Cream Legbars

[dheltzel]

My cream leg bar is laying lite pinkish brown eggs and I know she is a leg bar! Is this a defect?

Yes, this is a defect. It means that both of her parents must not be homozygous for blue eggs, as the gene is dominant. If she hatched from a blue egg, then her mother had only 1 copy of the blue egg gene. Her father (having never laid an egg to inspect) had either 0 or 1 copy of the blue egg gene. I would not breed from her or either of her parents, and if she was from someone else, please inform them that their chicks are not breeding true for blue eggs.

I know a lot about this because I have the same issue with my Isabel Legbars (aka "Opals"). I sold a *lot* of chicks last spring, all hatched from blue eggs, and was careful to tell every buyer that their was a chance (50% or less) that the chick would lay a light brown egg. Still, to get such beautiful and productive hens, it was worth the risk for many people. The light brown or pink eggs are still wonderful, and those isabel pullets are great layers. Most customers bought a few Opals, plus a few regular cream legbars (that I am sure will lay blue eggs) so their basket is assured to be colorful. So far, no one has complained about getting too many non-blue eggs, and the sexing has been 100% accurate, which is stunning, given that they have the lavender gene that mutes the down colors so much.

She is a definite keeper for laying eggs, though.

 

[GaryDean26]

The "Easter Egger" chickens lay blue, green, and pink eggs. I am not familiar with the pink egg genetics but it appears to be a coating that goes over the blue shell. I have had a few of my legbar hens produce a few pink spots on the outside of the blue shell. I have never seen any eggs that were completely pink.

If the inside of the shell is blue (it might be a really pale blue) then your hens has the blue egg gene. If the inside of the eggs shell is white then she doesn't have the blue egg gene. Blue eggs are dominant so crosses would still have the blue egg gene. The loss is when both of the birds in the breeding pair are only carrying one blue egg gene and both pass the gene pair without the blue egg gene to their offspring.

The general plan is to only hatch from blue eggs and to work towards uniformity in egg color. My lines have never produced any olive eggs, any pink eggs, or any white eggs. They all have been blue. The biggest problem we have seen is that a few will lay really pale blue eggs that are almost white. That defect hasn't popped up in a few years but it has its way of coming back after being in suppression. The blue egg genetic are really simple and easy to breed for. They are hard to mess up but it happens sometimes.

 

[debbier98]

Does anybody have Cream Legbars from Greenfire Farms? Do you have pictures of your birds? Will you offer hatching eggs when your birds reach POL?

I don't have any Cream Legbars, but after seeing yours, I do believe I'm going to have to get some.

 

[aart]

I am not familiar with the pink egg genetics but it appears to be a coating that goes over the blue shell.

Nah, you won't get pink egg with blue shell,
it's a variation/combination of brown coating and bloom tint over a white shell.

If the inside of the shell is blue (it might be a really pale blue) then your hens has the blue egg gene. If the inside of the eggs shell is white then she doesn't have the blue egg gene.

Peel the white inner membranes from the shell immediately after breaking egg open to see shell color.

 

[Bantambird]

had a pullet hatch that is still obviously a pullet, but with diluted body markings. will post once i get my phone back!

 

[Bantambird]

Look at this cute Lil girl! She still feminine enough to identify right away with zero headspot, but has very diluted chipmunk striping.

 

[Iluveggers]

I have 6 CL eggs coming in May to set in the incubator! Keep your fingers crossed for mostly pullets! (Just want one cockerel for breeding and to make OEs with my brown layers).

I have heard such wonderful things about temperament and personality, not to mention CLs are GORGEOUS! Please tel me anything you think I should know about them!

 

[chfriedmam]

I am just learning about legbars (cream and otherwise) and I'm wondering about male combs. If 6 distinct points is ideal, why do I see so many roosters, even prize winning ones, with what looks like 7 points to me? Is 6 not something people are such sticklers on? Like, is a cockerel not automatically culled for that? Or am I counting the back as a point and others don't? What's more important on a rooster:. The right # of points or that the comb doesn't flop over even a tiny bit??

 

[Bantambird]

I don't count the blade as a point, myself, however, combs are hard on legbars. I got my comb to be straight, now they have all sorts of jaggy points I'm working on. Plus, getting the comb to be straight while keeping the crest is a problem, too.

 

[chfriedmam]

I don't count the blade as a point, myself, however, combs are hard on legbars. I got my comb to be straight, now they have all sorts of jaggy points I'm working on. Plus, getting the comb to be straight while keeping the crest is a problem, too.

Ahhh ßee I don't even know this term blade, but I figured there was something like this, that the end was not counted. Ok so I will delay judgement on these combs...