Scooby Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 Ok, bit of a long story, so bear with me. We were just wondering if anyone has been to one of these auction marts and felt a bit out of their league? We spent our first ever Saturday morning at our local auction mart thinking we might pick up a couple of blue egg layers. However, we came back empty handed as apparently we don't know as much about chickens as we thought we did! I think I expected the cages to be labelled better for people like us who aren't as clued up on sexing chickens. Saw a few cages with Araucana's advertised as a 'trio' so we left them well alone as I'm pretty sure a trio means two hens and a cock (we can't keep a cock as we are in a residential area). Then I got very excited as spotted two cream crested legbars and we hung about for a couple of hours so we could bid on them. However, after we'd been there for a bit I did notice that one of them appeared to have rather large spurs on the back of its legs so we asked a couple of people around for their opinion, some said definately two hens, others said the one with the 'spurs' was a cock We didn't dare risk it so came home empty-handed. The two legbars looked very similar apart from this - how do you tell? And what does it mean when they are advertised as a pair? Very confused. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egg Lou Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 Sorry can't help with sexing breeds but a pair is a cock and 1 hen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katie Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 A pair is 1 hen and 1 cock. I was after two Australorps and got excited when they were advertised as a pair! Automatically presuming they were a pair of hens. Never been to a bird auction so I can't talk from experience! If its Araucana's you're after how about getting in touch with the club, they should have a website and can point you in the right direction to breeders near you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooby Posted June 8, 2008 Author Share Posted June 8, 2008 If its Araucana's you're after how about getting in touch with the club, they should have a website and can point you in the right direction to breeders near you Thanks, do I just google this as Araucana club or something then? I had an idea that a pair would be a cock and hen. The legbars we looked at didn't say this either which made it more confusing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Pimlott Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 legbar males look different to the females, sometimes a female can have a small spur. was the sale not catolouged? male is silver coloured at the back, note also the difference in the tail too. if you are uncertain please buy of a reputable breeder NOT from an auction. karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 Auctions are best avoided. Unscrupulous dealers use them to offload sick or elderly birds to the unsuspecting or inexperienced hen keeper. It is also a good way of offloading unwanted males. It is not unusual to see roosters abandoned by the roadside when people have bought a pair or a trio too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katie Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 http://www.araucana.org.uk/ Just had a google, that site is the GB club. There should be someone on there you could e-mail i'm sure they'll be happy to help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooby Posted June 9, 2008 Author Share Posted June 9, 2008 legbar males look different to the females, sometimes a female can have a small spur.was the sale not catolouged? male is silver coloured at the back, note also the difference in the tail too. if you are uncertain please buy of a reputable breeder NOT from an auction. karen Most informative Karen, thank you. There didn't appear to be a catalogue but, then again, we wouldn't have known at that point to look for one - we'll know better if we go again. Unscrupulous dealers use them to offload sick or elderly birds to the unsuspecting or inexperienced hen keeper. It is also a good way of offloading unwanted males. It was most definately a learning curve for us, and we went knowing that there was no way we would risk buying anything we weren't sure about. http://www.araucana.org.uk/ Just had a google, that site is the GB club. There should be someone on there you could e-mail i'm sure they'll be happy to help Thanks, I'll have a look and see if I can contact someone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Pimlott Posted June 9, 2008 Share Posted June 9, 2008 i know the secretary of the auracana club very well. ky thurland shes from wales a lovely lady.... 01352 720043 she'll help you out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
