Cream Legbar Working Group: Standard of Perfection

[flyingmonkeypoop]

My leghorn x legbar crosses are already in the breeding pen and working on producing a new line of better laying legbars. I have said it before- my personal goal is to get more of a leghorn body with a good tail and everything which is why I am working on a production line and a line with a better body, all by outcrossing to light brown leghorns. The legbars color is supposed to be a cream light brown (like the dutch bantams) with barring.

I will work on getting some leghorn pics uploaded soon. I am still planning to photoshop a pic of my ideal legbar but with my city job and the farm work, I am never home when it is light outside. Maybe I can take them in the shop and get some pics under the lights, it would show the type hopefully

 

[nicalandia]

My leghorn x legbar crosses are already in the breeding pen and working on producing a new line of better laying legbars. I have said it before- my personal goal is to get more of a leghorn body with a good tail and everything which is why I am working on a production line and a line with a better body, all by outcrossing to light brown leghorns. The legbars color is supposed to be a cream light brown (like the dutch bantams) with barring.

I will work on getting some leghorn pics uploaded soon. I am still planning to photoshop a pic of my ideal legbar but with my city job and the farm work, I am never home when it is light outside. Maybe I can take them in the shop and get some pics under the lights, it would show the type hopefully

nice. keep us update it. this will bring more utility traits to them.

 

[nicalandia]

When you cross a gold roo (cream is diluted gold) with a silver hen you should end up with gold offspring. If there are any silver or cream offspring, either the roo is actually silver or the hen carries the cream gene.

well Only the Females will be gold with one copy of the cream gene(s+/- ig/Ig+) but the Males will be whats called "Golden" they will have one copy of dominant Silver(S) and one copy of recessive gold s+, making them S/s+, oddly enough they will look like Cream legbar roosters... you´ll think you hatch a pure cream legbar rooster

 

[nicalandia]

Hi FMP---

Tim Adkerson had given me some advice about out-crossing our Cream Legbars to get genetic diversity. LIGHT brown leghorns were a recommended out cross that he suggested. Most probably because if memory serves from reading these threads -- Type is the most important component for SQ birds, and SQ Light brown leghorns are within reach.

Breeding to Silver duckwing Leghorn is your best bet.

 

[nicalandia]

So (bear with me, I'm slow) does that mean that a warmish (gold) hen with light hackles has one cream gene, and a greyer hen with light hackles has two? And, of course, the gold hen with gold hackles has none.


Question for another day: Is it the presence of two barring genes, or two cream genes, that produces the very pale gray CL roosters? Or is it more complicated than that?

Many thanks, and please continue.

the cream gene(ig) is recessive to its wild counterpart Ig+ and wont express at all.. you are correct to assume the pale grey CL roosters are this shade because two copies of sex linked Barring gene. a rooster with only one copy will still be barred but will show a darker gold tone

 

[tadkerson]

Breeding to Silver duckwing Leghorn is your best bet.

Why silver? Please explain in detail.

Punnett used light brown leghorns and introduced danish leghorns. Danish leghorns were more efficient egg producers so he introduced them into the breeding regimen. The dark color in some of the birds in the USA is due to the introduction of the danish fowl.

Tim

 

[nicalandia]

Why silver? Please explain in detail.


Tim

the other day you avoided me on a genetic debate, hoping you bite now..

a simple question will answer your question... why do Dutch bantam breeders try to avoid crossing a light brown with their beloved Silver duckwing Dutch stock?

 

[blackbirds13]

Quote:

I'll probably regret this...

2 copies of the barred gene gets you a lighter rooster when it comes to the autosexing nature and it will be gold/brown in tone but depending on whether it has 2 cream genes or less then the tone (the degree of gray or brown) will differ. With cream colored birds you want a more silver/gray/slate overtone to the lighter down when they are chicks. If you read the UK SOP it states just this. I found this difference in tone to be true for the roosters I hatched this winter but will be able to confirm or negate this hopefully this spring.

I'm trying to understand the phenotype (and underlying genotype) difference in the hackles of the hens. for next year I have 2 that are cream no doubt and 2 that are what I call dark cream and 1 that is light gold and one that is gold - the rest are from the new line and not able to judge yet but their feathers are definitely more gray in tone, as I have stated before somewhere. I have 1 really cream rooster, one that is just a smidgen darker cream and 2 that are more colorful - all the others have been re-homed. Not sure how colorful those last 2 will eventually turn out but I doubt they will look like a rainbow but I could be absolutely wrong - given my personal chicken experience and knowledge. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes up and discovering for myself how this all works. Still working on how I want to set my pens up for line breeding...may do a bit of what some call in-breeding also. Just need everyone to make it to spring

as I have horrid chicken luck.

As for type - combs, crests, tail angle and egg size/production are my focuses. I think there may be a propensity towards oversized roosters from what some of my cull buyers are saying so.....

I think we all need to just hatch a poop load of chicks...

 

[nicalandia]

I'll probably regret this...

you did just fine...

 

[ChicKat]

O.K. --- I'm all for that. LOL.