to get back at it. Gee it's muggy out there! KPenley, I'm glad you've noticed about the air sacs, too.

 

[blackbirds13]

Went out to look at the birds. I have too many

These are the female (above) and male (below) white Legbar sports. They are prettier in person than I thought but still prefer the Cream Legbar coloring better.

 

[TheTropix]

Hi Blackbird,
Those white ones are Cream Legbars????? HOW did you get white ones?!? They're beautiful! Was this a natural sport? amazing & WOW!

 

[ChicKat]

Went out to look at the birds. I have too many

These are the female (above) and male (below) white Legbar sports. They are prettier in person than I thought but still prefer the Cream Legbar coloring better.

Really nice birds Blackbirds13!!

 

[blackbirds13]

Hi Blackbird,
Those white ones are Cream Legbars????? HOW did you get white ones?!? They're beautiful! Was this a natural sport? amazing & WOW!

I really was kinda dreading them initially. They were popping up in quite a few flocks so I figured it was just a matter of time. I think I have an idea of which 2 hens it could possibly be but do not have the time or space to investigate further right now. I probably would have re-homed them a few months ago but since I am downsizing and limiting what I bring it I shall keep them and play around with them if they make it to breeding age. I have 2 females and 1 male thus far. It is a natural sport, something recessive. They really are quite striking. I just am not a fan of white birds... too many hawks around here but just grateful to have what I have. If anyone has bred them I'd love to know if they breed true or what happens over generations?

Thanks ChicKat, I'm hoping for some good keepers for next year and like what I'm seeing in the girls but it's the boys that are more problematic and take way too long to show their 'true colors'. I'm going to have a lot of serious and hard culling. Hoping the smaller winter comb really holds up.

 

[lonnyandrinda]

I really was kinda dreading them initially. They were popping up in quite a few flocks so I figured it was just a matter of time. I think I have an idea of which 2 hens it could possibly be but do not have the time or space to investigate further right now. I probably would have re-homed them a few months ago but since I am downsizing and limiting what I bring it I shall keep them and play around with them if they make it to breeding age. I have 2 females and 1 male thus far. It is a natural sport, something recessive. They really are quite striking. I just am not a fan of white birds... too many hawks around here but just grateful to have what I have. If anyone has bred them I'd love to know if they breed true or what happens over generations?

Thanks ChicKat, I'm hoping for some good keepers for next year and like what I'm seeing in the girls but it's the boys that are more problematic and take way too long to show their 'true colors'. I'm going to have a lot of serious and hard culling. Hoping the smaller winter comb really holds up.

I don't think anyone has bred them together yet. I assume white X white will produce all white, and white X regular will produce mostly regular but many carrying the recessive white. Out of every 50-70 eggs I set I hatch about 2 whites.

 

[Thespoiledchicken]

I don't think anyone has bred them together yet. I assume white X white will produce all white, and white X regular will produce mostly regular but many carrying the recessive white. Out of every 50-70 eggs I set I hatch about 2 whites.

Yes White x White only results in Whites. I was breeding my Whites together and getting 100% White chicks but found that most of the chicks were dying in shell before hatch. Also a lot of them were deformed. Whites hatched from Cream parents carrying the recessive White are healthy but breeding the Whites together (in my case) resulted in unthrifty chicks that died or were defective.

I'm thinking they are just too inbred. Crossing the recessive White into the new line and then breeding those chicks together will add some new blood and continue the Whites. I'm hoping it's just inbreeding and not some weird lethal gene or something because the Whites really are stunning!

CJwaldon is working on the Whites so maybe she can chime in