The Legbar Thread!

[dheltzel]

I have had 2 different strains of Legbars, from different imports that Greenfire made. The second strain is the Jill Rees line and I find them unusually docile and quiet, as you might expect from show birds. They still lay remarkably well.

The older strain was a lot more "leghorn like", they roost high and are laying machines. I crossed the 2 lines of course and the F1's seem like a good mix. Yesterday I collected 22 eggs from 30 pullets, and it is not yet the height of the laying season here yet. They are pretty docile also, underfoot a lot, expecting me to bring them a treat. I have them in with pure Jill Rees roos to get 3/4 JR pullets for next year.

None have ever been dominant in mixed flocks, though I usually keep them separate. They are alway small and light, putting them at a disadvantage if they ever mix it up with a larger breed,

 

[GaryDean26]

Hi All, Can someone please talk about the temperament of these birds? Are they loud?, flighty? Are they ususally high in the pecking order? How do they do in a cold climate? etc

Thanks

Are they loud? - I have heard some say their are, but mine aren't. It will very from flock to flock. Ask the person you get your flock from what their flock is like. It is sure to be unique from other flocks of this breed.

flighty? I have my chicken set up with a 5 foot fence (no top) and I they never get over the fence. I have have 1-2 get up into the trees to roost at night but again this will vary from flock to flock. One of my foundation hens had very short wings and will the rest of the flock would roost in the rafters of the chicken coop 6 feet up she would pass back and forth ever night and try as hard as she could to fly up to join the flock but just didn't have the wing power to make it 6 feet off the ground. So no she was NOT flighty. Many of her offspring inherited the shorter wings.

Are they ususally high in the pecking order? Again this varries. We have some Legbars that take the top of the pecking order over hens that have a good 2 pounds on them, but not everyone can be the top of the pecking order. Others legbars are the bottom of the pecking order. It would be the difference between a Japanese Sumo wrestler and a Japanese buisness man. Both are Japanese, but nothing a like. Chicken breeds are the same. You can find all types of personalities in a singe family of Legbars. Put 20,000 legbars out there and you will find every level of the pecking order possible.

How do they do in a cold climate? The have large combs that is very prone to frost bite, so they are not a breed you would choose for their cold weather hardiness. You would want a rose comb breed or something with a different comb type if you were breeding for cold weather resistence. If that isn't you first priority in a breed though then the Legbar will do just as well as most other breeds in the cold.



Thanks

 

[rooboo]

Hi All, Can someone please talk about the temperament of these birds? Are they loud?, flighty? Are they ususally high in the pecking order? How do they do in a cold climate? etc

Thanks

I have several ccl's from both the early imports and the Rees lines from greenfire farms. The legbars are probably the friendliest and most curious of the many breeds that I have. I would routinely sit out on a chair in the yard and hand feed anyone that was interested. A few of the legbars decided that they were going to be first by jumping up on my lap and eating right out of the bucket of grain. What I noticed about the eggs was that the earlier imports tended to be a very nice blue and rounder, globe shaped eggs, and were generally extra large or better. The eggs also regularly had extra bits and clumps of extra shell material. Even with that, it didn't seem to affect the hatch rates. When I got the Rees line of birds, there were distinct differences which I didn't care for. I wasn't breeding them for show quality so my interests are probably different from others. The Rees birds were smaller, bodywise, and the colors seemed much lighter, especially the roos. The eggs were more traditionally shaped without the little extra bits on the shells, but, they were smaller and ranging from blue to green. Not the beautiful blue that I was used to. Another thing was the autosexing trait was a little bit sketchy. Several of the hatched chicks were not as clear cut as the earlier imports. I know the breed standard allows for blue or green eggs but I really prefer the blue from the early imports. I have also made some amazing olive eggers using a legbar hen with a greenfire bcm rooster. The greenfire bcm hens that I have, lay mostly jumbo eggs, some very dark and some not so dark, but the crosses I did with the legbars made bigger hens and jumbo olive eggs. Although the legbars nor the marans rarely go broody, the olive eggers go broody at the drop of a hat. I had one that sat on top of the feed barrel for a month trying to hatch it.lol

 

[otakalhasas]

I have several ccl's from both the early imports and the Rees lines from greenfire farms. The legbars are probably the friendliest and most curious of the many breeds that I have. I would routinely sit out on a chair in the yard and hand feed anyone that was interested. A few of the legbars decided that they were going to be first by jumping up on my lap and eating right out of the bucket of grain. What I noticed about the eggs was that the earlier imports tended to be a very nice blue and rounder, globe shaped eggs, and were generally extra large or better. The eggs also regularly had extra bits and clumps of extra shell material. Even with that, it didn't seem to affect the hatch rates. When I got the Rees line of birds, there were distinct differences which I didn't care for. I wasn't breeding them for show quality so my interests are probably different from others. The Rees birds were smaller, bodywise, and the colors seemed much lighter, especially the roos. The eggs were more traditionally shaped without the little extra bits on the shells, but, they were smaller and ranging from blue to green. Not the beautiful blue that I was used to. Another thing was the autosexing trait was a little bit sketchy. Several of the hatched chicks were not as clear cut as the earlier imports. I know the breed standard allows for blue or green eggs but I really prefer the blue from the early imports. I have also made some amazing olive eggers using a legbar hen with a greenfire bcm rooster. The greenfire bcm hens that I have, lay mostly jumbo eggs, some very dark and some not so dark, but the crosses I did with the legbars made bigger hens and jumbo olive eggs. Although the legbars nor the marans rarely go broody, the olive eggers go broody at the drop of a hat. I had one that sat on top of the feed barrel for a month trying to hatch it.lol

Man, you missed a Kodak moment - trying to hatch a feed barrel! WAY too funny!

 

[rooboo]

Man, you missed a Kodak moment - trying to hatch a feed barrel!  WAY too funny!

Go to the "broody hen thread" posts #10873 and #10881 that's where the picture of her and her crazy sister

 

[otakalhasas]

Go to the "broody hen thread" posts #10873 and #10881 that's where the picture of her and her crazy sister

Way too cool! Thanks!

 

[summerb123]

Just got 5 little legbars so cute! My favorite is Rambo the cockerel

 

[otakalhasas]

Rambo - LOVE the name!!!!!! Major cute!

 

[summerb123]

 

[summerb123]

Thanks he looks like a Rambo!