The Legbar Thread!

[PDPercherons]

Haven't updated in a while again. The kids are now, 13 weeks? Moved them out to the barn. They're loving the freedom.

 

[gotro17]

I'm sure I can answer my own question, but... I have two CL pullets- one is hatchery (MPC) and the other a friend hatched from a Papa's Poultry egg. One has a large, red, comb- the other not so much... The one without is much larger as well. I have three cockerels I'm trying to decide which to keep- 2 are from Greenfire (and definitely cream colored) and the other (again from Papas hatching egg), is silver and white! Which should I keep, of both pullets and cockerels

 

[RobG7aChattTN]

I'm sure I can answer my own question, but... I have two CL pullets- one is hatchery (MPC) and the other a friend hatched from a Papa's Poultry egg. One has a large, red, comb- the other not so much... The one without is much larger as well. I have three cockerels I'm trying to decide which to keep- 2 are from Greenfire (and definitely cream colored) and the other (again from Papas hatching egg), is silver and white! Which should I keep, of both pullets and cockerels

Let's see good, close-up pictures of all the birds involved.

 

[gotro17]

Let's see good, close-up pictures of all the birds involved.

Will do!

 

[gotro17]

Let's see good, close-up pictures of all the birds involved.

Here you are... The pullets are about 4 weeks apart. The cockerels are babies and also about 5 weeks apart. Can someone also telle the seemingly big aversion to the GF Rees line? Thanks!

 

[RobG7aChattTN]

The pullet with the small comb probably just isn't laying yet. They look cream...I think. I'm no expert so take whatever I say with a grain of salt. The cockerels are too young to judge. Raise them up and see how they look as adults. The complaints that people have with the Rees line is that they have green eggs (which is acceptable) and the roosters seem to have wings that hang a bit too low. The biggest, valid complaint (in my book) is that in the quest to get rid of all chestnut in the roosters ( which is acceptable) you also get chicks that are harder to auto-sex which is one of the main reasons for the breed. If you want blue eggs and clear auto-sexing the Rees line isn't the best choice.

 

[dheltzel]

Here you are... The pullets are about 4 weeks apart. The cockerels are babies and also about 5 weeks apart. Can someone also telle the seemingly big aversion to the GF Rees line? Thanks!

No idea. "Sour Grapes" because they don't have them or think they are too expensive?
I love mine in every way except that the males seem more people aggressive that other breeds. I find that with the older lines too, but maybe I was not as sensitive about culling the others. I think it must be something in their genetic heritage. My other, much larger, roos of other breeds tend to be entirely trustworthy, but the CCL roos will sometimes challenge me or even pull on my pants when my back is turned. Only 1 was so bad I culled him.

In every other way, pullet personality, laying ability, egg color, etc, they are tops in my book.

 

[dheltzel]

The pullet with the small comb probably just isn't laying yet. They look cream...I think. I'm no expert so take whatever I say with a grain of salt. The cockerels are too young to judge. Raise them up and see how they look as adults. The complaints that people have with the Rees line is that they have green eggs (which is acceptable) and the roosters seem to have wings that hang a bit too low. The biggest, valid complaint (in my book) is that in the quest to get rid of all chestnut in the roosters ( which is acceptable) you also get chicks that are harder to auto-sex which is one of the main reasons for the breed. If you want blue eggs and clear auto-sexing the Rees line isn't the best choice.

We must have different stock of Reese line birds. Mine lay very blue eggs, every bit as blue as the other Legbars, and my BBS Ams. And mine autosex 100%, just going by the headspot. All my legbar lines throw some pullets that lack "chipmunk stripes", something I never see in my Rhodebars or Welbars. But if you ignore the striping and focus on the size of the headspot, sexing them is easy.

 

[RobG7aChattTN]

We must have different stock of Reese line birds. Mine lay very blue eggs, every bit as blue as the other Legbars, and my BBS Ams. And mine autosex 100%, just going by the headspot. All my legbar lines throw some pullets that lack "chipmunk stripes", something I never see in my Rhodebars or Welbars. But if you ignore the striping and focus on the size of the headspot, sexing them is easy.

I personally have a flock that has a mix of all the Greenfire lines EXCEPT the Rees Line. I'm just trying to express what others have said. My birds never laid a green egg...until recently. I'm not sure if it is a pullet that I raised up or due to some other factor. I've never had a chick that was hard to sex and every pullet has had nice chipmunk stripes. Originally I wanted to get a Rees Line cockerel and use him to get a replacement rooster that was half Rees line but I got a new rooster that has Rees Line coloring but isn't Rees Line. I've only gotten a few chicks and I've sold them all but I'll be interested to raise a few up and see how they look. The pullets seem to have less of a "red brown" and more of a "grey scale brown" than the chicks that I got with my old rooster.

 

[PDPercherons]

The Rees line chicks that I purchased as hatching eggs from Tim here in MI, piece of cake to autosex. My first two hatched were cockerels so I was worried because they were yellow that I wouldn't be able to tell males from females. I was all worried over head spots. Next egg to hatch, pullet. Night and day. Deep brown, brilliant chipmunk striping. My first 6 are just 15 weeks, so no eggs yet. My other 4 are 11 weeks. Those 4 are 2 Rees from another breeder, and 2 line C. They were different than Tim's batch. As they grow there are differences easy to see between all 3 groups.