Cream Legbars

[chicken pickin]

I live in NH and I found they did fairly well through the winter. This year was a horrible harsh winter and also the only winter I raised my CL through. The hens made it through the cold weather with no ill effects but I found my rooster was very prone to frostbite with his enormous comb. He got severe frostbite and lost half his blade. They do live in a chicken coop roughly 4x6 that is ventilated at the highest points also it is uninsulated and unheated. That group over wintered in the 4x6 with 1 rooster and 5 hens. The rooster was the only one to suffer. This however could be due to the harsh winter we had this year also I did not treat his comb with petroleum jelly. However I also did not treat any of the other roosters combs in different coops and they only suffered minor frostbite and lost just barely event the tips of the comb.

In my short time raising CL and in my opinion at this point I do not find the CL rooster to be cold hardy. But if you asked me 2 years ago or even next year my answer might have been different, since this winter was unusually harsh. But I do plan to continue to raise them and maybe this winter my CL roosters will fair better. I plan to try to do a few things differently to help the roosters get through the winter.

 

[DCchicken]

We also had a miserable winter here in Maryland. The Cream Legbar roosters were the only ones of my 15 breeds that suffered frostbite damage. I have a theory that it relates more to the thickness of the comb. My Marans rooster has the biggest and thickest comb I have ever seen and he had absolutely no damage.

I am going to breed towards thicker combs and see if that helps prevent it. The problem is that we may not have another bad winter again for several years.

 

[dheltzel]

We also had a miserable winter here in Maryland. The Cream Legbar roosters were the only ones of my 15 breeds that suffered frostbite damage. I have a theory that it relates more to the thickness of the comb. My Marans rooster has the biggest and thickest comb I have ever seen and he had absolutely no damage.

I am going to breed towards thicker combs and see if that helps prevent it. The problem is that we may not have another bad winter again for several years.

Maybe you should breed in a rosecomb. I think someone else here on BYC is trying to do just that.

 

[Thespoiledchicken]

I live in NY and my Cream Legbar roo did great this year no frostbite at all

BUT we had some crazy polar vortex with 5 degree temps for about a week that we never have- on those nights I brought him in to an unheated basement at night just in case. I did this about 5 -6 times total throughout the winter. The girls stayed in the coop and did just fine.

The year before was a normal winter and my Cream Legbars stayed in the coop every night and made it through without any frostbite what so ever.


A typical NY winter

 

[GaryDean26]

The Cream Legbar Club's very own Southern Regional Director is working on a superb documentation that takes the SOP and walks through it - with photo examples of the chickens.... If you are a member of the Cream Legbar Club - it will be made available to you when it is ready. I have seen the work to-date and it is very impressive.

WAY to GO --> KPenley

2X

 

[ChicKat]

Thanks for the coldness info everyone!!

I'm selecting for smaller combs...wasn't there something about the bigger the comb the more virile the rooster?

For those of you who also have Isbars--wow what nice combs on those roosters - huh? I guess an Isbar on a CL would look a bit undersized - but that is a set of roosters that don't have oversized combs from all the pictures I have seen of them and from the four that I have had first hand experience with and from the ones at the breeder where I got my Isbars......

Rinda could put in a view of Isbar combs and cold -- because that winter was pretty brutal too - but I guess the questioner wasn't asking about that .... :0)

incidentally, DCchicken - seems that Isbars have a thin comb and they seem immune to cold. (but then we have only gotten about as low as 16-degrees where I am - and I put Vaseline on the CL comb for most of the really cold nights -- but did nothing for the Isbars --but didn't get them until January and I think the worst weather had passed me by that time.

TheSpoiledChicken -- even in snow your coop set up is wonderfully good looking!

Chicken Pickin - that's a really good insight.... I guess bottom line - CLs are definitely not the best for super cold weather - but if there is a way -- then get them anyhow -- cause they are worth it.

 

[normanack]

Mid-Michigan, historically cold winter with a good number of nights below 0 Fahrenheit.
Uninsulated, well-ventilated coop.
CL rooster worst hit, losing all points and part of blade.
About half the hens with combs having very petite points lost the top millimeter of some of their points.
The non-CL, large single-combed rooster had no damage. His comb was thinner than the CL rooster's comb.

 

[DCchicken]

Thanks for the coldness info everyone!!

I'm selecting for smaller combs...wasn't there something about the bigger the comb the more virile the rooster?

For those of you who also have Isbars--wow what nice combs on those roosters - huh? I guess an Isbar on a CL would look a bit undersized - but that is a set of roosters that don't have oversized combs from all the pictures I have seen of them and from the four that I have had first hand experience with and from the ones at the breeder where I got my Isbars......

Rinda could put in a view of Isbar combs and cold -- because that winter was pretty brutal too - but I guess the questioner wasn't asking about that .... :0)

incidentally, DCchicken - seems that Isbars have a thin comb and they seem immune to cold. (but then we have only gotten about as low as 16-degrees where I am - and I put Vaseline on the CL comb for most of the really cold nights -- but did nothing for the Isbars --but didn't get them until January and I think the worst weather had passed me by that time.

TheSpoiledChicken -- even in snow your coop set up is wonderfully good looking!

Chicken Pickin - that's a really good insight.... I guess bottom line - CLs are definitely not the best for super cold weather - but if there is a way -- then get them anyhow -- cause they are worth it.

My Isbar rooster is at the bottom of the rooster ladder. So he spent most of the with his comb and head tucked under. So no way to know if he would have gotten frostbite. Being 5 minutes from the Chesapeake, we had huge temperature swings. One day it would be 20. The next day it would be 5 below (-20 with the windchill).

BTW, I am doing a project of CL x Isbar in an attempt to finish the autosexing capability that was supposed to be in the Isbars.

 

[ChicKat]

My Isbar rooster is at the bottom of the rooster ladder. So he spent most of the with his comb and head tucked under. So no way to know if he would have gotten frostbite. Being 5 minutes from the Chesapeake, we had huge temperature swings. One day it would be 20. The next day it would be 5 below (-20 with the windchill).

BTW, I am doing a project of CL x Isbar in an attempt to finish the autosexing capability that was supposed to be in the Isbars.

This is something I would really love to know more about -- I am going to PM you -- since it is outside the Cream Legbar realm!

 

[TherryChicken]

Ok gary dean I need your help here.