The Moonshiner's Leghorns

[BigBlueHen53]

Ameraucana are slowly getting past the feather quality issues. The problem with the shredder gene is that it can effect other colors as well if brought in from bad quality lavenders. And with how popular that color is most places you get them are not working on the feather quality.

Thank you, that's very good to know. I'm sticking with black birds for now and am just breeding for egg color. The BA should give me chicks that will grow up to lay olive eggs (hoping!) And the Ams' eggs should yield pb hens who lay blue eggs next spring or summer. But I believe they all will be blavk. What I really wanted was not BA but Doms. Then I should have had dual-purpose birds that are not only OEs but are sex-links, identifiable at hatch. But ... Cackle said the Dom eggs did not hatch. Better luck next year.

 

[Appalachickens]

Don't slap me but 50lbs of layer is $13.50 and chick is $15

Wow! I need to find out if there are any feed mills in my area.

 

[KF0002]

Of that I am aware, as one of my lav cockerels had the shredding gene. These were all Orp-based EE. Very pretty, and two of my hens are very lightly barred. Which surprises me as I thought barring was sex-linked to the males.

Both males and female can be barred. Only males can be double barred (2 copies of the barring gene). A barred male will throw barred male and female offspring. A barred female can only pass her single copy of the barring gene to her male offspring, which is what makes the gene sex-linked.

 

[The Moonshiner]

Thanks. Where's @The Moonshiner tonight? Not getting alerts again?

Lol, no I went to bed.
9+ hour day today and my job allows me to make my own hours and leave when the job is done.
Early start means earlier leaving so....
Ya I missed a lot here.

 

[The Moonshiner]

I was wondering if I should do blue or lavender for them? The deciding factor was blue isn't recessive.

I like Blue because you can get BBS.

I may be the opposite of both.
I kind of like recessive genes when breeding. When you do get the recessive bird since it's recessive and is showing you know it's pure for the genes.
When you're breeding away from recessive it gets to be a p i t a dealing with whether a bird carries it since it could be sight unseen. Test breeding isn't fun.

I used to like BBS because then yeah you get three colors. You can also have three colors in the same breeding pen. My issue now is that seems the Blue version always seems to be my favorite and if you want to produce a 100% blue then the breeding pen needs to be black Xs splash which are not the one out of the three colors I want to be looking at.

But at the end of the day they're all just genes and the different ways they work keeps things interesting and not as boring.

 

[The Moonshiner]

Same here, got it from the back of a field and stream magazine. Hatched one and was hooked. Had that bird for four years and it got loose and the neighbor dog ate it lol.

That's crazy and funny. Well except for the dog part. I am certain I either ordered mine from Field and Stream or fur fish and game.
I actually have one of those incubators now. Found an original on eBay a while back and ordered it. Nostalgia.

 

[The Moonshiner]

He would pair so nicely with my two Silver Leghorn pullets.

Indeed

He is a lovely bird. We’re gonna need to do some egg swapping!

Indeed

I'm in MO. I can come get???? Got maybe two for me? (Chicks I mean.) Besides I would love to meet the Moonster in person. Wanna see if he really looks like Tom Selleck. Er. Sam Elliott. Since I have 18 chickies named Moony!

I thought you were overrun with chickens? You're talking buffs right? Find me in the spring. I should be getting enough eggs then that I won't have to hoard the golden fluffballs.

 

[The Moonshiner]

Big, Bold, Single?

Swipe right, swipe right.
Sorry too early for this

 

[NagemTX]

Oh just remembered I do have a recessive in the Crested EE I'm working on. It's white because white Ameraucana are based on the recessive white gene.

 

[The Moonshiner]

Ameraucana are slowly getting past the feather quality issues. The problem with the shredder gene is that it can effect other colors as well if brought in from bad quality lavenders. And with how popular that color is most places you get them are not working on the feather quality.

Lavender in leghorns came from Orps and came in when those Orps were raggedy. With leghorns the first were the Isabel. Horrible tell their quality across the board. Isabel came on the scene hot and everyone was trying to pump them out. I wasn't a fan of the shredder gene especially when the males had horrible wing patch issues. I was like breeding back to brown, back to Brown. Most everyone else were not and focused on the most lavender Birds on the ground as possible.
Bad thing is it seems it can pop back up so kind of have to deal with it. That last rooster is lavender. The biggest reason I kept him for breeding because he had a big beautiful tail that showed no signs of it. Look at how raggedy it is now.
As you'll notice in the coming weeks with tails most of my roosters tail feathers don't fare well.
I've figured out if it ain't other birds jacking with them it's because of the long tails rubbing wire in the pens. I can't decide but I'm thinking with the lavenders even if their tails look good that maybe there's still a hidden weakness with them that makes them not hold up as well.
I don't know I'll get a couple pics soon. Couple days ago I noticed a blue barred rooster that still has a nice tail but also a barred rooster that has one of the worst.