Cream Legbars

[flowerchild59]

I have a trio of CL's, the pullets are yet to be laying, but the young cockerel has been in with a mixed flock. I allowed one of my hens to sit on three white eggs (only have one male, and one leghorn so I know who is who when laying). The three eggs hatched today, so I am happy with fertility on this young lad . One was definitely yellow based and the other two were darker. Pictures are posted. Can someone explain the difference in these chicks? And no, there are no other males in the mixed flock. I haven't seen the two young pullet CL's in the nest boxes. I only set the three white leghorn eggs, I thought the leghorn/CL mix would make for good egg layers for next year.

 

[caychris]

I have a trio of CL's, the pullets are yet to be laying, but the young cockerel has been in with a mixed flock. I allowed one of my hens to sit on three white eggs (only have one male, and one leghorn so I know who is who when laying). The three eggs hatched today, so I am happy with fertility on this young lad . One was definitely yellow based and the other two were darker. Pictures are posted. Can someone explain the difference in these chicks? And no, there are no other males in the mixed flock. I haven't seen the two young pullet CL's in the nest boxes. I only set the three white leghorn eggs, I thought the leghorn/CL mix would make for good egg layers for next year.

To hazard to guess I think you might be looking at a sex linked issue. Where the boys being barred etc are showing up darker. And the leghorn white dominance is showing up in the females. I have some RIR over White Leghorn chicks that I hatched this year and the Leghorn color dominates in that pairing. I think be cause the barring gene is on the male gene thats why you have such varied chicks. Just a guess though

 

[BuffyBugSlayer]

I have a trio of CL's, the pullets are yet to be laying, but the young cockerel has been in with a mixed flock. I allowed one of my hens to sit on three white eggs (only have one male, and one leghorn so I know who is who when laying). The three eggs hatched today, so I am happy with fertility on this young lad . One was definitely yellow based and the other two were darker. Pictures are posted. Can someone explain the difference in these chicks? And no, there are no other males in the mixed flock. I haven't seen the two young pullet CL's in the nest boxes. I only set the three white leghorn eggs, I thought the leghorn/CL mix would make for good egg layers for next year.

Congrats on your cute chicks! I can't really help you but there is a Legbar Hybrid thread that has some great genetics wizards. I bet you would have a lot of luck posting there!

 

[ChicKat]

I have a trio of CL's, the pullets are yet to be laying, but the young cockerel has been in with a mixed flock. I allowed one of my hens to sit on three white eggs (only have one male, and one leghorn so I know who is who when laying). The three eggs hatched today, so I am happy with fertility on this young lad . One was definitely yellow based and the other two were darker. Pictures are posted. Can someone explain the difference in these chicks? And no, there are no other males in the mixed flock. I haven't seen the two young pullet CL's in the nest boxes. I only set the three white leghorn eggs, I thought the leghorn/CL mix would make for good egg layers for next year.

The chicks you got are interesting -- I don't know much about white Leghorns -- except that I think Martin Silverudd used them to create a lot of breeds in Sweden. somehow I think that their domiant white carries a spectrum (of genes) that is unseen - I do think that folks over the CL hybrid thread may be really helpful -- AND - nicalandia love unraveling genetic mysteries so you could find him there or PM him. I think he said that some call the Legbar X Leghorn mix 'super egg layers' -- and that may be the mix that they call Saphires in England -- whichare white and lay blue eggs. It is interesting that if your female is white -- she got her genes from dad on some alleles, taht are sex linked -- and your cockerel may possibly then have recessive white?

 

[BeachBumBiddies]

Some of my Rees line CL....constructive criticism ok...sorry they aren't the greatest, I honestly don't know how people get such good pics of their birds...

 

[caychris]

Some of my Rees line CL....constructive criticism ok...sorry they aren't the greatest, I honestly don't know how people get such good pics of their birds...

Females look very nice. I think the male patterns are not really set yet in some of these birds. I saw someones pics though of the next generation down and they had a more correct pattern.

I'm thinking that breeding to a good female color helps set the male pattern for some reason. I think the boy shows great promise for type girl too seems to have nice long back.

 

[KPenley]

Some people are amazing photographers and some take videos and save a frame as a picture. I'm going to try to briefly comment under your pics, but please keep in mind that your birds are young and can change a lot as they mature. Best wishes!

