Luikse Vechter cross?

[Nashv755]

Has anyone here thought or curious about crossing the huge Luikse Vechter's with a smaller long tail breed like a Phoenix?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Has anyone here thought or curious about crossing the huge Luikse Vechter's with a smaller long tail breed like a Phoenix?

They seem to be compatable, but you'd ruin the typing with the offspring you got and maybe the personality too. They have long legs and hard bodies like modern game birds and an attitude from years of fighting blood. Pheonixes have lithe bodies and short, normal legs and in my opinion docile if not friendly personalities.

 

[Elsveta641]

Has anyone here thought or curious about crossing the huge Luikse Vechter's with a smaller long tail breed like a Phoenix?

Liege do not usually have a game personality, theyre pretty tame in the United States. But the bodies are so different itwould be an awkward cross imo.

 

[Michael99]

I have no experience with Liege Fighters, but I agree with JacinLarkwell. I don't see why you'd want to cross them unless you have some type of end goal in mind, and I also think it would mess up the type of any chicks that would hatch, and game birds often have harder more brittle feathers which wouldn't translate well either.

 

[Nashv755]

I have no experience with Liege Fighters, but I agree with JacinLarkwell. I don't see why you'd want to cross them unless you have some type of end goal in mind, and I also think it would mess up the type of any chicks that would hatch, and game birds often have harder more brittle feathers which wouldn't translate well either.

I'd just kinda like to see a big long tail Liege fighter, maybe with some barring. I found these pictures somewhere online, not sure of the breed but I assume they are a Liege mix of some kind

 

[Michael99]

I'd just kinda like to see a big long tail Liege fighter, maybe with some barring. I found these pictures somewhere online, not sure of the breed but I assume they are a Liege mix of some kind

Interesting. I'd say if you have the time and resources, then go for it!

I don't really know anything about liege fighters, but if you were serious about it I'd start with a standard sized (for the large size you said you want, using a bantam will introduce dwarfism genes) leggy Phoenix rooster w/ a high set tail and pair him with a few of your best liege fighter hens. I've noticed that most of the type of a bird (at least in my opinion) comes from the mother so I think liege fighter hens would ensure that the type is closer to that than a Phoenix.

Select the best trio from F1 and then breed them together (this should set the traits), selecting for the traits you want. I know longtail genes for faster tail growth and multiple feathering are dominant, but longer saddles are recessive so it may take a few generations before you get those.

Once you get a long tailed bird w/ liege fighter type (probably take a few generations) you'd probably be ok breeding back to other liege fighters as long as you keep selecting for tail length and fullness.

I don't know how you'd introduce barring though, I know barred Phoenix exist but they're very hard to come by, but barred liege fighters might be a thing, not sure.

 

[Nashv755]

Interesting. I'd say if you have the time and resources, then go for it!

I don't really know anything about liege fighters, but if you were serious about it I'd start with a standard sized (for the large size you said you want, using a bantam will introduce dwarfism genes) leggy Phoenix rooster w/ a high set tail and pair him with a few of your best liege fighter hens. I've noticed that most of the type of a bird (at least in my opinion) comes from the mother so I think liege fighter hens would ensure that the type is closer to that than a Phoenix.

Select the best trio from F1 and then breed them together (this should set the traits), selecting for the traits you want. I know longtail genes for faster tail growth and multiple feathering are dominant, but longer saddles are recessive so it may take a few generations before you get those.

Once you get a long tailed bird w/ liege fighter type (probably take a few generations) you'd probably be ok breeding back to other liege fighters as long as you keep selecting for tail length and fullness.

I don't know how you'd introduce barring though, I know barred Phoenix exist but they're very hard to come by, but barred liege fighters might be a thing, not sure.

I was thinking because it takes Liege fighter's somewhere around 18mo-2 years to reach full potential. I may cross Bielefelder's with Phoenix to get a bigger bird with barring and long tail to have something closer to what I want and Liege size.

All of my birds are on backorder at the moment so I'm just pondering. I have all 3 Phoenix breeds coming at the end of May, Liege fighter eggs mid May and Bielefelder chicks in July. I'm finally able to get chickens again after 25 years and everybody bought them up like toilet paper

 

[Michael99]

I was thinking because it takes Liege fighter's somewhere around 18mo-2 years to reach full potential. I may cross Bielefelder's with Phoenix to get a bigger bird with barring and long tail to have something closer to what I want and Liege size.

All of my birds are on backorder at the moment so I'm just pondering. I have all 3 Phoenix breeds coming at the end of May, Liege fighter eggs mid May and Bielefelder chicks in July. I'm finally able to get chickens again after 25 years and everybody bought them up like toilet paper

I feel your frustration, I can't even find waterers at my local feed store because all the newbies are getting into chickens now because of coronavirus

And you could definitely try it, but I think it would add a lot more time to the project (if you wanted a long tailed barred liege fighter type chicken); due to the Bielefelder's not being very close to liege fighter type. You might have better luck using Crele American Game to introduce barring, but if it's something you really want I'd say go for it, just know it will likely take at least 5-6 generations before you start to see something that resembles what you're looking for.

 

[Nashv755]

I feel your frustration, I can't even find waterers at my local feed store because all the newbies are getting into chickens now because of coronavirus

And you could definitely try it, but I think it would add a lot more time to the project (if you wanted a long tailed barred liege fighter type chicken); due to the Bielefelder's not being very close to liege fighter type. You might have better luck using Crele American Game to introduce barring, but if it's something you really want I'd say go for it, just know it will likely take at least 5-6 generations before you start to see something that resembles what you're looking for

I thought I'd revive this thread to show what I ended up with so far. The big roo in my hand is a Liege Bielefilder cross. He's actually the tallest bird I have now but not as wide or heavy. I believe I may cross him with both a Phoenix and Liege hen. Temperament is extremely chilled, has a habit of pulling your pants leg when he wants food or picked up.

The silver and black rooster is a Phoenix Bielefilder mix. Pictures don't do him justice and the long green and white barring on his tail looks really cool. Size wise he's right in the middle of the 2 breeds.

3rd is just a funny Phoenix Bielefilder cross. She looks like a Phoenix that swallowed a blowfish.

Last pic is my original Liege on left, Bielefelder roo middle and the cross from the 1st picture.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I thought I'd revive this thread to show what I ended up with so far. The big roo in my hand is a Liege Bielefilder cross. He's actually the tallest bird I have now but not as wide or heavy. I believe I may cross him with both a Phoenix and Liege hen. Temperament is extremely chilled, has a habit of pulling your pants leg when he wants food or picked up.

The silver and black rooster is a Phoenix Bielefilder mix. Pictures don't do him justice and the long green and white barring on his tail looks really cool. Size wise he's right in the middle of the 2 breeds.

3rd is just a funny Phoenix Bielefilder cross. She looks like a Phoenix that swallowed a blowfish.

Last pic is my original Liege on left, Bielefelder roo middle and the cross from the 1st picture.

Beautiful! That second rooster is particularly interesting.