Cream Legbar Breeders?

[Allthefloofs]

My understanding is that Greenfire Farms is popular for show quality birds, I guess their Rees line is considered to be show standard. My little girl I got from MPC, she is extremely nice and friendly, but less "cream" than she should be to conform to show standards, which I sort of expected from large production hatchery. Somewhere in the forums there is a post from someone who was looking to start a breeding program with show quality birds in mind. I searched and can't find the thread but it might be worth looking for so you can see the birds she had from Greenfire.

 

[Araucana Nest]

I'm breeding Cream Legbars. My flock is made up of Jill Rees and production lines, mixed. They were purchased from Cackle a few years ago and from a private breeder. Took me almost two years to find a good roo that treated the hens well and wasn't aggressive. He is 6 months old now. My hens all lay blue eggs. Waiting for my Araucanas to get to four months of age to apply for NPIP certification. Then I can sell hatching eggs and day-old chicks in spring.
I do breed to the SOP but I dont' show. Maybe someday I will but my experience with showing dogs really turned me off to showing animals. When I choose a chick to keep and breed, I do so with my own informed eye and I like color and varieties that may not be APA approved.

 

[Cape parrot]

I'm breeding Cream Legbars. My flock is made up of Jill Rees and production lines, mixed. They were purchased from Cackle a few years ago and from a private breeder. Took me almost two years to find a good roo that treated the hens well and wasn't aggressive. He is 6 months old now. My hens all lay blue eggs. Waiting for my Araucanas to get to four months of age to apply for NPIP certification. Then I can sell hatching eggs and day-old chicks in spring.
I do breed to the SOP but I dont' show. Maybe someday I will but my experience with showing dogs really turned me off to showing animals. When I choose a chick to keep and breed, I do so with my own informed eye and I like color and varieties that may not be APA approved.

Good luck with your breeding program. I’m new to Cream Legbar Chickens and am looking forward to breeding someday .
I’ve also had some interesting experience with showing my Bouviers. I will not waste any more time or money on that.
Do you have any pictures of your eggs ? I bought some and only had 1 pullet hatch .
I’d love to see pictures of your hens and rooster. I’m waiting for a trio to be delivered. They are from Jill Rees line .

 

[Araucana Nest]

Good luck with your breeding program. I’m new to Cream Legbar Chickens and am looking forward to breeding someday .
I’ve also had some interesting experience with showing my Bouviers. I will not waste any more time or money on that.
Do you have any pictures of your eggs ? I bought some and only had 1 pullet hatch .
I’d love to see pictures of your hens and rooster. I’m waiting for a trio to be delivered. They are from Jill Rees line .

Thank you. I wish you well with your trio. Both the JL line and production line I have seem to lay the same color and quantity. The eggs are bluish not green. My Roo is from Jill Rees line. The one noticeable characteristic between them from my observation and worthy of mention is that the JL line seems more approachable. I went through 6 production line cockerels and 2 JL cockerels before I found my current one. They were all very aggressive. This one is good to his hens. I don’t manipulate my photos. These are fresh eggs. The CL egg is on the end That is a Silverudd’s Blue egg in the middle It’s greenish And a quick one of my Roo

 

[deepbluesea]

My avatar is my dear departed CCL, Flash. She was a sweetie, but don't think she was SOP. Loved her floof, though.

 

[Cape parrot]

Thank you. I wish you well with your trio. Both the JL line and production line I have seem to lay the same color and quantity. The eggs are bluish not green. My Roo is from Jill Rees line. The one noticeable characteristic between them from my observation and worthy of mention is that the JL line seems more approachable. I went through 6 production line cockerels and 2 JL cockerels before I found my current one. They were all very aggressive. This one is good to his hens. I don’t manipulate my photos. These are fresh eggs. The CL egg is on the end That is a Silverudd’s Blue egg in the middle It’s greenish And a quick one of my Roo View attachment 2366212View attachment 2366206

Thanks for the information and your photos. Your rooster is handsome, I see his comb is all upright and nice healthy red.

 

[Araucana Nest]

My avatar is my dear departed CCL, Flash. She was a sweetie, but don't think she was SOP. Loved her floof, though.

The SOP is a great guide to keep a standard within a breed but it has limited use in matters of the .

