Cream Legbars

[Cerise1924]

@Auroradream26 our little fella is getting his crow.
(first crow in background is my OEGB)

That is absolutely precious!

 

[Bantambird]

Are legbars particularly precocious?
My BCMxCCL boys all seem rather early crowers and 'maters'.
Got rid of 3 at 12 weeks as they would not stop jumping the youngers,
now the youngers(8wks) are crowing and grabbing necks. SMH.

CCL pullet at 7wks..... Doin' the Do:
View attachment 1437731

I've had some people purchase my birds and claim the legbars are the most precocious, active, dominating, inquisitive birds. They can be similar in behavior to the light Mediterranean style breeds, like leghorns (one of their main progenitor breeds) with a splash of sweetness. I have to admit they get into trouble more than my Marans. The Marans cocks are the bosses in the end, however.

 

[sandesnow]

New to Cream Legbars... I have some questions.. I have 5 females and 4 males (Was not charged for the males, so decided to take 2 of each down colour) I am just curious as I am new to them, are they known to have different colours to them? 2 of the males look golden, and two look what I would almost say is lavender.

 

[Bantambird]

New to Cream Legbars... I have some questions.. I have 5 females and 4 males (Was not charged for the males, so decided to take 2 of each down colour) I am just curious as I am new to them, are they known to have different colours to them? 2 of the males look golden, and two look what I would almost say is lavender. View attachment 1442792

Down colors on cream legbars can vary quite a bit yet still fall into the proper range. Those chicks all look like proper legbar chicks. Male down patterns don't necessarily reflect what their adult color will be, golden crele and cream colors share the same down patterns as chicks.

these cockerels all are normal, and easily identified as cockerels despite their wide range of colors.

These pullets all display a wide range of color while still being easily sexable.
All of these birds grew out to be golden crele.

 

[All Ball]

Are legbars particularly precocious?
My BCMxCCL boys all seem rather early crowers and 'maters'.
Got rid of 3 at 12 weeks as they would not stop jumping the youngers,
now the youngers(8wks) are crowing and grabbing necks. SMH.

CCL pullet at 7wks..... Doin' the Do:
View attachment 1437731

My boys started crowing early. But they were very polite to their sisters - chased some but didn't catch. The only jumping I saw was on a pitifully crying brother.

 

[All Ball]

Hi folk, apologies if this has been asked before - but it didn't show up in a search. What kind of longevity do you see with your CLs, for those who keep flocks including older birds? And what sort of an arc do you see in their laying?

Reason I ask is I prefer heritage breeds that may lay fewer eggs a year, but lay for a longer time. I've got 5 year olds (not CL) still giving me a lot of eggs. I'm curious what to expect with my CLs, who just turned 3. While mine are still laying quite a few eggs, I've got a neighbor who offers her CLs free @ 2 years, saying they're pretty much spent. Am curious if others see the laying drop off steeply or not, and how healthy the birds are over time. Just lost one to ovarian cancer.

 

[GaryDean26]

ChicKat has a Cream Legbar Hen that is 6-1/2 years old. She said that is was still laying every day at 3 years old but in the last year it has slowed way down. Most heritage type breeds are going to make good layers for 3-5 years. They can live for 8-12 years though. Some people will start new strains from hens that are 5+ years old so that they get more longevity in their line. I heard of a Hungarian Yellow hen that was 10 years old and still laying 13 eggs a month. Production will vary greatly from one strain of Cream Legbars to another (or any other laying breed in the world for that matter) depending on how the flock is managed and bred. Hatchery stock tend to have poor longevity (i.e. 1-2 years of laying). Private flocks bred for longevity will do a lot better if that is what your are looking for. It is best to talk to breeders and ask them what they are breeding for, but the original 2010 imported stock to the USA was producing offspring in 2011 that laid strong through 3 years and weren't "spent" until 5-6 years. With people heavily in-breeding and people starting new generations every 6 months who know what you will get from other sources in the USA.

 

[GaryDean26]

Note: I had some 3-1/2 year old hens when I moved from Texas to Oklahoma in 2015. I couldn't bring any mature birds with me so we had to get rid of all of them. They all looked great and were still laying steady when we got ride of them. We again have some 3-1/2 year old hens in our flock and they are holding up just fine. We pair mated the Yellow line 3-1/2 year old in 2016, and the Pink line 3-1/2 year old in 2017. We spent all spring test mating cockerels to find a new cock to replace the two 3-1/2 year old yellow line cocks that we sold last year so we didn't get any pair mating done this year, but will be pair mating the 3-1/2 year old Orange line hen next spring. She will be 4 years old and will still have plenty of laying left in her. She is the daughter of one of our original 2011 Green Fire Farm Hens. She won best of breed at the 2015 Southern Regional Cream Legbar Club Meet so we are excited to work on her line next year. Her grandparents were the original 2010 imported birds from the UK.

 

[All Ball]

GaryDean26, thank you so much for sharing your experience and wisdom! I will cross my fingers that I've got some of that longevity in my stock.

 

[WVduckchick]

So my CL group is now 18 weeks old. I’m a little worried about my cockerel. Is it normal to have such a huge and floppy comb? I didn’t think they got so large! He shakes his head a lot, like he is trying to get it out of his way.
I’m also working on new nest boxes for the girls. Should I expect eggs this year?
Cockerel pics, and the pullet pic just because I love it, and a funny group shot.