[janeheritage]

Hello everyone.

My broody Ethel and I are currently raising 3 little Cream Legbar girls. They are 4 weeks old and delightful, tame and at the cute/ugly stage.

I know I can only keep 1 of the girls as I want to add 1 chicken to the flock each year to try to keep my egg supply constant (and yes - I know this will involve saucepans at some stage  ). So I will be looking to find a new home for 2 of them.

A few questions for you please!

(1) What criteria should I use to decide which chicks to sell and which one to keep? They are different sizes but in all other respects seem healthy, cheerful and cheepy, and they are feathering up at about the same rate.

(2) Having decided which one to keep, should I be selling the others or giving them away? They cost me £9 each (a lot for a baby I know) and they eat like gannets but I would give them away if I thought they would be better for it. I was going to give them to a neighbour who is wonderful with animals but she has decided that she can't take chooks for now. What do you think?

(3) If selling is OK, I wondered about advertising them in one of the online poultry classifieds. Does anyone have any experience of any of these sites?

(4) What age is best to sell them at, and what would be a decent price for a pair of purebred Cream Legbar girlies?

Thanks everyone!

[joyfull]

sorry jane I have never sold any of my hens so can't help you with that, given some away and bought plenty though  Are you sure you can't keep them?

[Chookster]

oh i wish you weren't so far away, i'm currently looking to get cream legbars to add to my flock, i think they're lovely.

[Ice]

Don't forget, we have a strict no selling policy so they can't be sold via this site.

[janeheritage]

I know, Ice - wouldn't dream of it - it's advice I'm looking for...

[cathangirl]

Oh, how sad that you need to re-home two of your babies, Jane.
I have just told Andy and said, "Now if we have that meet-up......" 
"You have enough now," he said, "and don't look at me like that."   
"Yes, but most of my little ones could be cocks."  I did try.
Next week, he may think it is a good idea to have two more guaranteed girlies.   
cathangirl

[poppie]

hi jane,
its so sad that you cant keep them,i love cream legbars,unfortunately in the same boat as most.too far.
however,try putting an add in the place where you buy your chicken food from,even perhaps wait till they are a bit older/fully feathered.
when they look beautiful a chicken keeper will appreciate that.
price : i bought my first two girls seperately.one was £18 one was £15 but as yours,they are purebred(as can be) you can pay more,you can pay less.
really its down to you.
hope this helps,(i'm no chicken breeder so dont quote me on it)
best wishes

[janeheritage]

I think it's probably best to wait until they have all their feathers (not sure when that is).

At the moment I think they're cute, but I imagine others might be less impressed!

Here are a couple of pictures of one of them - they are so hard to photograph, they never stay still! You can get the scale from Mom's feathers in pic 2.

[Sarah Mitchell]

Hi Jane

They are lovely :-)

I love Cream Leggies and I like to keep the ones with good crests!  I have a fantasticly tame cream legbar cockerel called Steve who will sit on your lap and demand tickles... he's a bit heavy mind! 

I would suggest keeping the one you like the most and selling the rest.  Omlet has a good marketplace :-)

[joyfull]

theyre sooo cute 

[wildwitchy]

I think they look very funny at that stage -  but a bit dinosaurish.  mine went from really pretty to down right ugly..now they're looking not bad again.