Thoughts on some of my Legbars?

[GaryDean26]

The standard is for the tail on the cockerel to be 45 deg up from the horizon. Up to 60 degrees are still considered good for breeding. When you get past 90 deg. it is considered a severe defect that results in a disqualification in all-breed that doesn't specifically allow it in the breed standard (i.e. Japanese Bantams, etc.). The high tail angle indicates that the bird isn't built correctly for egg production. Lots of commercial hens have high tails and they will lay 300+ eggs in their first year of laying. I think that it is hard on them though if they are not built correctly for egg production. the commercial hens we had we lay 320-340 eggs in their first year but then drop to less than 100 eggs in their send year. Our Legbars on the other hand lay steady for 4 or more years. We have one hen that is 7 years old that still lays during the peak production months. So...high tails are a problem, but I personally have found that high tails are much easier to improve in a line than males with floppy combs. If I had one with a perfect comb and squirrel tail and one with a perfect tail and a floppy comb. I would take the one with the perfect comb.

This is a good example of why cockerels should not be culled too early. We have kept 3-4 cockerels for 18 months to 2 years before the final selection before. choosing at 2 years is much easier than choosing at 6 months.

Now you get to see what the next grow outs are going to look like.

 

[LikeTurkeys]

The standard is for the tail on the cockerel to be 45 deg up from the horizon. Up to 60 degrees are still considered good for breeding. When you get past 90 deg. it is considered a severe defect that results in a disqualification in all-breed that doesn't specifically allow it in the breed standard (i.e. Japanese Bantams, etc.). The high tail angle indicates that the bird isn't built correctly for egg production. Lots of commercial hens have high tails and they will lay 300+ eggs in their first year of laying. I think that it is hard on them though if they are not built correctly for egg production. the commercial hens we had we lay 320-340 eggs in their first year but then drop to less than 100 eggs in their send year. Our Legbars on the other hand lay steady for 4 or more years. We have one hen that is 7 years old that still lays during the peak production months. So...high tails are a problem, but I personally have found that high tails are much easier to improve in a line than males with floppy combs. If I had one with a perfect comb and squirrel tail and one with a perfect tail and a floppy comb. I would take the one with the perfect comb.

This is a good example of why cockerels should not be culled too early. We have kept 3-4 cockerels for 18 months to 2 years before the final selection before. choosing at 2 years is much easier than choosing at 6 months.

Now you get to see what the next grow outs are going to look like.

Thanks for your recommendations! Definitely interesting to read about the decrease in egg production during the second year...

I did try to keep them for as long as possible before sorting (the cockerels are about 10 months old at this point). The one I was thinking of culling doesn't have a great comb, unfortunately (it's actually awful in my opinion, lol). He's turned out worse in almost every aspect than my 1st cockerel, so I think it's safe to cull. Plus he's mean to his brothers My number #1 has the best comb out of all of them so I'm hoping for some good (or at least better) combs out of his offspring.

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

Cream is not white

AMEN! Really enjoyed reading your posts on this thread Gary. It's rare that i agree with everything someone writes about legbars. I'm in the camp of thinking the "cream" that UK (and many US) breeders are shooting for is too far into silver-looking territory. If I wanted silver crele birds, there are easier ways to get them!

I also appreciate your mention of Swavers. I used to be in the camp of thinking that the intermediate birds with excess pheomelanin were "split to cream" and now realize it's just poor coloring with too much of those red modifiers. The literature from the Dutch Bantam lady on this topic was eye opening for me.

Do you still raise whites? That's been my focus this year but my birds are definitely not as nice as the one I see in this photo.

 

[LikeTurkeys]

I'm back with some of my grow-out cockerels. They're 19 weeks old now. Some have obvious defects that I'm not keeping but others I'm not sure about. Attached are my top 2.

The first guy is my favorite. His comb is not the best but it's really not that bad either IMO. The second - what a great comb and tail angle but those wings are just so low! And he has a very light, washed out kind of color it seems like. I was thinking of compensating by breeding to some darker pullets but not sure if I should keep him with the wing set. Also not much of a visible crest. Appreciate any feedback!

 

[LikeTurkeys]

Here are photos of the other 6 that are going to be re-homed/culled soon. If you think any are worth keeping or better than the first two in the other post I'd love to know!