Discussion of Legbar Standard of Perfection for -Alternative- Legbars - SOP discussion

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SUMMARY 3 - part 1
  • seems that it is pretty well understood that we don’t know ALL the underlying genetics and the effect they will have on our Cream Legbars (especially male)
Here is a quote from Walt:
You folks can talk about it, you can teach it and you can argue about it, but the bottom line is that people don't know what they are dealing with in terms of the genetic makeup of their birds. Some have had these for a good while now, but it takes several years to find out what these birds are really carrying. You first need to have your five APA members lined up, then decide on one color Standard. There is some flexibility, so it does not have to match the British Standard exactly...but we would need a compelling reason why it is different. There are many examples of differences in the APA Standard and the country of origins Standard. So, we can be somewhat flexible. Try for one color version first......so you will need to decide that at some point.
and here is an observation from KazJaps in classroom in the coop:
this is in answer to the idea that in UK a test pairing has proved that a silver-looking cockerel is actually gold. The cockerel could have been gold - but the testing method used was very un-scientific and the results are totally unreliable.

Also, it seems that F1 pullet is gold diluted. This is what I was getting at - you can't make any conclusions from that cross about any possible phaeomelanin diluters. Is she gold diluted because of the B gene (like my Crele hens), or because the father has a dominant phaeomelanin diluter, or because both father & mother have the same recessive phaeomelanin diluter? Or could there be combinations of genes now segregating out (eg both phaeomelanin intensifiers & diluters)? It doesn't substantiate any of these questions. Much more test breeding is needed.
From this Link:
http://www.the-coop.org/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=109342&page=3
posts 109216 - and posts both before and after.

A true test would require probably establishing the mutations (genes that vary from wild-type) in both parent birds, and that would require a lot of work with Red Jungle Fowl and both parent birds - a lot of growing out - possibly multiple generations - just to establish how the parent birds differed from RJF. No one has done this to my knowledge… So any test pairing that has been done - has started with assumptions that could or could not be correct.

  • It really doesn’t matter in the show cage what the underlying genetics ARE.
At first that seems like the breed could be destroyed by that - but then you see that actually that isn’t the case at all.

The judging is for the CL phenotype -- and THAT is verifiable whereas the underlying genetics are not. The appearance of the bird in the show cage is what can be judged.

If someone builds a Cream Legbar Look-alike and puts it in a Poultry show as a Cream Legbar - they could possibly win (over genetic Cream Legbars) -- When people were proposing this, and some found it a horrifying example - I think their idea was to introduce Silver genetics - perhaps a silver duckwing to the CL -- to eliminate that pesky “gold”. -- The problem is - for that approach - the CL isn’t truly silver. We are told that the color is different but difficult to photo. The best example of this is the chickens that chicken pickin’ has posted that show cream.

There are also photos that show cream visible in the photo. Those proposing some outcrosses - may get to the look of a Cream Legbar - but they may not - And they would probably struggle with crests, blue eggs, autosexing, and other Cream Legbar traits -and wouldn’t actually have the breed. So why lose many of the advantages of the breed for many years. Especially since we don’t know what is truly under the hood. My male has hackles that vary in color with the exposure to UV rays. My cockerel (and many others) could actually have silver -- and he isn’t perfect - and some people would want to ‘cull’ him -- It’s possible that silver got into the mix inadverntly in the UK - and many CL are split - and it is possible that they are all s+/s+
. The established look of a CL is what is being judged. IMO the CL is the best route to get there but there could be other routes. It will be difficult enough to get a CL using the lines we have that is close to the SOP -- and in someways I think that many who think popping another gene into the mix -- really don't realize the complexity and the implications. To get cream - requires a warm tone that introduction of certain other easy-street genes may not produce.

  • The SOP in the UK and the DRAFT SOP in the USA use Cream as the color description.
The SOP is about the look. If the breed should have looked Silver - then the SOP should have been written accordingly - and it wasn’t. The SOP is the decider. Add to that the Judge in the UK told us that Cream is the Color of pale butter.

there is a lot more -- there were a lot of pages that elapsed since the second summary.... Feel free, please to weigh in - on these or other observations in the thread...and yes there is subjectivity here -- hence the aspiration to use valid authorities and quotes.
 
SUMMARY 3 - part 2
It has to be somewhat obvious at this point that the CL has more than just one look

This is based on the 2013 and 2014 UK Nationals winners:

GFF bird is substituted for 2013 UK winner - the appearance is equivalent color-wise:




Since both won in UK at the highest ranking poultry shows, it stands to reason that they are chickens that conform to the UK SOP.
 
