Flying Monkey: I was excited to stumble across your thread. I am also looking at the options of breeding rose comb birds. We're in zone 4, and planning to build a larger coop this summer that will allow me to keep a rooster, so I can dabble with genetics a bit. This spring, I got 3 RCBL, and 3 Dominiques. All were supposed to be pullets, but if my early guessing proves accurate, I have a trio of each breed. The doms are not any thing to brag about, but at least it's a starting point. So, next year, I should be able to breed some BSL from these 2 breeds, as well as straight Doms and RCBL. I also have some EE, one of which lays a beautiful colored egg, and would love to see what comes of her x RCBL. I'm rolling the idea of working on an auto-sexing rose combed breed, starting with the gene pool I have. Sounds like you're ahead of the game, starting with the leg-bar. I'll be following your progress closely!
How do you find the behavior of the RCBL, compared to the more traditional DP birds? (RIR, PBR, Wyandotte)