Green Eggs vs Blue Eggs for A Premium Egg Business

[nicalandia]

We raise Leghorns and Legbars and the white really makes the blues next to them POP. It's a nice, crisp combo with great production value.

Thanks, do you have F1 from them(CCL x LH)?

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

I really like deep blue eggs, I am afraid that the F1s with the Leghorns will be too faded due to the egg shell color diluters found on them(like Zinc and others)

I can barely see a difference between my Leghorn/Legbar eggs and the pure Legbar eggs.

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

The best Blues I have seen come from the recessive glossy shell mutation. Which is absent on Leghorns but seen on many heritage breeds

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I have crossed the Legbars with everything around here. The Houdan/Legbar crosses lay these glossy blue eggs, I love them. (They are small, though!)

 

[nicalandia]

I can barely see a difference between my Leghorn/Legbar eggs and the pure Legbar eggs.

True, the Legbar inherited many of the Leghorn traits, most Legbar eggs I have seen are mate light blue.

 

[nicalandia]

The Houdan/Legbar crosses lay these glossy blue eggs, I love them. (They are small, though!)

Pictures please..!! Yes I thougth about Houdan or Polish because their eggs are a different whites than Leghorns, they have a glossy shine to them. But they are not prolific enough for my project.

 

[nicalandia]

Some Legbars do lay glossy eggs, like the two top ones on this picture(the lower two appear to be matte)

 

[BigBlueHen53]

What kind of personalities do Legbars have, @nicalandia? Are they flighty or calm? Broody? Prolific layers? Am thinking of adding a few to my flock. Thanks.

 

[nicalandia]

What kind of personalities do Legbars have, @nicalandia? Are they flighty or calm? Broody? Prolific layers? Am thinking of adding a few to my flock. Thanks.

I have never owned CCL so I could not say.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I have never owned CCL so I could not say.

Oh. I thought you had. Thanks anyway.

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

Pictures please..!! Yes I thougth about Houdan or Polish because their eggs are a different whites than Leghorns, they have a glossy shine to them. But they are not prolific enough for my project.

Hmm, I don't seem to have any photos of them on hand right now. They may be buried somewhere in my posts on here.

In general, there is a huge amount of variability in the Legbars from egg color to size and saturation and prolific qualities. The line I have now is a solid, well-saturated teal, not quite blue but not quite green. The eggs tend to be smaller than my Leghorns, but they are better layers. I have seen some lines that lay eggs bigger than any commercial Leghorn I've had.

The Houdans lay small pure white eggs very reliably through the spring and summer, but they have a hard off switch in the winter. The crosses with Legbars improved size a little, added the glossy layer, and improved their year-round laying tendencies. I still wouldn't try to use them in a commercial operation, but they are very cool looking.