The Legbar Thread!

[DCchicken]

I have 17 eggs that went into lockdown. They started popping an hour ago. Love it when they just start all hatching like popcorn.

I really wish they would dry faster. The suspense is killing me.

 

[Thespoiledchicken]

Is anyone breeding line C and finding they are hatching mostly females?

I am shocked how many females this lines is producing for me and wondering if I am just getting insanely lucky or if the line tends to produce more females?? Is that even possible?? So far I have hatched about 20 females and only 2 males

Last year breeding original line I was hatching more males than females so I know it's not my feed or anything like that.

 

[lonnyandrinda]

Is anyone breeding line C and finding they are hatching mostly females?

I am shocked how many females this lines is producing for me and wondering if I am just getting insanely lucky or if the line tends to produce more females?? Is that even possible?? So far I have hatched about 20 females and only 2 males

Last year breeding original line I was hatching more males than females so I know it's not my feed or anything like that.

Could be luck of the hatches... or it could be your hens. Hens determine gender in chickens. Just as some human males father more boys than girls or vice versa, some hens create more female eggs than male eggs or vice versa.

 

[Thespoiledchicken]

Could be luck of the hatches... or it could be your hens. Hens determine gender in chickens. Just as some human males father more boys than girls or vice versa, some hens create more female eggs than male eggs or vice versa.

That is what I was thinking- that somehow my hens are more prone to creating more girls and wondering if others with the line was getting the same.

My current breeders were hatched from madamwlf (I hatched 6 girls and 2 boys) and I think I recall her posting about some really lucky female hatches she was having a while back. Now I'm wondering if it could run in the line?? Hens who produce a lot of females create more hens who produce a lot of females

Is it possible to selectively breed a line that produces mostly females

 

[lonnyandrinda]

That is what I was thinking- that somehow my hens are more prone to creating more girls and wondering if others with the line was getting the same.

My current breeders were hatched from madamwlf (I hatched 6 girls and 2 boys) and I think I recall her posting about some really lucky female hatches she was having a while back. Now I'm wondering if it could run in the line?? Hens who produce a lot of females create more hens who produce a lot of females

Is it possible to selectively breed a line that produces mostly females

IMO If you could the hatcheries would be all over it and there would be no need for a "cockerel grinder" line. So probably not.

 

[ChicKat]

Is anyone breeding line C and finding they are hatching mostly females?

I am shocked how many females this lines is producing for me and wondering if I am just getting insanely lucky or if the line tends to produce more females?? Is that even possible?? So far I have hatched about 20 females and only 2 males

Last year breeding original line I was hatching more males than females so I know it's not my feed or anything like that.

I've had 10 females and 2 males this year... -- Nice ratios IMO. Mine are from the yellow legband line and the green legband line.... I think that one of those may be C - but not certain.

Someone was telling me the other day that there is such a thing as a hen that produces more females. --
I agree that if the hatchery production could identify that trait it would be capitalized on---but one big factor not in that equation is that those with backyard flocks know the chickens and the hatchery just has volume. JMO. There could be something that isn't applicable to the scale of high volumen production.

 

[Thespoiledchicken]

I've had 10 females and 2 males this year... -- Nice ratios IMO.  Mine are from the yellow legband line and the green legband line....  I think that one of those may be C - but not certain. 

Someone was telling me the other day that there is such a thing as a hen that produces more females.  -- 
I agree that if the hatchery production could identify that trait it would be capitalized on---but one big factor not in that equation is that those with backyard flocks know the chickens and the hatchery just has volume.  JMO.  There could be something that isn't applicable to the scale of high volumen production.  

I think there could be something to this for sure. And like you said hatcheries deal with volume- when you consider that some hens will likely produce alot more males than everything would eventually balance out with large numbers.

I'm going to start keeping close track of who is producing what and see if I can keep this going

 

[Junibutt]

Is anyone breeding line C and finding they are hatching mostly females?

I am shocked how many females this lines is producing for me and wondering if I am just getting insanely lucky or if the line tends to produce more females?? Is that even possible?? So far I have hatched about 20 females and only 2 males

Last year breeding original line I was hatching more males than females so I know it's not my feed or anything like that.

Could you be your hens? Yes. But also need to consider the hatch rate. What was your hatch rate? Maybe all the eggs that did not hatch were male and due to environmental differences, only females hatch.

 

[Runawaylobster]

I would like to know if there are numbers of legbars out there that are heterozygous for the blue egg gene. I have got some (i believe) and also a friend of mine has one for sure. Is this a recognized issue? potentially if i crossed my hens with my friends roo we would make legbars that lay white eggs, but i am guessing would look just like legbars.

 

[KPenley]

I would like to know if there are numbers of legbars out there that are heterozygous for the blue egg gene.  I have got some (i believe) and also a friend of mine has one for sure.   Is this a recognized issue?   potentially if i crossed my hens with my friends roo we would make legbars that lay white eggs, but i am guessing would look just like legbars.

I don't know the numbers, but yes this can be an issue if it's not nipped immediately. Two members of the CLC had a hen laying tinted eggs last year, and zi've heard about a couple laying white this year. There have also been varying shades of green, meaning that there is some brown coming from somewhere ( possibly from the ill conceived rumor going around last year that you needed to breed Legbars with PBRs to keep them autosexing ) I think a bunch of these eggs ended up on ebay. If your rooster came from a white egg, and the hen laid them as well, then yes you would have white egg layers. If the rooster came from a blue egg, the offspring would be blue egg layers.