Cream Legbars

[familypendragon]

Are Legbars pretty tame? What is their personality like? Do they like people? How well do they lay? Also how big do they get? (Couldn't find a weight online.)
I found someone locally who has some Greenfire LB pullets for $15 a piece, and since they are somewhat rare I thought I should look into them.

I have some who are skittish and a couple who are very personable and want to be pet and picked up. They seem to have individual personalities. The roosters appear to be very chivalrous with the ladies and not terribly aggressive with other roosters. But that is just my experience.

 

[ChicKat]

Pullet eggs tend to hatch out smaller and less thrifty birds. You are better off waiting until your egg size improves before incubating.

X2 According to Gail Damerow (Storey's Guide to keeping Raising Chickens p.184), pullets eggs are full size when the pullet is 30 weeks old. (not sure how she can know that since different breeds lay at different times...etc. but there you have it)

I see the point of trying to preserve rare genetics and dread the idea of loosing genetics that are really promising, however, I think it is best for the chick that hatches to have the advantages of a full sized egg to incubate.

ETA:
"Select eggs for hatching that are of normal color, shape, and size for your breed. Small eggs laid by pullets or old hens will give you smaller, less vigorous chickens." pg 276 Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow. Makes me wonder if in the USA we have been hatching pullet eggs and thus moving toward smaller chickens for the breed. Also, CL eggs are a slightly different shape...more compact, less oblong.


While I am reading Gail, I see another quote that is worth considering:
"Pullets hatched in spring begin laying by fall and continue to lay for about a year. Pullets hatched in winter will be gin laying by midsummer but may molt and stop laying in the fall and won't start again until the following spring. " p275. So a winter hatch may have a lot of 'bench time' before she is productive again...

 

[ChicKat]

Are Legbars pretty tame? What is their personality like? Do they like people? How well do they lay? Also how big do they get? (Couldn't find a weight online.)
I found someone locally who has some Greenfire LB pullets for $15 a piece, and since they are somewhat rare I thought I should look into them.

• My hens grow up to be pretty self-sufficient and don't like handling, but they do like treats, and will comply with being handled.
• They like people who carry meal worms LOL.
• Good layers - not spectacular like the Golden Comet for example - but then they lay blue and blue egg layers lay fewer IMO - Still 5 per week is not bad.
• They should get 5 pounds for hens and up to 7 for cockerels if I am remembering right - I will come back and correct if I'm off there. Seems ours in the USA need to put on some weight...for the most part they are smallish. ETA from British standard in Punnett's time:WEIGHT: 4-1/2 to 5 lbs in pullets; 5 to 6 lbs in hens. WEIGHT: 6 to 6-1/2 lbs in cockerels; 7 to 7-1/2 lbs in cocks
• Yes, you should look into them -- but beware, you just may end up loving them and HAVE to take some home. -- good Luck!

ETA - last time I weighed my best CL here she was 3 1/2 - she is a skinny little runt...and her sister was closer to 4. They are about a year old in October... I need to breed some weight into them...however, I'm not certain that the person I got them from provided feed in their youth - they may have been totally free range. Add to that the summer here was painfully hot -- frequently temps over 100 - and you know chickens just pant and don't eat in that kind of heat....so mine are probably NOT good representative examples of what a CL could be.

 

[heirloomorps]

I like to hatch a small number of the second week eggs (of any promising girls), just in case something happens to the adults. Got the idea from Curtis

Then I like to wait for a while to watch for mature type and egg production. 1 year + seems to be the average age recommended by show OTs.

We do the same. I don't want to lose any genes that look promising from ANY bird. Our CLs are around 10 months and their eggs are a lot bigger than the pullet eggs I hatched their chicks from around 2.5 months ago.

 

[ChicKat]

In this thread, in the UK some Cream Legbar breeders are talking about how they have heard of CL crosses to improve the breed, which was once a topic on BYC. Cuckoo Marans for bigger body or was it bigger eggs (whoops there goes the color of the eggs) - and take a look at the cuckoo rooster, Brown Leghorns to increase production - oopps - here comes the 'chestnut' or maybe it is red, they say ginger, and Araucana - for more -- blue - and I forget what was lost there...maybe auotsexing. Interesting thing that the people who did the crossing didn't seem to realize the effects that their ideas would have - and maybe continued to call them CLs instead of hybrids. Thought some other people here might find this interesting too.

http://overthegate.myfreeforum.org/archive/cream-legbar__o_t__t_28652.html

ETA The appearance of the cukoo Marans rooster in that thread makes me think all the more how important it is for Cream Legbars to retain some coloration other than just the white appearing barred version. JMO.

 

[QuoVadis]

I think I'm going to stick with banties for now, so if anyone is interested in WI there is someone on craigslist with Greenfire legbar pullets for $15 (check under Green Bay listings)

 

[HaplessRunner]

Well, I had a great time at the Gilmanor Swap in Virginia this Saturday. I ran into a couple who closing her chicken operation in preparation of a move from North Carolina to Maine. I got a pair of cream legbar chicks and some hatching eggs at a great price. While I am always glad to get another pullet, I am really excited by this little male. His colors are a very light grey with a very clear large head spot.

These are my new babies!

(John Deere makes an excellent background - LOL)




In the brooder


In daylight






Thoughts???

 

[lonnyandrinda]

Adorable! Hopefully he stays light as he grows out! Be sure to post pictures periodically!

 

[KPenley]

Well, I had a great time at the Gilmanor Swap in Virginia this Saturday. I ran into a couple who closing her chicken operation in preparation of a move from North Carolina to Maine. I got a pair of cream legbar chicks and some hatching eggs at a great price. While I am always glad to get another pullet, I am really excited by this little male. His colors are a very light grey with a very clear large head spot.

These are my new babies!

(John Deere makes an excellent background - LOL)




In the brooder


In daylight






Thoughts???

Beautiful babies! I love the "coldness" of the browns on the girl, and the hints of gray are very promising. Please keep us up to date of how your little boy grows. He has some beautiful light grays too. I hope I'm wrong...but those hints of brownish red in his striping and head will most likely manifest themselves as a more than desirable amount of autosomal red when he grows to maturity...BUT the grays represent a great chance of turning out cream! Definitely they are both well marked as autosexing chicks, so if they grow out in a way you like they're both great candidates for breeders!

 

[familypendragon]

So, I have eggs from my Golden Laced Wyandotte hen and my CCL roo is the daddy. I decided to incubate a couple just for fun. Any genetics pros out there that can predict what I am going to end up with besides "a chicken", LOL!? She lays Cream to Pinkish cream colored eggs.