Cream Legbars

[blackbirds13]

This is the Standard for down color for both female and male Cream Legbar in the British SOP

Downs, Female (Cream): Silver-grey type. The stripe should be very dark brown, extending over the head, neck and rump. The edges of the stripe should be clearly defined, not blurred and blending with ground color - the sharper the contrast, especially over the rump the better. The stripe should be broad; a narrow or discontinuous stripe should be avoided. A light head patch should be visible, clearly defined in outline, showing up brightly against the dark background.

Male: The down is much paler in tint, the pattern being blurred and washed out from head to rump; it may best be described as pale silvery-slate. -

Notice there is no mention of a head spot here so even though we make a great deal about the males having one or not there is no requirement in the original SOP from Great Britain.

The males should be overall lighter than the females and less distinctly colored. You should not really even need to rely on the eyeliner just the overall pale blurry nature of the down in contrast to the dark defined stripe of the female. The more you hatch the more you'll be able to decipher what is what and what defines your flock as opposed to others. One day maybe our flocks will be more stabilized and consistent... maybe?

 

[nicalandia]

This is the Standard for down color for both female and male Cream Legbar in the British SOP

As per the American SOP Darfters, chick down will not be Incorporated in the SOP

 

[blackbirds13]

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Thanks, I know, I helped draft it. Just sharing information that is out there in regards to the breed.

 

[dretd]

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The APA SOP has no description for chick down on any breed that I looked at. It is not something that can be judged at a show and therefor not put into the SOP since it is not relevant for a judge to consider.

I personally think it is important to look at the history of the breed and look at the norms from England of what the chick down should look like. IMHO, this is an autosexing breed and that makes the chick down more important than the average breed.

I was surprised when my first girls hatched out with the head spot until I read up on the chick downs standards from England. I was also surprised to see that there was no head spot described for the males. I think that in the males, the head spot is so diffuse that it blends into the slaty gray/blond male downs so that it is really not apparent at all and therefor not mentioned. In the darker males I have hatched there is more of a contrast and it is apparent, but in the 2 Cream males I hatched from Blackbird's flock the down was light/non-grey enough to be identical to some S/s Welsummer X roos I hatched alongside. There was no obvious head spot and this may actually be a good sign for the future as both the cockerels are Cream with only a modest amount of Chestnut.

IMHO, although chick down is not a requirement and not a part of the official SOP, it is wise for us to use that description as a guide and part of the recipe for breeding a flock to the SOP.


Above are the two boys in question with the lighter down. You can sort of make out a lighter spot in the photo, but in person, it really is just frosting that blends into the overall down and not what I would describe as a 'spot' at all.

 

[nicalandia]

IMHO, although chick down is not a requirement and not a part of the official SOP, it is wise for us to use that description as a guide and part of the recipe for breeding a flock to the SOP.

the description calls for gray/slate gray chick down, but since its not on the official SOP one could breed for the more brown colored chicks without issues

 

[dretd]

Happy Easter!

 

[dretd]

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Actually the downs calls for (as Blackbirds13 posted): Male: The down is much paler in tint, the pattern being blurred and washed out from head to rump; it may best be described as pale silvery-slate. Here is a link to the British Standard http://blue-eggs.co.uk/#/standard-for-cream-legbar/4554224408

Now what exactly that color description means, is up to the individual. If you google Slaty-Grey Snake, you will find many pictures of a snake from Queensland that was presumably named by Brits as a description of its color. Many specimens have a brownish creamy cast to them. Certainly not a cold grey lacking warmth that's for sure. So for me its not so much the color as the lack of a described head spot which makes me think that it is large, diffuse and similar enough to the surrounding down that it blends in easily. No one color is exactly right as there is a range, just like in the adults.

 

[dekel18042]

Will try to post pictures later, but now that they're three weks old, they're looking more alike. When they hatched the first was a pale greyish with a large yellow spot on the head.
The second one was definitely a chipmonk so I thought, good, a girl, but when she dried she had a yellow head spot too, so I thought I had two boys. One of each would be terrific!!!

 

[Ashdoes]

I mostly look for the V on the girls head, and make sure the lines follow down the body. I'm getting used to the spot on their heads, originally thinking that meant male.

 

[KPenley]

Just keep in mind please that the down descriptions have changed over the years, yes even in Great Britain, but what has remained the same is that Cream Legbars are auto-sexing (heritable trait to easily distinguish between the sexes at hatch). So that's the important thing, and auto-sexing will be in the intro to the APA SOP description.
My opinion...If you have chicks that are hard to distinguish, try to mark them as not suitable as breeders...and if they're all you got, choose future breeders with clearer markings in their offspring. Happy Easter everyone!