The Legbar Thread!

[ChicKat]

Hello all....I am new to Legbars. I have 3 (hopefully a trio) of CL and a quad of Rodebars plus an extra roo. I have fell in love with these guys. I have one CL that is around 2 1//2 old whos eyes kept looking like the inner eyelid was not retracting. So I started putting Terramyicin gel in them after I cleaned them with saline solution. It would scratch at them some. After a week there was no improvement but was worse. It keeps scratching at it's eyes constantly and sqwaking so I know it is really uncomfortable and it has to be painful. It has scratched a lot of the feathers around it's eyes off. I started using some eye drops that are soothinns g and lubricate and still using the terrimyicin gen. I have checked for mites and treated just in case..checked for eyeworms..none...I am at a lose. This afternoon it had scratched so much its eye was bleeding. Oh...it shakes it head too. So....it has to be something topical. Does anyone have any idea??? Anything else I could use. I am afraid it is going to scratch it's lenses to bad it is going to blind itself. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.Will try to get pics tomorrow.

Hi TNBarnQueen,

IT sounds very much to me like it could be eyeworm. I have some info on eyeworm -- A saline flush is something that an online vet advised me -- and there are other remedies. Do you have a chicken vet available to see your bird? PM me -- and I will go dig up the information. It is posted here someplace---but it has been about 2-years ago that I faced the problem.

 

[ChicKat]

Thanks for the info GaryDean26

 

[ChicKat]

I'd like some input on crooked toes. When I received my CLs from GFF, they all had normal, healthy toes. As they have developed, more and more of my birds have gotten crooked toes. My best (and only true cream) pullet has two very crooked toes.





Hopefully the photo is good enough that you can see poor Galadriel's crooked toes. She can get around fine, it just isn't pretty.

Anyway, what are your thoughts about this? Is it likely to be hereditary? I will not sell hatching eggs (they are only 7 weeks old, so I have a while anyway!) until I have hatched out my own chicks and grow them out to see.

Hi Harriedhomemaker!!

How is everything going?? Here is what it may be. They haven't been able to really scratch in that dirt and pull their little claws through. I think it may be that their muscles need to be stretching and walking more. -- I had some that when they were chicks I laced their brooder with little bamboo tomato stakes and they jumped around inside like crazy -- then they got older and heavier and I doubled the sticks -- but I think their weight and as they grew, they began to get an outward curve on their outer toe. I removed all the tomato sticks - (and their fun) - but they then straightened out. They are still young enough -- maybe a box of dirt or heavy wet sand in their brooder so they could exercise those scratch the ground muscles. -- I think it is totally developmental. JMO.

ETA saying that - would lead me to believe that it isn't something genetic at all.

 

[lonnyandrinda]

so does that mean you kill the ones that don't "look" right????

"Culling" does not equal "killing"- the actual definition is, "Culling is the process of removing breeding animals from a group based on specific criteria." It's pulling out birds with undesirable breeding characteristics from your breeding stock.

Many culls go to pet homes, non-breeding homes, or layer flocks. It can mean killing, but not exclusively.

 

[CibolaChooks]

Here is the cockerel that hatched out black & yellow. I think I might take him to the swap on sunday and try to find him a non breeding home

i like him. how old is he. Might want to wait for that slight color to come in still.

 

[storm2284]

ok, a random question i seem to be struggling with now sorry all! i've gotten myself a few more legbar, today being a trio of 6 week olds and a pair of slightly older ones, and out of them all i have now discovered i have 4 with greeny colour eyes (being the younger ones) and 4 with red/orange eyes, they've all come from different sources and are different ages, is this something to do with age or strain? sorry if it seems a silly question but it's really confused me lol

 

[harriedhomemaker]

Hi Harriedhomemaker!!

How is everything going?? Here is what it may be. They haven't been able to really scratch in that dirt and pull their little claws through. I think it may be that their muscles need to be stretching and walking more. -- I had some that when they were chicks I laced their brooder with little bamboo tomato stakes and they jumped around inside like crazy -- then they got older and heavier and I doubled the sticks -- but I think their weight and as they grew, they began to get an outward curve on their outer toe. I removed all the tomato sticks - (and their fun) - but they then straightened out. They are still young enough -- maybe a box of dirt or heavy wet sand in their brooder so they could exercise those scratch the ground muscles. -- I think it is totally developmental. JMO.

ETA saying that - would lead me to believe that it isn't something genetic at all.

Thanks for the input, Kathy! As I write this, my husband is out buying up the entire local supply of hardware cloth so we can fortify the little used coop we bought for their temporary housing. We are hoping to move them outdoors full time tomorrow and so they will have so much more room to run around in and do all that wonderful chicken behavior that is so much fun to watch. I'll keep a sharp eye out and see how they develop.

 

[lonnyandrinda]

ok, a random question i seem to be struggling with now sorry all! i've gotten myself a few more legbar, today being a trio of 6 week olds and a pair of slightly older ones, and out of them all i have now discovered i have 4 with greeny colour eyes (being the younger ones) and 4 with red/orange eyes, they've all come from different sources and are different ages, is this something to do with age or strain? sorry if it seems a silly question but it's really confused me lol

Eye color will continue to change until they are about 4-5 months old, The greenish shade in young ones is normal, it will change to the red-orange as they grow.

 

[1muttsfan]

If their toes were straight as young chicks, it is unlikely to be genetic.I have one pullet that had perfectly fine toes until she went into an outdoor pen when around 6 weeks old, a few weeks later she had a crooked toe, very likely an injury of some sort.

 

[ChicKat]

Thanks for the input, Kathy! As I write this, my husband is out buying up the entire local supply of hardware cloth so we can fortify the little used coop we bought for their temporary housing. We are hoping to move them outdoors full time tomorrow and so they will have so much more room to run around in and do all that wonderful chicken behavior that is so much fun to watch. I'll keep a sharp eye out and see how they develop.

Good for you!!! I'm really interested in this. Just like you, I think I am going to be in the market for hardware cloth BIG time -- in just a very short time. I"m also investigating shock wires high and low. Keep us posted.