 

[BlackWatchLady]

Actually, some hatcheries get their birds from smaller groups that are breeding quality birds. I purchased some Black Laced Silver Wyandottes and the young man who purchased them as chicks from me entered them and got Grand Champion and Best of Show I think the number 1 and 3 spot. With the several birds he entered. I don't show so this is what I remember from the conversation. I wish I was better with photos and pictures so I could have saved them. My

Not the ones I have seen. I have four hatchery quality ( production is what they call it I think??) and only one is closer ( not that close though) to SOP. She’s the only one who actually shows more cream color. I almost kept a roo from a phenomenal breeder of creams, but he had a an eye that made me change my mind. Good chance he had it damaged by getting pecked or poked, but didn’t want to chance that he might have mereks....
I have found someone else with them and am now raising two cockerels. Hopefully one will have the right stuff.

 

[WVBirdsAndBees]

I know this thread is older and not super active but in case future folks are interested in legbars as well, here's my 2 cents as someone beginning a breeding program:

The breed is relatively new to the US and GFF is the primary importer. That doesn't mean you should run to them for birds. What it does mean is the vast majority of cream legbars in the country are from the lines they brought over (or some combination). GFF doesn't necessarily breed to the standard any more than any other hatchery. They just import rare breeds. Breeders then still have to refine to the standard.

Speaking of standards, there is only a proposed standard and it is still subject to change. Showing them is good for getting the word out but "show lines" are essentially somebody's guess of what 1) the final standard will be and 2) how judges will interpret it. It's great to work on the breed to improve it here but nobody has champion CLs. They have CLs they've bred to their interpretation of a proposed standard and they hope a judge would agree.

My personal experience has been interesting. There are a couple breeders in my general area, plus 2 hatcheries within driving distance that offer CLs. I've grown out chicks from 3 separate sources for genetic diversity. Those closest to the proposed standard, with cream coloring and good legbar shape, are from a small hatchery. If anyone wants to know which one, feel free to message me. I did get one CL from Meyer in a rare assortment. She's a joy with great egg color but is too gold and will be in our layer coop rather than breeding. I don't know how representative she is of their CLs generally. Tiny sample.. They're expensive at Meyer so you'd hope for better quality. All considered, I certainly wouldn't dismiss every hatchery CL in the country. Most of us have only seen small samples and even the best show breeders might only get a few great ones out of every hundred birds.

Lastly, do your research thoroughly on the breed. Some "show" lines have had issues with chicks not being sexable at hatch. To me, visually sexable chicks are a key part of the breed. Lines that don't keep that trait do damage to the genetic pool for the breed, in my opinion, and should be avoided no matter how great they might be to show.

Good luck to anyone looking to add legbars. They're our favorites.

 

[Cape parrot]

I know this thread is older and not super active but in case future folks are interested in legbars as well, here's my 2 cents as someone beginning a breeding program:

The breed is relatively new to the US and GFF is the primary importer. That doesn't mean you should run to them for birds. What it does mean is the vast majority of cream legbars in the country are from the lines they brought over (or some combination). GFF doesn't necessarily breed to the standard any more than any other hatchery. They just import rare breeds. Breeders then still have to refine to the standard.

Speaking of standards, there is only a proposed standard and it is still subject to change. Showing them is good for getting the word out but "show lines" are essentially somebody's guess of what 1) the final standard will be and 2) how judges will interpret it. It's great to work on the breed to improve it here but nobody has champion CLs. They have CLs they've bred to their interpretation of a proposed standard and they hope a judge would agree.

My personal experience has been interesting. There are a couple breeders in my general area, plus 2 hatcheries within driving distance that offer CLs. I've grown out chicks from 3 separate sources for genetic diversity. Those closest to the proposed standard, with cream coloring and good legbar shape, are from a small hatchery. If anyone wants to know which one, feel free to message me. I did get one CL from Meyer in a rare assortment. She's a joy with great egg color but is too gold and will be in our layer coop rather than breeding. I don't know how representative she is of their CLs generally. Tiny sample.. They're expensive at Meyer so you'd hope for better quality. All considered, I certainly wouldn't dismiss every hatchery CL in the country. Most of us have only seen small samples and even the best show breeders might only get a few great ones out of every hundred birds.

Lastly, do your research thoroughly on the breed. Some "show" lines have had issues with chicks not being sexable at hatch. To me, visually sexable chicks are a key part of the breed. Lines that don't keep that trait do damage to the genetic pool for the breed, in my opinion, and should be avoided no matter how great they might be to show.

Good luck to anyone looking to add legbars. They're our favorites.

Great information on CLB . I’ve got so many questions. How can you prove that the birds are from Rees line ? I don’t see how . When breeding dogs you have a pedigree, a DNA profile and possibly a microchip.
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