Cream Legbar Working Group: Standard of Perfection

[Sherol]

I don't see any takers on this. I will give a few more days for people to respond. I have been getting nudges the past few weeks to start a Cream Legbar mentor group. We can have that group here if people are interested. It helps to know who is participating in the group so either introduce yourself so we know who is participating or give us your thoughts on the point of the SOP we are discussing so we know who is here.

Im interested in discussing in more depth. Wonder if another thread might be best. Work has kept me busy but very interested in this discussion.

 

[WVduckchick]

I don't see any takers on this. I will give a few more days for people to respond. I have been getting nudges the past few weeks to start a Cream Legbar mentor group. We can have that group here if people are interested. It helps to know who is participating in the group so either introduce yourself so we know who is participating or give us your thoughts on the point of the SOP we are discussing so we know who is here.

Thanks Gary. I would definitely be interested. I've always admired the breed, but only this year was able to get some. They are about 9 weeks old now. I have one cockerel and 5 pullets. I hatched the cockerel and one pullet (amazing after the damage done to the eggs by the post office) and I bought 4 more pullets from a local fella. So I am very much wanting to learn the most that I can about them.

I realize they are still very young to critique, but here are a few pics.

Spoiler: Bunch of Pics

 

[GaryDean26]

Well...Welcome aboard. Sherol and WVduckchick. The mentor group that I have been getting nudged to start would have covered breeding plans and other topics not specific to the SOP. We can move to another thread for a mentor group after we go through the SOP, but we will start here and try to get others to join in.

This first hen is an APA Leghorn. The APA Leghorn is a breed of curves. The top line of the hen starts with a curved neck that goes into a curved saddle shaped back that sweeps into the tail. That is NOT what you want for a Legbar. The term sloping back indicate that the back should be a straight line with no curves.

The Plymouth Rock also is a breed of curves. This hen has a sweep to her back. It also rises from the shoulder to the tail. This is what one of my mentors called an up-the-river back and was a culling point on the breeds that required a downward slope from the shoulder to the tail. The two main breeds that make up the Legbar are the Leghorn and the Plymouth so you may be wondering how the Legbar got to a non-curved back with a downward slope. The Legbar is an English breed and the standard for the English Leghorn is very different than the APA Leghorn. Below are some English Leghorns. They have the downward sloping back that the Legbars should have. Notice their difference from the APA Leghorn and the Plymouthrock.

The Image of the Java shows a long back with out curves which is desirable for the Legbar, but is parallel with the horizon having no downward slope. The Java was one of the foundation breed for the Plymouthrock so it is a very distance ancestor of the Legbar.

I thought I might get some takers with this Blue Andalusian. She has a downward sloping back. The Andalusian is a Mediterranean breed which puts it in the same class as the Leghorn making it about as closly related to the Legbar as the Java is. Of all the breeds in the APA book of standards the Andalusian is about the closest in type to the Legbar as you can find. This back however is NOT correct for a Legbar. There is nothing slight about the slope of the back on this hen. It is steeper than what I like to see on a Legbar.

These two cockerels both have backs that would be ideal for a Legbar. They are free of curves and have the slight downward slop to the tail.

If you have any profile photos of your legbars feel free to post them so we can see where they are in terms of their backs. The next thing I look at when evaluating Legbar Type is the tail. I will Post the description from the proposed SOP for the Tail later today so we can look at that.

 

[GaryDean26]

Okay...here are a few of mine (all hens, the 4th one was a true Gold Legbar, yes she laid white eggs). None of them have perfect backs but are here for comparisons.

 

[WVduckchick]

Good stuff Gary. Thank you for doing this.

May I suggest that the educational/mentoring type posts be tagged with something unique so we can find them later with a single search?
I think I will bookmark them for now, but haven't gotten used to that function.
Or if we start another thread, they can all be copied over there.

 

[Bantambird]

 

[WVduckchick]

Holy smokes! Such beauties!!

 

[Bantambird]

Sadly, That lovely hen passed away suddenly due to a lung infection

 

[WVduckchick]

Sadly, That lovely hen passed away suddenly due to a lung infection

Wow that is super sad. I'm sorry.

 

[rer49]

I don't see any takers on this. I will give a few more days for people to respond. I have been getting nudges the past few weeks to start a Cream Legbar mentor group. We can have that group here if people are interested. It helps to know who is participating in the group so either introduce yourself so we know who is participating or give us your thoughts on the point of the SOP we are discussing so we know who is here.

I am interested in your Cream Legbar mentor group and thanks for doing it.