I really like this cockerel's long back, high wings, and breast shape. The low tail set is very promising since most tails rise a bit with age. Watch the back of the comb as the crest grows in. You may find it beneficial to rub a bit of VetRx or coconut oil or something in it to encourage straight growth. This pullet also appears to have a nice long back and wide tail feathers, something I like. Nice crest size and I like that there is already bits of cream in it even though it's dark. The base of the tail looks very promising, and I think the wattles will add a bit of balance to her head. This pullet appears to be nice and wide. Watch for nicely rounded deep breast areas as these girls mature. You're looking for lots of room inside for organ growth=better egg layer. Again I like the bits of cream in the crest and the breast area looks pretty well defined. Her head looks better balanced than the first pullet. I can't tell much else. This pullet again has a nice long back and wide tail feathers. I like the hints at barring. The next set should come in even better barred. Watch the breast area. From this angle it looks like your bird may have a short keel, but it could be just the angle. Watch for long keeled birds that have a parallel bottom and top line. I can't tell a whole lot from this angle, but I like the back length and wide tail feathers. Pretty barring in those sickles coming in already, and the lesser sickles look promising for a full tail appearance. Crest looks good. Keep an eye on the comb and if possible pair him with hens with smaller to medium sized combs to help balance out future offspring. Hatching between October and March will also help to control comb size. Some of my Rees line CL....constructive criticism ok...sorry they aren't the greatest, I honestly don't know how people get such good pics of their birds...

 

[mollybuck]

I think surveys are always good. Also we all need to remember when educating people on Cream Legbar to mention that auto sexing is EXTREMELY important. I couldn't imagine if I were to sell what I thought were pullets to a customer only to find out that some or all were male. I would be horrified.

To everyone - ONLY breed from chicks that are easily sexable at hatch, that are distinctly marked as male / female. Band those that are not and either cull or rehome as layer pullets or flock protectors or mixed breeds what ever you feel comfortable with. We are seeing this much to often recently as ChicKat mentioned.

i was scanning this board for something, and i came across this. I can not agree more. i was sold 3 pullets and a cockeral last year. i ended up with 2 boys. I contacted the seller who insisted i was mistaken, there is not way it was a mistake, he is a year old now and will be going to freezer camp soon. in hindsight, i would have known right off it was a boy from the feathering, live and learn. i hatched a couple of their eggs to check fertility and we are good! although i was going to start saving eggs, until i found her my BLRW roo in the pen, and I know he did his job.. so i get to wait a few more weeks and trim some flight feathers!

the 3 chicks that hatched were all distinctly girls so maybe the other one was a fluke, but he is not joining in the breeding!

 

[losttexan]

Wait, I thought the proper procedure was to put them on Craigslist, add the words "Greenfire stock" or "Jill Rees" to the description and sell for $30 each?

 

[ChicKat]

As one of the Club' s newer members mentioned, advertisers are saying GFF, Rees and to standard or even Show quality -- which all could be true -- I would ask how many shows, and what places they ranked, and are they pictured in the Club's recent show winners page?

Perhaps - since everything is GFF - regardless, that is like saying -- 'two legged CLs' IMO -- it is a given -- Oh well...
I thought what Losttx wrote was funny.

BTW - dretd had suggested the possibility of having people post their birds and a page goes up on the website -- so -- something like - here is an example of my flock -- here is what I see as strong, here is what I see as needs work --etc. THIS IS IN THE EARLIEST of BRAINSTORMING phases -- so don't get excited -- it would need some controls for sure.... It occurs to me as a very good idea... Club business -- pros/cons, implications,

etc. would all have to be weighed.... then more people can see more Cream Legbars.

One thing that I think would be PRICELESS with something like this is if I needed new stock and that is the year I want to work on reducing the size of the comb -- or lowering the angle of the tail, or lengthening the back, or making the barring neater, or getting more yellow legs, or bluer eggs, or more weight etc. not to mention straighter combs which was my first goal -- but I got lucky with my starter pair... The I could peruse that catalog and see if anyone had stock similar to my vision, and had been working on it - so it wasn't just random - had been developing the breed a few years, and I could contact that specific person for hatching eggs. JMO - but that is kind of the way breeding is done in some other species to my way of thinking.