Cream Legbars

[PDPercherons]

I'm definitely giving them credit to that kind of dedication though. So much has happened in the past few years, it makes me look forward to the next few.

Wanted to add: loving my 6 chicks. These guys are mellow compared to my Andi chicks. They're only two weeks and some change, but the boys combs are already differing. 2 are straight as an arrow, one has a bump off center from his other ridges. He's the largest and was the first born, but his color also seems slightly different from the other two. Still so young, but it's fun seeing these changes. The smallest cockerel has the darkest and most crisp barring at this point.

Meanwhile, Elmer's was a decent idea to try to save cracked eggs, it wasn't a solid idea as the glue stuck to my egg turner. So everyone is temporarily in one incubator while the second dries from it's cleaning. 5 days in and the majority have made the cut. Crossing my fingers I don't lose many more.

 

[ChicKat]

For those of you who are new -- chicken pickin' - has superb examples of CL - both type and color-wise.

We we were putting together the Breed Handbook for the CL Club (you can find it on the Club's webpage)--- the eternal - (and enternally unanswered) question of what is cream was given a page of its own. the real-live chickens pictured there as examples of cream birds are from chicken pickin' s own flock - and she graciously granted us permission to use the photos.

So she wisely and carefully reminds us that her opinion is her own -- but it is an awfully good opinion to take into consideration.

chicken pickin' has some outstanding examples of CLs!

 

[miss heny]

Just a bystander popping in.

Wow, to read so much history about a breed fight to be establish into the US...

I never knew and am now starting to eye those local craiglist ads for some Legbars >_> I mean... Whats a few more birds right...?

 

[PDPercherons]

There are so many pages to read through not only in this thread, but the other Legbar thread too. You are right that color is hashed over time and time again. I just take notes as I go in my notebook of what I feel is important and hopefully they'll help me on this adventure. I'll have to look for the cream page in the handbook too

 

[ChicKat]

There are so many pages to read through not only in this thread, but the other Legbar thread too. You are right that color is hashed over time and time again. I just take notes as I go in my notebook of what I feel is important and hopefully they'll help me on this adventure. I'll have to look for the cream page in the handbook too

very last page --- :O)


https://docs.google.com/document/d/11GCI_f69Hd5P5w5m7GGUTCwH2Os6iWys9KqKHf2bJnk/edit?usp=sharing

 

[GaryDean26]

Has anybody tried to recreate them?
I would think they were made once.. so they could again.

Yes...I was working on a Recreation before the GFF imports made there way here. I started with a Gold Legbar that was the result of 6 years if breeding from Barred Rock and Brown Leghorns by April Howington of H&H poultry in Bunrnet, TX. April said she was going to finish an American Legbar line. Last I head she crossed her project birds with Icelandic to introduce the Cresting and it brought in a lot of other things that were creating problems with the project. It has been about 2-1/2 year since I got any updates on her 100% American CLB Line. She has been focusing more her CLB line that she created from a cross of her Gold Legbar hens to a GFF cockerel. She was getting green and blue eggs from the line at that time and told me she was going to be trap nesting to cull out the green egg laying hens.

 

[GaryDean26]

Every week it seems there's more cream legbars on craigslist. . I'm sure it's same way in every city in America. . Seems like the all this breeders are breeding from same birds. I could be wrong..but seems new genes are needed by now

I know a blood line of Buckeye that was started from a single hen and a single unrelated cockerel. The breeder grows out about 200 birds a year and has been breeding his line with out bringing in any new blood for at least twice as long as the Cream Legbar has been in the USA. So...with twelve birds from four different bloodlines it suprises me that that every other year people are saying the gene pool is too shallow to reproduce the breed. I was thinking that in another 4 years I may consider bringing in blood from another flock that traces back to the A, B, C, lines. By that time our flocks will be 8 years removed from each other and so I should get the same boost from crossing to another USA flock started from the same 8 birds as mine as I would from any flock in the UK.

 

[fowlman01]

I'm not sure that a re-creation using birds in the States will ever work. The British used British Leghorns, which are different in type than our Leghorns. Everything they used is different here in the States. If you imported the original breeds used, the recreation would be much easier.....but then you might as well import the real thing. As far as the gene pool being shallow..... that is something I hear only from "breeders" who can't figure out how to make chickens match a written Standard. If you know what you are doing, it is very seldom that you need outside blood. Needing more genetic diversity are the buzz words for beginner breeders. My Leghorns....as an example have not had any new blood put into them in over 40 years. They are doing just fine. The Cream Legbars are a very complex arrangement of genes and not something the average beginner will have success with, without help from long time breeders. I have seen significant progress within the breed the last few years by a dedicated few. Keep up the good work.

Walt

 

[MeepBeep]

As far as the gene pool being shallow..... that is something I hear only from "breeders" who can't figure out how to make chickens match a written Standard. If you know what you are doing, it is very seldom that you need outside blood. Needing more genetic diversity are the buzz words for beginner breeders.

I beg to differ, if your limited gene pool lacks a gene a certain breeder desires for a specific trait that gene is not going to just pop up if it's not in the pool, unless by chance of a genetic mutation...

I gave an example earlier about the white star gene, if the limited US gene pool didn't contain that gene from early imports we wouldn't be able (short of a random genetic mutation) to breed white birds with that gene in the US... There very well could be other genes missing in the current US stock that might be desirable for some breeders in time...

One has to consider where they are heading with their breeding project, not everyone just wants a SoP looking bird, some aim for other things beyond and void in the SoP... Basically, creating a SoP looking bird is not the end all of breeding for some... As I said previous I want to do a white legbar line, and I would also like to get a more true blue egg while maintaining production... Although it very well might be possible with the US stock to get a more blue egg in time, some fresh blood of a line with a more blue egg would be of tremendous benefit and shave off many years of work, years of work that might not even get to the same blue color you could obtain in a few generations with new stock that carried better egg genes already...

 

[fowlman01]

I beg to differ, if your limited gene pool lacks a gene a certain breeder desires for a specific trait that gene is not going to just pop up if it's not in the pool, unless by chance of a genetic mutation...

I gave an example earlier about the white star gene, if the limited US gene pool didn't contain that gene from early imports we wouldn't be able (short of a random genetic mutation) to breed white birds with that gene in the US... There very well could be other genes missing in the current US stock that might be desirable for some breeders in time...

One has to consider where they are heading with their breeding project, not everyone just wants a SoP looking bird, some aim for other things beyond and void in the SoP... Basically, creating a SoP looking bird is not the end all of breeding for some... As I said previous I want to do a white legbar line, and I would also like to get a more true blue egg while maintaining production... Although it very well might be possible with the US stock to get a more blue egg in time, some fresh blood of a line with a more blue egg would be of tremendous benefit and shave off many years of work, years of work that might not even get to the same blue color you could obtain in a few generations with new stock that carried better egg genes already...

You have everything you need here in the States now to make any kind of Legbar that you fancy. Getting white sports is not unusual in this breed.....here or in England.....or so the Brits tell me. When you say creating a sop bird, you are talking about the written Standard. That is the perfect LOOKING bird....that will seldom ever be achieved by anyone, especially in this breed. If you custom breed a Legbar to become something else, then it is no longer a Legbar......thus the Standards.


Chickens belong to their owners and the owners can breed for any goal they want to. The true blue egg and the auto sexing trait should be a goal for all Legbar breeders, but again you own the birds, I am just giving folks my point of view based on 50 years experience breeding all sorts of poultry........successfully.

Walt