Cream Legbars

[Bantambird]

So I am wondering, I'm a newbie, so please forgive but what should I be looking for in my legbar flock? I have two pullets and one cockerel and I love mine to death but really don't know what it is I should be looking at. Mine are from breeding stock imported by GFF as well. (though they didn't come directly to me from GFF) TIA Jazzy Twisty and Jazzy Jazzy This is the best one of Lexi I can find...she's always just a blur! LOL She looks almost identical to Jazzy but her crest is a little lighter colored. I just love the crest on the girls, so far it isn't so big that it impairs their vision...just stylish!

So far I like their shape, but they have yet to grow their white earlobes. Twisty's comb may straighten with maturity, or it may become more twisty. Your girls have very lovely crests. They should not get any bigger or obstruct vision, they are right where they should be; looking like little hats. The cockerel also has a nice crest, but for a cockerel to have a nice crest almost always means his comb is not going to be straight. It's one of the breeder's dilemmas, the cock's comb and crest and how these interact. Personally, I'd like to see better barring on your cockerel, as his right now is rather fuzzy and ill defined, but again, it may or may not change with maturity. Correct me if I am wrong, but are your hens gold?

 

[SHERRING7712]

So far I like their shape, but they have yet to grow their white earlobes. Twisty's comb may straighten with maturity, or it may become more twisty. Your girls have very lovely crests. They should not get any bigger or obstruct vision, they are right where they should be; looking like little hats. The cockerel also has a nice crest, but for a cockerel to have a nice crest almost always means his comb is not going to be straight. It's one of the breeder's dilemmas, the cock's comb and crest and how these interact. Personally, I'd like to see better barring on your cockerel, as his right now is rather fuzzy and ill defined, but again, it may or may not change with maturity. Correct me if I am wrong, but are your hens gold?

Thanks for the info...The cockerel has grown in his white earlobes though none of the pics show it very well. His comb is definitely twisted, hence his name "Twisted Sister" LOL As for the girls, they are supposed to be CL's but yes they do have a pinkish/gold hue to them for sure. This was something I was wondering about as a lot of the hen pics that I have seen are different colored than mine. Like I said I know nothing about CL's other than that they are cute, cold hardy, and lay blue eggs. If you also know of a good article about them to read I'd be interested. I thumb through what I have time to looking for good reads but there is so much on this site I'd never get through half of it! Thanks

 

[Bantambird]

The color in this breed is definitely tricky. Cream is a dilution of the gold gene, and is recessive. I have a lot of gold in my flock too, but with the addition of Eli, I'm hoping to get better cream color in my flock.

 

[duluthralphie]

I am just a beginner with these which is why I asked for opinions to back up what I thought. Hopefully someone who knows the new sop for CL can help you. Good luck.

Until the CLB's are inducted into the APA we will not know for sure what is adopted. I was told by one of the judges used here in MN to pay attention to the proposed SOP's with some caveats. He told me to make sure the barring is sharp and crisp. Use a large body size with many of the leghorn qualities. Which is counter to the proposed SOP's as I understand them to be.

I am breeding for what I think it will be, we all need to do that. We all kind of agree on a lot of things, by following the thread you should get a good idea of what you want and need.

Thanks for the info...The cockerel has grown in his white earlobes though none of the pics show it very well. His comb is definitely twisted, hence his name "Twisted Sister" LOL As for the girls, they are supposed to be CL's but yes they do have a pinkish/gold hue to them for sure. This was something I was wondering about as a lot of the hen pics that I have seen are different colored than mine. Like I said I know nothing about CL's other than that they are cute, cold hardy, and lay blue eggs. If you also know of a good article about them to read I'd be interested. I thumb through what I have time to looking for good reads but there is so much on this site I'd never get through half of it! Thanks

I agree with Bantambird, If you could get your hands on some lighter hens it would help, however your rooster looks good for a young guy. He appears to be going to be lighter which should help with your hens. I know some breeders that say you need two sets of breeders for good CLB's. One to produce roosters and another for hens.

What Bantam said about the combs is so true. I have my "show" bird that has a beautiful comb however, his crest is very small. I am hoping a judge does not say it is too small and disqualifies him. I mind need to use "butch wax" to make it more noticeable. (that was a joke, for those of you not old enough to remember butch wax ask your grandparents.......)

Just know it takes a ton of birds to get the good ones. I have 80-100 CLB roosters out of that I had a few I would show, 1 that stands above the rest. Some of the rest would make decent breeders, most will become dinner. " we call it skinny chicken". With your hens and that rooster, you might get a good bird. The hens crest should cut the roosters comb down a tad. (with luck) The rooster should lighten the hens gold. of course, it is always a crap roll. Good luck!

Did you photoshop the pictures. lighten or take shadows out? It appears as that could have affected the color. Photos are so hard to get the color right online. I have a back up but that is about it.