SUMMARY 3 - part 2
It has to be somewhat obvious at this point that the CL has more than just one look

This is based on the 2013 and 2014 UK Nationals winners:

GFF bird is substituted for 2013 UK winner - the appearance is equivalent color-wise:




Since both won in UK at the highest ranking poultry shows, it stands to reason that they are chickens that conform to the UK SOP.
I completely agree based on the winners, but also based on most of the comments in this thread. Walt has said their maybe some "range of color" allowed, but not a huge range. So, I would love to see his input on this. @Walt
 
SUMMARY 3 - part 1
  • seems that it is pretty well understood that we don’t know ALL the underlying genetics and the effect they will have on our Cream Legbars (especially male)
Here is a quote from Walt:
You folks can talk about it, you can teach it and you can argue about it, but the bottom line is that people don't know what they are dealing with in terms of the genetic makeup of their birds. Some have had these for a good while now, but it takes several years to find out what these birds are really carrying. You first need to have your five APA members lined up, then decide on one color Standard. There is some flexibility, so it does not have to match the British Standard exactly...but we would need a compelling reason why it is different. There are many examples of differences in the APA Standard and the country of origins Standard. So, we can be somewhat flexible. Try for one color version first......so you will need to decide that at some point.
and here is an observation from KazJaps in classroom in the coop:
this is in answer to the idea that in UK a test pairing has proved that a silver-looking cockerel is actually gold. The cockerel could have been gold - but the testing method used was very un-scientific and the results are totally unreliable.

Also, it seems that F1 pullet is gold diluted. This is what I was getting at - you can't make any conclusions from that cross about any possible phaeomelanin diluters. Is she gold diluted because of the B gene (like my Crele hens), or because the father has a dominant phaeomelanin diluter, or because both father & mother have the same recessive phaeomelanin diluter? Or could there be combinations of genes now segregating out (eg both phaeomelanin intensifiers & diluters)? It doesn't substantiate any of these questions. Much more test breeding is needed.
From this Link:
http://www.the-coop.org/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=109342&page=3
posts 109216 - and posts both before and after.

A true test would require probably establishing the mutations (genes that vary from wild-type) in both parent birds, and that would require a lot of work with Red Jungle Fowl and both parent birds - a lot of growing out - possibly multiple generations - just to establish how the parent birds differed from RJF. No one has done this to my knowledge… So any test pairing that has been done - has started with assumptions that could or could not be correct.

  • It really doesn’t matter in the show cage what the underlying genetics ARE.
At first that seems like the breed could be destroyed by that - but then you see that actually that isn’t the case at all.

The judging is for the CL phenotype -- and THAT is verifiable whereas the underlying genetics are not. The appearance of the bird in the show cage is what can be judged.

If someone builds a Cream Legbar Look-alike and puts it in a Poultry show as a Cream Legbar - they could possibly win (over genetic Cream Legbars) -- When people were proposing this, and some found it a horrifying example - I think their idea was to introduce Silver genetics - perhaps a silver duckwing to the CL -- to eliminate that pesky “gold”. -- The problem is - for that approach - the CL isn’t truly silver. We are told that the color is different but difficult to photo. The best example of this is the chickens that chicken pickin’ has posted that show cream.

There are also photos that show cream visible in the photo. Those proposing some outcrosses - may get to the look of a Cream Legbar - but they may not - And they would probably struggle with crests, blue eggs, autosexing, and other Cream Legbar traits -and wouldn’t actually have the breed. So why lose many of the advantages of the breed for many years. Especially since we don’t know what is truly under the hood. My male has hackles that vary in color with the exposure to UV rays. My cockerel (and many others) could actually have silver -- and he isn’t perfect - and some people would want to ‘cull’ him -- It’s possible that silver got into the mix inadverntly in the UK - and many CL are split - and it is possible that they are all s+/s+
. The established look of a CL is what is being judged. IMO the CL is the best route to get there but there could be other routes. It will be difficult enough to get a CL using the lines we have that is close to the SOP -- and in someways I think that many who think popping another gene into the mix -- really don't realize the complexity and the implications. To get cream - requires a warm tone that introduction of certain other easy-street genes may not produce.

  • The SOP in the UK and the DRAFT SOP in the USA use Cream as the color description.
The SOP is about the look. If the breed should have looked Silver - then the SOP should have been written accordingly - and it wasn’t. The SOP is the decider. Add to that the Judge in the UK told us that Cream is the Color of pale butter.

there is a lot more -- there were a lot of pages that elapsed since the second summary.... Feel free, please to weigh in - on these or other observations in the thread...and yes there is subjectivity here -- hence the aspiration to use valid authorities and quotes.
Nicely done! Thank you for all the effort which went into this.
 
So in short I think much of the debate on Cream stems around how pale is pale and what color is butter anyway
It appears that pale butter runs from fairly white to a muted yellow and that range seems acceptable in the UK
as Color is only a component of the over all score we should focus a little less on how cream is cream because it appears to be in the eye of the judge anyway. (how blue or green is your CLB egg anyway
hide.gif
)


Im in agreement that alterantive legbars that lay blue eggs would need something more. (Heavier chestnut, More gold, heavier barring something to distiguish them as something different and something specifically bred for not just an inferior CLB)

The big distinguishing factor in being a CLB over either gold or silver is that they lay blue eggs not white.

