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Post by toshanco on Mar 28, 2009 16:59:14 GMT
I live on a smallholding in Anglesey and I am new to this forum. I have recently returned to keeping chickens, both of the eggs and ......well |I just like to see them running around the place . I started off with a couple of Black Rocks, two Buff legbars, three 'Magpies ' and ten crossbred layers (probably Rhode Island Red crosses - but very mixed with all sorts!!) Last year I came across a friendly chap who showed me his Silver Duckwings - and I was simply 'hooked' I just had to have some! I hatched 3 from a batch of six eggs he gave me (I had to squeeze them into my incubator - which was getting full at the time) and from these I got a really smashing cockerel and two hens. They all seem true to type - certainly from the on-line descriptions and, of course, in comparison to my friends birds. I want to cross the SDW's with the Buffs as people just love the blue eggs (kids go mad for them!!), but at the same time, I want to keep a true breed of both the Buffs and the SDW's. I welcome any experienced imput etc Terry
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Post by khrday on Mar 29, 2009 16:24:24 GMT
Pure breeds take the same amount to feed as crossbreeds, and you get more \for your eggs and your birds, you might as well keep a strain of birds that lay blue eggs rather and go to all that trouble of crossing. we need more people taking up the buffs and the silvers, if you need any help just ask,regards Keith
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Post by toshanco on Mar 31, 2009 11:15:54 GMT
Thanks for the offer Keith. I may need to take you up on it one day!!
My 'point' re the crossing is really so that I don't have the difficult task of finding none blood related males. With these breeds, I find it very difficult to source unrelated birds and 'In Breeding' is the last thing the breed needs.
As you know the Buff was bred from a Leghorn, Plymouth Rock and with a touch of Auracana - so my thought in crossing the Silver DW with the Buff was only really an extension to this breeding. The 'blue egg-shell' gene seems dominat so it should be easy to get blue eggs.
Added to the problem, of course, is that many so called Buff legbars are not genuine from the original breed - Unscrupulous breeders have sold so many crosses as Buffs - providing they lay the tell tale blue egg.
I do take your point though. I would prefer to keep pure breeds - but how to get a hold of them is another question.
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Post by khrday on Mar 31, 2009 15:46:24 GMT
Keep large silvers and reds i bought in eggs from Holland to help with new blood in the silvers i have three pens on the go with crossing of silvers ,dutch cock over English hens English cock over dutch hens plus i have used white cross Monica white this is a big bird and that was mated to a silver cock the f1 are now back with there farther, also have a large buff cock that will go with the two red pullets as that is the best combination to help those colours, have you had a look at the new text on the reds and buffs yet regards keith
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Post by walesman on Apr 11, 2009 8:48:11 GMT
I am getting a bit confused after reading Toshanco's posts!!!..if you want blue eggs then you need to use a Cream Legbar or an Araucana cockerel on your hens to obtain the blue eggs ....and then it is not certain....don't know where u got the idea that Buff's lay blue eggs as they dont and if they did then they wouldn't be standard...remeber that if you dont want to inbreed then you can go out of the colour (and stay within the breed) with something similar and then go back in again....you could use a brown leghorn cockerel on your silver's where you will get some of each colour and then put these youngesters back to silver...or you could use a black cockerel on your hens and then go back to silver....I am trying to improve my buff's by using a lavender cockerel and will then go back to buff...the F1's are not pure in feather yet but will get there....regards....
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Post by toshanco on Jul 16, 2009 12:00:46 GMT
Sorry. I didn't get this post until I have just browsed through the old ones!! I do apologise - as you realise I meant cream legbars. However you are not entirely correct about the blue egg thing as Cotswolds Legbars also have blue eggs. They are very similar to the creams anyway and both have auracana in their bloodline. Thanks for the other info. I am still experiencing problems in finding a decent 'true to type' alternative cockerel so that I can improve my birds bloodline. Any suggestions as to where I could get one would be most useful. Please note my new email address - now toshanco@btinternet.com (My Pipex account is now defunct) Regards Terry
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