The Legbar Thread!

[KendyF]

Also, what does everyone generally think of their CL roosters behaviour towards them, and to their hens?

I have had 3 Legbar roosters at the point, they are by far the best roosters I have ever had. Sunny, is always alert, protects his hens, mates like a gentleman, patrols the yard and the coops, and even fluffs egg boxes for the girls, and feeds chicks right along with the hens. He never goes to bed until the last hen and chicks are in the coop. His son is out there learning from him, and seems like he will be same. I can't say it enough. Legbar roosters are the BEST.

 

[tobit]

Keep us posted with pics and updates. The CL has the fast feathering gene and generally will have large patches of white-- especially when young and growing. They will also molt out the baby feathers...especially a 2-week old. Compare the size of the dinky-little feathers on the wings now with the size of primaries on a full grown chicken and you can see that those feathers won't last very long. -- IMO it shouldn't be a concern, but may be an indicator that your particular little male isn't one with a lot of black pigment to distribute to his plumage.

I have two CL roosters that are extremely good to the hens -- amazingly -- I have one that is not as gentle and he is removed from the female (there were only 3 with him) so they can grow back the feathers that they lost while breeding. -- Mostly I would say that the CL rooster is good to hens and very protective. CL rooster behavior here varies--- some are overly protective -- and they may trigger that on what threats are directly in their environments. They know if there are prowlers outside the coop at night when they are IN with the hens...they just don't know for certain who/what the prowlers ARE. The more raccoons around here, the edgier some of my males will be. -- The roosters are often between the hens and me (nonchalantly) -- and nearer to the door of the coop at night so they would intercept anything that enters. (I leave the doors open to a wired-walk-in-run when it is this hot.)

Be sure to updates us when you find their behavior traits -- and see how they compare to the USA strains.

I will post some pictures later on today! Ah i see, well if i compare him to the other male chick he seems to have more grey rather than dark grey - and less barring on his wings (the main feathers they have at the moment...).

Ah i see, they sound really great! So could the "overly protective"-ness tend towards agressiveness to humans? At the moment i cant say too much on their behaviour, i hand feed them and they are a bit skittish but less than the females (as is often the case with male chicks) but im not sure how much i should handle them, my first rooster (cochin bantam) was hardly handled as his foster mother was VERY protective, and he turned out great! So i guess we will have to see how these 2 turn out...

 

[tobit]

I have had 3 Legbar roosters at the point, they are by far the best roosters I have ever had. Sunny, is always alert, protects his hens, mates like a gentleman, patrols the yard and the coops, and even fluffs egg boxes for the girls, and feeds chicks right along with the hens. He never goes to bed until the last hen and chicks are in the coop. His son is out there learning from him, and seems like he will be same. I can't say it enough. Legbar roosters are the BEST.

Thank you, everyone's input is greatly appreciated

 

[tobit]

I have had 3 Legbar roosters at the point, they are by far the best roosters I have ever had. Sunny, is always alert, protects his hens, mates like a gentleman, patrols the yard and the coops, and even fluffs egg boxes for the girls, and feeds chicks right along with the hens. He never goes to bed until the last hen and chicks are in the coop. His son is out there learning from him, and seems like he will be same. I can't say it enough. Legbar roosters are the BEST.

Oh, and it sounds like your roosters are BRILL!

 

[tobit]

The slow feathering male at 2 weeks

 

[tobit]

The "normal" feathering male at 2 weeks

 

[tobit]

And my broody and chicks roaming around

 

[ChicKat]

And my broody and chicks roaming around

Lovely photos - I think your garden, the chickens and the angle of the photo and the slant of the sun make it all beautiful. -- Now -- weekly updates are expected. ;O)

 

[ChicKat]

I will post some pictures later on today! Ah i see, well if i compare him to the other male chick he seems to have more grey rather than dark grey - and less barring on his wings (the main feathers they have at the moment...).

Ah i see, they sound really great! So could the "overly protective"-ness tend towards agressiveness to humans? At the moment i cant say too much on their behaviour, i hand feed them and they are a bit skittish but less than the females (as is often the case with male chicks) but im not sure how much i should handle them, my first rooster (cochin bantam) was hardly handled as his foster mother was VERY protective, and he turned out great! So i guess we will have to see how these 2 turn out...

after spending a decade on a cattle ranch and living with the animals always in close proximity -- I have a differing perspective of aggressive and normal animal behavior. Maybe because the bulls weighed 2,000 pounds and working with them in a smallish pen -- you had better be totally aware and respectful of exactly where the male IS, exactly what signals he is sending, what he is doing, how agitated he is -- and were he is looking. -- In some ways I would consider aggressive an unwarranted attack. But then what is the line between protecting his family and being 'evil' to humans.

I have had two CL roosters that were really quite mean...and they were both dispatched because of that -- (and a few other things)---- The rest fall into what I would expect. One rooster here is fearful strangely enough and always runs when I enter the pen. I am always aware of what they are doing, where they are and how they are acting. Picking up and dropping food/treats for the female is one thing....picking up and dropping stones, sticks -- to me a sign he is agitated (this really confused me when I first saw this behavior). Two of them here I consider 'mean' - but they never get the opportunity to express it. -- For one I carry a squirt bottle into his pen and when he looks at me askance I'm ready to squirt water right in his face if he acts with even the slightest aggression - he always will walk away, back down or go on about his business. I need to only hold or shake the bottle -- occasionally squirt in the air -- The bottle hangs on the fence outside his coop run.

I have an Omlet Eglu - The classic Pod kind that you can't even get in the USA any longer....infact, I think from ebay I purchased the very first one imported to the USA it is in perfect condition too! Once I was reaching in the egg-port to get eggs -- and the rooster I had in there with 2 hens came after my arm and made some holes in it. ouch. - Now when I replace feed and water at one end, I have put scratch at the opposite end to occupy them. It isn't ideal -- but there are ways to handle them that are very easy, safe and no harm done to either them or myself. I don't believe that trying to dominate or out-rooster (alpha-dog stuff) the rooster is productive or useful. JMO. This breeding cycle I am working to lower tail angles, and when I have that trait--- I will work on disposition.

All that being said. I would NOT allow small children with my roosters (and would be nervous to have small children around any breeding male, of any species actually) - to a 2,000 pound bull a toddler or a 3-year old is a predator and needs to be treated as such and killed-- so I have been told that their brains work that way) Had a little girl of about 8 over here that thought it was fun to tease the rooster and run in front of his fence so he would chase her. Needless to say - she has not been back.

If you have little children - be super careful and extra watchful. I may have some genetics that contain a mean gene and many other people's flocks won't have that.... If it is yourself and other adults use the normal caution that you would use with animals..... HTH

 

[ochochicas]

I've only had one legbar rooster. He was great with the hens and always stood guard for them. He was a great flock leader. Unfortunately he was evil towards people. He was mean when we got him, and we were warned by his previous owner. As he got older he got worse. You always had to have a stick or bucket or something in your hand and he wouldn't bother you. However, if you were outside empty handed he would attack your legs repeatedly. One day he jumped on DH's back and not long after that he flew of the roost and was thinking about going after my head. He was gone the next day. He's the only mean rooster I've ever had, and he's the last legbar.