Really nice pictures!My 2 boys are coming along nicely I think. I have my first batch of eggs they both sired in the incubator now on day 6. Im excited to see how their offspring turn out.
D.B. -Dark Boy
L.B. - Light Boy
No, I have only posted him in my blog. One day in a pen with the chicks that had hatched about 3-weeks after him -- three pullets were pulling on his little wattles (on the other side of a small fence between the age groups)-- and he was tolerating it -- and kind of flinching - like you do when you are holding a little baby and the baby is scratching your face with it's tiny little fingers... He really is tolerant of a lot.
No, I have only posted him in my blog. One day in a pen with the chicks that had hatched about 3-weeks after him -- three pullets were pulling on his little wattles (on the other side of a small fence between the age groups)-- and he was tolerating it -- and kind of flinching - like you do when you are holding a little baby and the baby is scratching your face with it's tiny little fingers... He really is tolerant of a lot.
he is getting hormones now - and is separate from the females - And sadly one of his sisters from the same hatch may have Mareks - so I am watching her (and all of them now) really closely. I have a really different attitude about Marek's than when I first encountered it - but that is a whole 'nother story.
I went out and snapped him:
He looks kind of scrawny there, doesn't he? Threw him on the scale since tomorrow is his 15-week weigh-in and he weighs 4.25-pounds. You can see what I mean by 'all legs' -- there was a photo of a cockerel this age somewhere on the internet - and we kind of once said - that is the definition of stiltiness...
For all my line of roosters, I plan to work to retain chestnut in the wings of my cockerels, and since I don't prefer the white-looking males - try to keep a definite cream look in saddles and possibly hackles - that is definitely and unmistakably NOT white-looking. I also prefer just a couple of the sickles arching in white-- since these are allowed in the SOP- I'm good with his coloration. The backliighting and reflected grass makes him look a bit more chartreuse he is actually a bit more gray than this shows..- My flock will tend to darken on the breast feathers as the male reaches 1-year old - and lighten on the hackles.
For chestnut in the wings--- I think that the amount shown when you enter the genetics on Henk Meijers Chicken Calculator is the perfect amount in the perfect place. I wrote an article about this for the Cream Legbar Club's newsletter---If you are not familiar with it or would like to have a copy -- just send me a PM - or go to the Chicken Calculator - it is very cool!! I would like that amount in that location -
Also, I have to say though - this is particularly 'flattering' of his tail angle because he usually holds it as a squirrel tail. His back looks particularly long there too, and his wing carriage is horizontal ... hadn't even been paying attention to that. Hope he will keep that along with his symmetry. Another funny thing on him...he has a straight comb - the desired 6-points -- but they aren't particularly neat and regular...and his crest is more split to each side of his comb --- and kind of looks like a pheasant's. Hope he doesn't develop a devilish personality to go along with his split crest...
It would be nice if he could lengthen his back, keep his high wings, lower his tail to hold more like this more of the time --- and fill out a bit -- but he is a strong healthy little guy right now...and I'm thinking that he may take over for the old rooster when his day to retire comes about..... My cream Legbar cockerels go through so many changes that you really could almost think that they are different birds at different stages of their lives. Today though - the most uncanny thing, I had two adult roosters 'fence fighting' - and they were so alike that I almost though I was seeing in a mirror.
You may recall that we were criticized for Cream Legbars being 'all over the place' - and it is interesting to see the emergence of that cookie cutter - like appearance where the flock has a very identical appearance from one to the next. So my roosters are looking like their dads, and my hens are looking like their moms...it is kind of a cool thing to see develop.
ETA - it occurred to me that I could pull up the pict. in photoshop - and put the eye-dropper on something that is a known white to remove the color cast to the photo-- so I used his white tail feathers...this is probably a more true-to-life color image:
His earlobes and sickles are true white.... :O)
They look so good! and so sturdy! Nice healthy chicks.Off to a good start...
I'm happy,
