Cream Legbar Working Group: Standard of Perfection

[Phage]

This is a breed that I am unfamiliar with, but Cheryl Cohen has some and has sold some in this area, so I have seen them. I believe hers are from GFF. If this is a utility breed it should be bred to retain that utility. I have never seen a breed that could not win in a show and still produce as it was meant to produce. I am not saying that people don't concentrate on one or the other, but when these breeds originated they did the job they were designed to do. What happens is that along the way the breeders select for either utility or show and that is where they make the mistake. The Marans had that problem but it is turning around. There are show birds now that lay dark eggs.

Write a history, write a Standard (in the format that the APA already uses) and coordinate breeders to raise birds for the qualifying meet. I can give you suggestions or direction along the way. Generally the biggest hurdle is everyone agreeing on the breed description.

Walt

This is such good information. Breeding the marans and Wheaten ameraucanas for egg color drastically reduced the production. I am pretty sure that was in part due to line breeding for egg colour.

It is interesting that both "production" and "show" lines were imported from the UK by GFF.
As a group maybe we need to decide if we want 2 lines as well, or as we are starting with essentially a clean sheet we can be very careful not to select characteristics that trend to low production. The eggs are one of the main amazing traits of these birds. Lets make sure we do not sabotage ourselves at an early stage.

It does concern me a bit that ALREADY so many people on here have got chicks and eggs from just a few of the people in the US who have these birds from GFF. These people are wonderful and have great birds so people want to deal with them but I find this already alarming as the gene pool is already small.

BTW I sold my first pair of CCL from the GFF show line (line B I believe) . They were beautiful and the cockeral had an amazing comb and color, but the eggs were small, very blue and no way were they as productive as they are said to be. I would have kept the roo but he had personality issues. It was hard to do but they were not what I need to work with. I now have mostly line "A" imported birds growing out.

We need to know what is it that reduces the production. I suspect it is no single characteristic (maybe egg color) and rather just inbreeding. No brainer. It is tempting to use an amazing rooster to father 1000's of chicks but it just is not a good idea.

BTW I am from the UK and will try to get the low-down on the different strains and what really has been going on in the UK.

 

[Phage]

I was going to suggest that we contact Walt, but he showed up on his own.....................I think it's fate! Thanks Walt!

Deb

Hmm I am pretty sure it was Dak who helped there. THANK YOU DAK!!!!

 

[fowlman01]

I was going to suggest that we contact Walt, but he showed up on his own.....................I think it's fate! Thanks Walt!

Deb

Nothing mysterious...DAK asked me to participate.

Walt

 

[Phage]

Thank you Walt!
Your participation and guidance will be fundamental to the rest of us doing this properly.

 

[fowlman01]

The APA format is the format you will see when looking at an APA Standard. Any breed. Take the New Hamps as an example. See that it starts with a description of the bred and how it came about. Then Economic qualities, Disqualifications, weights. The shape of male and female..... then color of both. Just use the same sequence. I will make note of this effort in my report to the Board that will be read at Lucasville, OH this next weekend. There need not be a formal request yet, as you are 5 years away, but just so the Board knows.

Walt

 

[flyingmonkeypoop]

I am here to help with the new future breed club in any way I can. I will be breeding from my pair (line A and C) and will be trying to increase my flock of pure CLB's in addition to working on a rose combed variety which some folks on the cream legbar thread don't like this idea but I like it and figure it will help the breed in the long run by adding in new blood, increasing egg production, and making them more cold hardy with the rose combs

 

[Dahlisgrams]

I think we should pm you with real name, byc name, add, phone,e-mail, and number of chickens and source of chickens to have all this info in one place for now.

This sounds good to me and if there are no objections, I will make a spreadsheet for this. Send a pm with your information and I'll add you to the list. Good organization from the beginning will simplify things as we move forward.

Things are moving right along!

 

[Phage]

The APA format is the format you will see when looking at an APA Standard. Any breed. Take the New Hamps as an example. See that it starts with a description of the bred and how it came about. Then Economic qualities, Disqualifications, weights. The shape of male and female..... then color of both. Just use the same sequence. I will make note of this effort in my report to the Board that will be read at Lucasville, OH this next weekend. There need not be a formal request yet, as you are 5 years away, but just so the Board knows.

Walt

That is great, Thanks Walt!
Now we need to get that document together. I am happy to do it, but I think others are also working on it. Does it need to be completed by next weekend or a work in progress? I think some elements will take time to discuss.

 

[flyingmonkeypoop]

This sounds good to me and if there are no objections, I will make a spreadsheet for this. Send a pm with your information and I'll add you to the list. Good organization from the beginning will simplify things as we move forward.

Things are moving right along!

PM'd

 

[fowlman01]

That is great, Thanks Walt!
Now we need to get that document together. I am happy to do it, but I think others are also working on it. Does it need to be completed by next weekend or a work in progress? I think some elements will take time to discuss.

You have all kinds of time to complete it. I am just mentioning to the Board that it is starting. You have a lot to work though. Two points I see right away is crest or no crest and the production abilities. I assume from looking at CL's in this area that they are primarily and egg laying breed. Generally an autosexing breed is that way to get rid of the males early on. If you are getting rid of the males, then they are usually not for meat.

Walt