As someone who loves Cream Legbars, may I ask a possibly inflammatory question?
When one of the key features of a breed is its autosexing features, short of somehow using verified photos of the birds in question as newly hatched chicks (photos hung on the cage at poultry shows?!), how does one ensure preservation of this aspect of the breed?
I ask because of recent concerns about loss of autosexing features in otherwise "well respected" lines (indicated in multiple posts about "what sex is my chick" in what should be a clearly autosexing breed). In good examples of Cream Legbars, the sex at hatch should never be in question (am I wrong?). Older/grown birds we admire here on BYC may have amazing coloring/combs/crests and features, but we may not know how well they were able to be sexed at hatch. Not only would I support honoring the original intentions of development of the "-bar" breeds (Cambar, Rhodebar, Cream Legbar...), but I support the preservation of production features of any breed when pursuing an SOP (in the case of Cream Legbars, autosexing and good egg production). I have gotten to where I find myself grinding my teeth in frustration when autosexing features are apparently so easily lost, e.g., in some descended from the lauded Jill Rees line (so pretty as adults). I am also concerned that, because in some circles/arenas, Cream Legbars can command a high price (I certainly paid a lot for mine), this muddies the waters further and predisposes to poor decisions in propagating the breed for some.
I confess that I am focused more on production than subtle color/comb aspects in Cream Legbars (and I understand that my goals are different than those of others, and I completely honor that), but shouldn't we work really, REALLY hard to honor an original intention in the development of Cream Legbars - an autosexing breed? As I understand it, that was SUPER important in its development (compared to subtleties of coloring/cream, etc.) - please correct me if I'm wrong. Given the fact that this is a relatively new breed, and there have been some struggles in attaining SOP (as breeders posting in this thread can attest), at some point will we be forced to choose between autosexing clarity vs. coloration? If so, what will we choose? I think it would be a shame if color "won" at the expense of autosexing (which cannot be assessed in adulthood), and the autosexing characteristics were lost.
Thoughts?
- Ant Farm
I am happy to have them and will update when I get eggs. She is pretty dark, I will see if I can find one out in the field. The grass may be a better contrast.
