Cream Legbar Working Group: Standard of Perfection

[GaryDean26]

Bummer. I am at the APA Central Florida Poultry Show. Out of about 800 birds, not one Cream Legbar. I was going to bring one but she's not a good example.

I was going to attend that show. I was in Orlando on Saturday. I thought we were going to drive home on Saturday morning and Iverness is only about 15 minutes out of the way. We ended up going to Clearwater Beach with my in-laws instead though and started home on Sunday, so my Marans egg entry that I brough on the trip to entry in the show turned into an omelet.

That would be a good show to make a Cream Lebgar Regional Meet next year though. Do you want to spear head it? I could send you two other CLB names in the area to work with.

 

[GaryDean26]

Oh...3 Cream Legbars were there. Did you get a List of exhibitors?

 

[Bazy]

Hello,

I have a genetics question regarding Cream Legbar crests. I have heard from someone who heard from someone else that the crest gene is lethal if both parents pass the gene to the same offspring. I have spent many hours trying to confirm or disprove this and have found nothing either way. The closest I have come is reference to Araucana tufts and two copies being lethal, and DUCKS with two copies of the crested gene being lethal, but that ducks can actually be double crested if they survive the issue of two copies.

If I breed crested to crested, are two copies passed to the same chick lethal or not? If not, are there any other genetic issues with this breeding? I want crested birds, but want the safest way to achieve this without creating genetic issues.

I have found breeding improvement guides to several breeds, but none for Legbars. I just seem to end up back at the link for SOP over and over.

I have five females (one appears un-crested) and two males about four weeks old. They are possibly siblings, so I will be trading the roosters.

 

[chicken pickin]

Hello,

I have a genetics question regarding Cream Legbar crests. I have heard from someone who heard from someone else that the crest gene is lethal if both parents pass the gene to the same offspring. I have spent many hours trying to confirm or disprove this and have found nothing either way. The closest I have come is reference to Araucana tufts and two copies being lethal, and DUCKS with two copies of the crested gene being lethal, but that ducks can actually be double crested if they survive the issue of two copies.

If I breed crested to crested, are two copies passed to the same chick lethal or not? If not, are there any other genetic issues with this breeding? I want crested birds, but want the safest way to achieve this without creating genetic issues.

I have found breeding improvement guides to several breeds, but none for Legbars. I just seem to end up back at the link for SOP over and over.

I have five females (one appears un-crested) and two males about four weeks old. They are possibly siblings, so I will be trading the roosters.

This cresting gene is not lethal. It is required for this breed to have a crest and yes you should breed crested to crested to be sure offspring will have 2 copies of the crested gene. If you are breeding to the SOP you should avoid breeding the uncrested CL.

 

[Bazy]

Quote:
Well! That is very welcome news! I do enjoy the search for information, but this one had me stumped and you cleared it up in a few sentences! I am grateful to you for sharing.

 

[ClickerChick]

Hey everybody! I recently acquired one male and three female Cream Legbars to use as a 4-H breeding project. One of the females began to lay a few days ago - beautiful blue eggs! However, the eggs are rather small. Like, bantam size. I'm going to wait a couple of weeks to see if the size increases, as I have seen happen in new layers, but I wouldn't think the size would be this drastic!

Are the eggs supposed to be this small? I'd think that having Leghorn and Plymouth rock background would make them have large eggs, but I don't know what the Araucana blood would do to the egg size (only color). If they should be bigger and they don't get bigger as she continues to lay, then I guess egg size will be one of my main points to work on with breeding them.

Thanks for any input!

 

[KPenley]

Hey everybody! I recently acquired one male and three female Cream Legbars to use as a 4-H breeding project. One of the females began to lay a few days ago - beautiful blue eggs! However, the eggs are rather small. Like, bantam size. I'm going to wait a couple of weeks to see if the size increases, as I have seen happen in new layers, but I wouldn't think the size would be this drastic!

Are the eggs supposed to be this small? I'd think that having Leghorn and Plymouth rock background would make them have large eggs, but I don't know what the Araucana blood would do to the egg size (only color). If they should be bigger and they don't get bigger as she continues to lay, then I guess egg size will be one of my main points to work on with breeding them.

Thanks for any input!

I've had some small ones at the beginning, and then 1+ years they really seem to get bigger. My 2 year old hen lays 2-2 1/2 ounce eggs regularly.

 

[GaryDean26]

My original stock I could sort into two categories for egg size. One group would lay their first eggs at 23-24 weeks with weights at around 34-36 grams, and the other group would lay their first egg at 23-24 weeks with eggs around 45-48 grams.

Note: Hens that are older (i.e. 32 weeks) when they lay their first egg have a larger first egg.

By 12 months old my group that started out with the 35 gram eggs were laying egg in the 57-60 gram range. Those that had first pullet eggs in the 46 gram range were laying eggs in that were 62-67 grams at 12 months.

We do get eggs that are a lot larger than the ranges list at 12 months. Our largest single yolk eggs were 76 grams and our largest double yolk eggs were 82 grams.

In the 2nd laying season eggs were a few grams larger on average than they were in the first laying season.

Egg size is also controlled by time of the year and diet. If you increase the nutrients and protein in the hen's diet they will lay larger eggs. On free range the largest eggs of the year will be laid in April. Egg size in November is typically a lot smaller than what you will see in the spring.

Hope this helps. I wouldn't evaluate egg size until the hen has laid 30+ eggs.

 

[ClickerChick]

OK, thanks everybody! Yeah, I guess I'm just a little excited... I'll keep an eye on them and weigh the eggs every once in a while to track their progress.

Speaking of chickens laying eggs in November, I've been wondering something that I guess I can ask here. If pullets are hatched at a certain time of year so that they are due to lay in the winter (like five of mine), will they actually lay when they are supposed to, or will they wait until spring? I know chickens will normally slow down or even stop production in winter months, but I wasn't sure how that applies to the ones due to lay in the winter. Thanks again for any input!

 

[ClickerChick]

Today's egg weighs 1.5 oz.