Bielefelder x Cream Legbar cross

[dheltzel]

I have Welbars, not Biels, but they are very similar (Welbars are autosexing Welsummers and lay the same dark eggs). For several years I have been putting Legbar pullets in my Welbar pen. Their blue eggs are easy to tell from the dark brown Welbar eggs, so I can collect hatching eggs for Welbars and autosexing Olive Eggers. The Olive Eggers are usually my best selling chicks, at least as popular as the Cream Legbars.
This year I have a pen of autosexing Olive Eggers that I am producing F2 autosexing olive eggers from. Those Olive eggs are really hard to candle . . .

 

[The Moonshiner]

Why move to F2s instead of continuing just producing F1s?

 

[dheltzel]

Why move to F2s instead of continuing just producing F1s?

Good question. They will not be my main OE's for a while, but I am working toward a Cuckoo Isabel OE, so they will still be autosexing. Long term project, as fixing the egg color is tricky. There is now a genetic test available for determining whether a chicken has 0,1, or 2 copies of the blue egg gene. It is expensive and takes a long time to get results (samples are sent to Europe and are not a high priority for the lab there).
All in all, this could be a difficult project, but I need a challenge . . .

 

[The Moonshiner]

Lol. Ya I'm working on similar projects so I know the struggle.
I remember the breeder that worked on the "opal" legbars putting the egg genes on the back burner to focus on pattern. I always thought that was a huge mistake.
Pattern is easy. You can see it. Isn't that test just shy of $100?

 

[TillyPeeps]

This is one of my Oliver Eggers from dheltzel. She lays about 6 large oliver eggs per week, and very sweet. She will fly to perch on my arm, and will let me hold her for a short time.

 

[jenflock]

That's great news! I plan to breed my bielefelder roo over some legbar hens next spring. I was getting conflicting information about whether or not the autosexing qualities would be retained with the cross. I hope my crosses are as adorable as this olive egger! (TillyPeeps). Being able to keep them in the same pen and get two different chicks is exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks for the help!

 

[MommaHen1996]

Got a legbar from a lady with a bielefelder roo... incubated the eggs just to see...and in a week or so, we will see if she really only has a bielefelder roo, or if there was a legbar roo. Going to need help identifying once born

 

[NatJ]

Got a legbar from a lady with a bielefelder roo... incubated the eggs just to see...and in a week or so, we will see if she really only has a bielefelder roo, or if there was a legbar roo. Going to need help identifying once born

That might be really difficult to sort out, considering how similar those two breeds are in many respects.

With a Legbar mother, and a Bielefelder or Legbar father, all chicks should be autosexing, with single combs and yellow legs, and grow a small crest when they get their feathers.

Differences: half-Bielefelder chicks will probably grow faster and larger than pure Legbar chicks, and the females should lay different color eggs when they grow up (blue for pure Legbars, green for crosses.)

 

[MommaHen1996]

Thank you. I’ll post pics. Through out their age progression

 

[Honey Meadows]

Here you go! The first photo is of 3 cross cockerels and 1 Bielefelder cockerel (far right), second is a cross pullet, third is one of the cross cockerels. They are 13ish weeks old in these photos. Mine haven't started laying yet but the person I got them from says they should lay sage green eggs.

I was wondering if they retained the auto sexing trait since both breeds are auto sexing?