I was comparing someones brown leghorn to a gold legbar just so I could identify the differences ( The barring is the most obvious one but in the females it is often so subtle that the birds can look very similar) This is something that is easily seen but an inferior gold legbar and an inferior (crestless) CLB females are are almost impossible to determine

Both are autosexing but only the CLB lays blue which of course as far as males are concerned doesnt happen.

I think there may be room for more variety of blue egg legbars but if its just a matter of what color is your butter it is not enough
 
So in short I think much of the debate on Cream stems around how pale is pale and what color is butter anyway
It appears that pale butter runs from fairly white to a muted yellow and that range seems acceptable in the UK
as Color is only a component of the over all score we should focus a little less on how cream is cream because it appears to be in the eye of the judge anyway. (how blue or green is your CLB egg anyway
hide.gif
)


Im in agreement that alterantive legbars that lay blue eggs would need something more. (Heavier chestnut, More gold, heavier barring something to distiguish them as something different and something specifically bred for not just an inferior CLB)

The big distinguishing factor in being a CLB over either gold or silver is that they lay blue eggs not white.

I was comparing someones brown leghorn to a gold legbar just so I could identify the differences ( The barring is the most obvious one but in the females it is often so subtle that the birds can look very similar) This is something that is easily seen but an inferior gold legbar and an inferior (crestless) CLB females are are almost impossible to determine

Both are autosexing but only the CLB lays blue which of course as far as males are concerned doesnt happen.

I think there may be room for more variety of blue egg legbars but if its just a matter of what color is your butter it is not enough
I have had discussions with people regarding the color - and very specifically the 'some chestnut allowed' -- we came to the conclusion that if our birds were identical in everyway except mine had chestnut on the shoulders and his did not -- then in a show his would place higher than mine. And I'm fine with that. The liklihood of the color being the ONLY decider on the quality of a CL - is perhaps what has people in a tizzy.

As rank beginners, we can easily see the color and not the finer points. Someone said 'if you were to buy a horse, you wouldn't go by just color'-- and it reminded me of being a little kid at the stables and saying 'I want to ride the Paoimino' - I did pick by color alone -- a good starting point.

As we get more astute in our understanding of what comprises a top quality Excellent chicken - we will see so much more than color.

To my friend - I also said -- yours would place higher in the show -- but the other 364-days of the year - I would have the chicken I prefer.... I'd rather have that flash of chestnut in my chicken yard...and we certainly can go that route with this breed.

Perhaps too - the idea that double barring will dilute cream (as seen in other Cream breeds) to become invisible - was a place that the pendulum swung farther than it needed to.
 
It has been stated here, how little of a great chicken is about the color. However, this conversation is regarding potential color, comb, "Alternatives:... Or do we need/want Alternatives. :) So, I for one want to see the color debate continued and resolved. I do not like the "White" look. I want these bright, sunny birds in my flock. (I know it is not all about me)

In my happy place I also want them to have an SOP. If they don't... I will have a nice project breed. ;) I won't be breeding any "White" looking Cream Birds. :) No offense meant to anyone, just personal preferences. I am okay with the look of the 2014 UK Rooster, but only as a meet in the middle compromise, but not as a preference.

The GFF "gold, crele, whatever" birds are everywhere. Here is today's listing of Cream Legbars from Spokane's Craigslist. Take a look at the pictures. I am pretty sure this is going on in Everycity, USA,

http://spokane.craigslist.org/search/sss?sort=rel&query=legbar,

Go to your local Craigslist page, search "Legbar" and post the link, so we can see what is out there being bred, sold and already establishing the look and color of the breed. :)

Happy Friday Everyone.
 
As a heads up.....most of the people selling CL's are not paying attention to type or color. They are just cranking them out as they are easy to sell.....so be careful what pictures you use to represent the breed. After all this time it should be pretty evident who is serious and who is just going for the money.

Everyone online who has chickens is called a breeder these days. I don't call them that, as I only know about 20 real breeders and most of them do not post online. This is a new breed here and it is far too complicated for the average beginner to make improvements. There are some folks that are taking this very seriously though and I have seen improvement from them.

Read the British Standard and see what they have done. Standards always leave some leeway so that the breeders can have their own bird that breeds fairly consistent to the Standard and has their "genetic mark" on them. The genetic mark is a color or type bird that is only seen in one persons birds. It will be a very small difference, but recognizable as being bred by that person.

The APA will allow for some differences in how the birds look color wise, but not a lot of difference in the body type. IMO the core group chosen to be the one of five breeders that submit the breeding documents, need to have a lot of input into how the Standard is written. They will be here in 5 years but many of the others giving input will not even have chickens in five years. People stay in chickens for about 2-3 years and then they are off to something else.

Walt
 
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