 

[SHERRING7712]

thanks for all the info. No I didn't photoshop the pics at all but I tried a couple different settings on my phone when taking them. I switched between auto and cloudy while taking pictures that day because the sun would come through for a second then go behind a cloud and get dark. Also it's not a great camera on my phone so that may play with the colors as well. All the hens that my breeder had (his breeding stock) were pretty close to the coloring that mine are. I'm going to try to find a pic of his stock and post too for reference. I really appreciate all the info. I'll keep following the thread to get further info as well.


EDITED TO ADD PICS-These pics are from the breeders stock. blurry but I think you can see the coloring fairly well.

 

[GaryDean26]

So I am wondering, I'm a newbie, so please forgive but what should I be looking for in my legbar flock? I have two pullets and one cockerel and I love mine to death but really don't know what it is I should be looking at. Mine are from breeding stock imported by GFF as well. (though they didn't come directly to me from GFF) TIA

When the first wave of Cream Legbars hit the USA in 2011 very few people had done any homework on the breed and just assumed that the photos on Greenfire Farms Website were what a Cream Legbar was supposed to be. Later, those doing research formed the Cream Legbar club so that they could pool their findings together and get reliable information out for everyone to benefit from. A lot of resources are now available but getting them into the hands of people that need them still steams to be a stumbling block.

Here is a good place to start:

1) Heritage Chicken Manual - The Cream Legbar was developed more that 50 years ago in an era that predated 10,000 hen commercial laying houses. To be successful poultrymen would develop there own breeding lines of these heritage chickens rather than mail order chicks from a hatchery. The first thing that they would look for in breeding stock is health and vigor. Then they would look for productive body types. Finally they would look at breed standards. Following there methods to select for vigor and utilities before you look at the breed standard will be very important in breeding a flock that not only looks like a cream legbar was intended to look but that also performs like the a Legbar was intended to perform.

2) The Breed Standard. It was based on the Legbar Standard of the Poultry Club of Great Britain but follows the format and language used by the American Poultry Association so anyone that has leaned to breed chickens to the standards of the APA can understand it and know exactly what to look for in the Cream Legbar.

3) Cream Legbar Breed Guide. Tips from a breeder that has been working with the breed for a while.

4) Australia Website- A club member in Australia broke down the section by section discussion from one the Cream Legbar Club meeting and was given permission to post that club information along with the photos used in the meeting on their personal website for breeder in Australia to learn from. You can click on Male and go to head, neck, body, etc. to see what to look for in each section. You can do the same for the female.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I was out taking pictures today and took some of my legbars

This is my keeper for this year. His wings hang a little low but i like everything else about him.

And, most of the girls. 2 of them are definitely gold but the rest aren't.

 

[SHERRING7712]

When the first wave of Cream Legbars hit the USA in 2011 very few people had done any homework on the breed and just assumed that the photos on Greenfire Farms Website were what a Cream Legbar was supposed to be. Later, those doing research formed the Cream Legbar club so that they could pool their findings together and get reliable information out for everyone to benefit from. A lot of resources are now available but getting them into the hands of people that need them still steams to be a stumbling block.

Here is a good place to start:

1) Heritage Chicken Manual - The Cream Legbar was developed more that 50 years ago in an era that predated 10,000 hen commercial laying houses. To be successful poultrymen would develop there own breeding lines of these heritage chickens rather than mail order chicks from a hatchery. The first thing that they would look for in breeding stock is health and vigor. Then they would look for productive body types. Finally they would look at breed standards. Following there methods to select for vigor and utilities before you look at the breed standard will be very important in breeding a flock that not only looks like a cream legbar was intended to look but that also performs like the a Legbar was intended to perform.

2) The Breed Standard. It was based on the Legbar Standard of the Poultry Club of Great Britain but follows the format and language used by the American Poultry Association so anyone that has leaned to breed chickens to the standards of the APA can understand it and know exactly what to look for in the Cream Legbar.

3) Cream Legbar Breed Guide. Tips from a breeder that has been working with the breed for a while.

4) Australia Website- A club member in Australia broke down the section by section discussion from one the Cream Legbar Club meeting and was given permission to post that club information along with the photos used in the meeting on their personal website for breeder in Australia to learn from. You can click on Male and go to head, neck, body, etc. to see what to look for in each section. You can do the same for the female.

thanks so much for the info!

I have already started reading. This is exactly what I was needing!

 

[tobit]

Can someone confirm that this chick is a male?

I also have 3 cream legbar crosses (the father being the cream legbar) that may be sexable?

 

[dheltzel]

Can someone confirm that this chick is a male?

I also have 3 cream legbar crosses (the father being the cream legbar) that may be sexable?

It is impossible to sex a chick if you don't know the full parentage. CCL males are only going to produce sexable chicks if you use certain pullets. I make autosexing crosses all the time, but only between autosexing breeds. For example, if you used a Rhodebar or Bielefelder pullet, then the chicks are sexable and will produce green eggs. A Welbar or Golden Cuckoo Marans pullet will produce autosexing olive eggers.