The Legbar Thread!

[ChicKat]

He is very handsome. I love his long legs and his long body, even though he does seem stilted he is very balanced and proportionate. I would love to see pics of him again as he matures and fills in.

Thanks, I will post a pict once he has grown to catch up with his legs...he's in an awkward phase right now...but part of his weight (he's up there for that young IMO) is due to the length. When I was working with beef cattle - we determined the 'fastest' way to get more weight on the animals was to breed for length. Strange huh? That is one of the reasons that the Grand Champion cattle you see at fairs look so long. :O) That shot emphasizes his length. I guess usually we see our chickens from a more top-down view.

He is still young, I think he will grow in to those legs.

There really have been a lot of nice cockerels on here lately.

That's why I was wondering if chickens are like puppies - and a part of their body seems over-sized --- until they grow into it. If he grows into those legs - which I suspect he will, then he will definitely be my heaviest cockerel. He has a full brother that is 6 1/2 pounds. So the weights are trending in the direction that they should.

 

[DoubleMM]

They look so good! and so sturdy! Nice healthy chicks.

Thanks ChicKat,

I figure they will start laying around Thanksgiving give or take. Would setting in February/March be too early?

 

[ChicKat]

Thanks ChicKat,

I figure they will start laying around Thanksgiving give or take. Would setting in February/March be too early?

In Gail Damerow's book "Storey's guide to Keeping Chickens" she recommends that we wait until the pullet's eggs have reached full size. So I think that you are home free with waiting until then. Could probably even move it up a month or so depending on how they size up.

 

[chicken pickin]

When you all rehome incorrectly colored (gold) Cream Legbar pullets as blue egg layers roughly what do you charge.

I have Two 14week old pullets Im planning to rehome as just layers not breeders.

 

[Junibutt]

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

In my humble opinion, Dark Boy looks lot more handsome but thats just my opinion.

 

[Junibutt]

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)

Hi Corrigan! Welcome to the world of BYC pictures. He does look tall and probably thats why he is heavier as well. I have a 7 week old pullet who is taller and longer but looks slenderer than her sister. Wondering how she will look like when she grows up.

 

[Junibutt]

@ChicKat and @enola I don't know if you noticed that my cockerel Marco does not have white ear-lobes. He just has a shade of white on red. Is that a DQ from SOP?

 

[dretd]

@ChicKat and @enola I don't know if you noticed that my cockerel Marco does not have white ear-lobes. He just has a shade of white on red. Is that a DQ from SOP?

Hi Junibutt, I am not enola nor I am ChicKat, but after having gone over the APA SOP DQ section a bazillion times I can fill you in.

Nutshell is some red in a white eared breed is a deduction not a DQ but all red in a white eared breed is a DQ, and some white in a red eared breed is a DQ.

Fully red ear lobes on a white earlobed breed is a DQ as per the General Disqualifications (pg 32 APA SOP 2010)
All Breeds and Varieties
1. Specimens lacking in breed characteristics

Page 34 ear-lobes
(a) All breeds where red ear-lobe is specified.
1. Positive enamel white ...

How much will they deduct? The general guide under the Cutting for Defects section (pg 32) says " ...Individual breed or variety defects, other than those specified. shall be considered in comparable fashion to other defects, ie, according to the severity of the defect. The minimum cut for any such defect shall be one-fourth (1/4) of one (1) point and not more than the value of the section." So a small amount of red would be 1/4 point and a lot of red would be a max of 2 points (they assign 2 points for shape and 2 for color--pg 39 General Scale of Points) out of a possible 37 points in the color section.

So your guy seems less that ideal but wont be a DQ. My thought is that he is still pretty young and the white will fill in a bit over the rest of the year then it seems like more red comes in again as the rooster ages.

 

[dretd]

When you all rehome incorrectly colored (gold) Cream Legbar pullets as blue egg layers roughly what do you charge.

I have Two 14week old pullets Im planning to rehome as just layers not breeders.

Hi Chicken picken! I would go by whatever the price of any egg layer would be in your area. In my region, older hens usually go for $8-12 and pullets for $15-25 depending on the breed. I usually take the egg cost if I bought hatching eggs then add $1 per week to cover feed up to about the point of lay. So for instance, I sold some Welsummer pullets and asked $3 (egg cost) + 12 weeks old $1/week feed)= $18. I would have asked $25 if they were at point of lay or older.

If they are really far off in type you may want to advertise them as EE's or Easter Leggers or something similar so than someone is not tempted to buy them and use them for breeding.

 

[chicken pickin]

Hi Chicken picken! I would go by whatever the price of any egg layer would be in your area. In my region, older hens usually go for $8-12 and pullets for $15-25 depending on the breed. I usually take the egg cost if I bought hatching eggs then add $1 per week to cover feed up to about the point of lay. So for instance, I sold some Welsummer pullets and asked $3 (egg cost) + 12 weeks old $1/week feed)= $18. I would have asked $25 if they were at point of lay or older.

If they are really far off in type you may want to advertise them as EE's or Easter Leggers or something similar so than someone is not tempted to buy them and use them for breeding.

Thanks. I just rehomed them tonight