Achieving Yellow Legs in Show Birds

 

When you crack open an egg, the first sign of a healthy egg is the golden colour of the yolk.  In the poultry showing world, often a sign of a winning chook is the colour of their legs!

Our Victorian ambassador, Mitchell Carrigan-Walsh has a real passion for breeding birds and achieving the best example of a breed.  One aspect of a prize winning bird will be its bright yellow legs!

 

The first thing you have to remember is that it all depends on the breed of the bird.  Some breeds are predisposed to having yellow legs, others are not predisposed to have yellow legs.  A Sussex, for example, will never get yellow legs no matter what you do.

Genetics are very important

 

Yellow leg breeds such as Rhode Island Reds and Leghorns, who are predisposed to having yellow legs, can still struggle to achieve a prize winning yellow.  You can feed all the right things, but if the gene within your birds for yellow legs is weak, you won’t get bright yellow legs.  Mitchell runs his breeding program with achieving perfection in the end.

On the right breeds, yellow legs are considered very important to judges.  It may just be one of many aspects of the bird that is evaluated, but it is something that can catch a judge’s attention from a distance.

 

Feeding for yellow legs

 

Mitchell’s has a few birds that are predisposed to having yellow legs and have been carefully selected in his breeding program.  So what does he feed them to encourage their yellow legs to really stand out?  Mitchell recommends a complete feed like Barastoc Golden Yolk and supplementing with dark green plant treats.  He recommends fresh green grass and silverbeet, which is high in Vitamin A.

 

-Mitchell Carrigan-Walsh