The Legbar Thread!

[normanack]

I meant, I wonder if they were crossed before import. I imagine that Greenfire imported a utility/production line, since we don't have standard correct birds.

Is there a detailed description of each of Greenfire's three lines available? I asked them an unrelated genetics question recently and they were very open and forthcoming in their answer.

edited to add: by detailed description I mean the line's history as well as physical characteristics

 

[debs_flock]

This white CL baby is about 5 weeks old. I am thinking girl but what do you guys think?

I'd guess girl because of the complete lack of development so far in the wattles.

Deb

 

[blackbirds13]

There are white Legbars that occur in England that you can see on the Internet so I am not sure how recent the introduction may have been. I think it would take a few generations to ensure the return to a purer Legbar bird, but i am no geneticist. I do not think the Legbars here look any different from the British ones that I see on the Internet. They do come in a myriad of colors also. When I was doing my research on this breed before I purchased I remember reading that there were issues in England with this bird due to in-breeding and the like. So I would think our issues are not US made but imported with the birds themselves. I cannot imagine that in the 2 years or so from their import that they would have changed too much. JMO of course.

My first pair were from the A pen and I have not had any whites pop up so far. I am not a big fan of the whites so that works fine for me. I have a second hen from the B pen but have not hatched any eggs from her so I do not know what could pop up there but I will be on the look out. I am anxious to breed her to my older roo as they are both a creamier white overall than the other two.


I have a second rooster - cannot recall what pen - that I will try to mate to each female later on this fall. I will probably try re-homing my older CL rooster later this summer or early fall. I am not sure I will keep the younger boy as he is not as cream colored as I would like. I am hoping he will improve his color - his hackle feathers seem to be loosing the chestnut color a bit and becoming creamier but his saddle feathers are still pretty chestnut brown. My older boy is more creamy white and gray and I love it but his comb was a bit floppy and his eyes are a bit too light I think, plus his size was a bit slender. I have a 3 week old roo with a nice upcoming crest and he appears 'lighter' so I have tagged him for keeping so far.

I am trying to read and follow the UK SOP since that's all we have but I would think at this point you could make the birds whatever you like. I like flyingmonkeypoop's idea of the rose comb as I live in the frigid northeast but I will stay with the single comb....maybe when I have more knowledge I will strive for a slightly smaller comb in my roosters if possible. It is interesting figuring all of this out and seeing what pops up and what choices people make in their breeding plan. I am not a fan of constantly re-buying birds to try to get the 'perfect' starter birds, especially when you are tallking about birds that cost a pretty penny. I know you have to cull and cull hard sometimes but for me I also have to think about $$$$. Since there really is no US SOP I think that for myself personally when these become hatchery birds (my pet chicken next year???) I will probably just line breed at that point and only seek eggs/birds from those I know had this breed early on if I ever need to.


ETA - yeah I do talk a lot

 

[aurissavannahs]

Hi everybody,
I am interested in autosexing breeds because I raise Norwegian Jaerhons, an autosexing breed from Norway, so I read this forum sometimes. I found the UK SOP for the Cream Legbar and thought it might help with your discussion of the recent imports. The Legbar fanciers in the US will have to decide if they want to breed true to the country of origin or if they want to change the standard as they develop the breed here. Good Luck and I hope you don't mind me peeping in here from time to time.


Cream Legbar Standard of Perfection UK
Cream Legbars were developed in the 1930's in Cambridge by crossing Brown Leghorns, Barred Plymouth Rocks and Araucana (for the egg colour).
Cream Legbars are a pure breed of poultry, they are autosexing which means you can tell the sex of the chick at day old. They are a rare breed and are covered by the Rare Poultry Society.
They were originally called Crested Cream Legbars but this was later change to Cream Legbar.
They lay 180+ eggs per year, this is probably due to their leghorn ancestry.
The breed standard is as follows:
Origin: British

Classification: Light

Egg Colour: Blue, Green or Olive

General Characteristics:

Male

Carriage : Very sprightly and alert, with no suggestion of stiltiness.

Type: Body wedge shaped, wide at the shoulders and narrowing slightly to root of tail. Back long, flat and sloping slightly to the tail. Breast prominent, and breast bone straight. Wings large, carried tightly and well tucked up. Tail moderately full at an angle of 45 degrees from the line of the back.

Head: Fine. Beak stout, point clear of the front of the comb. Eyes prominent. Comb single, perfectly straight and erect, large but not overgrown, deeply and evenly serrated (5 to 7 spikes broad at the base), extending well beyond back of the head and following, without touching, the line of the head, free from ‘thumb marks’ or side spikes. Face smooth. Ear-lobes well developed, pendent, smooth and free from folds, equally matched in size and shape. Wattles long and thin.

Neck: Long and profusely covered with feathers.

Legs and Feet: Legs moderately long. Shanks strong, round and free of feathers. Flat shins objectionable. Toes, four, long, straight and well spread.

Plumage: Of silky texture, free from coarse or excessive feather.

Handling: Firm with abundance of muscle.

Female

The general characteristics are similar to those of the male, allowing for the natural sexual differences, except that the comb may be erect or falling gracefully over either side of the face without obstructing the eyesight, and the tail should be carried closely and not at such a high angle.

Male: Neck hackles cream, sparsely barred. Saddle hackles cream, barred with dark grey, tipped with cream. Back and shoulders cream with dark grey barring, some chestnut permissible. Wings, primaries dark grey, faintly barred, some white permissible; secondaries dark grey more clearly marked; coverts grey barred, tips cream, some chestnut smudges permissible. Breast evenly barred dark grey, well defined outline. Tail evenly barred grey, sickles being paler, some whit feather permissible. Crest cream and grey, some chestnut permissible.

Female: Neck hackles cream, softly barred grey. Breast salmon, well defined in outline. Body silver grey, with rather indistinct broad soft barring. Wings, primaries grey-peppered; secondaries very faintly barred; coverts silver grey. Tail silver grey, faintly barred. Crest cream and grey, some chestnut permissible.

In both sexes: Beak yellow. Eyes orange or red. Comb, face, and wattles red. Ear-lobes pure opaque, white or cream, slight pink markings not unduly to handicap an otherwise good male. Legs and feet yellow.

Weights
Male 2.70-3.40kg (6-7lb)
Female 2-2.70kg (4-6lb)

Serious defects:
Male's comb twisted or falling over, Ear-lobes wholly red. Any white in face. Legs other than orange, yellow or light willow. Squirrel tail.

Disqualifications:
Side sprigs on comb. Eye pupil other than round and clearly defined. Crooked breast. Wry tail. Any bodily deformity.

Scale of points:
Type 30
Colour 20
Head 20
Legs 10
Condition 10
Weight 10
100

 

[ChicKat]

For those who are comparing internet posted UK roosters to ours in the USA - Just a thought: aren't the UK roosters much older than ours? And don't roosters become more flamboyant with age? I think I also saw an impressive UK rooster --- but I think it was something like 5-years old.

I know that the chesnut is "permissable" in the UK SOP. ( Thanks those of you who looked up and posted) I guess just how much chestnut before it is an undesirable characteristic would be a good question for us in the USA. IMO we have a number of birds in the USA that could perhaps give the UK birds a 'run for their money' LOL (Especially when ours are 5-year olds) :O)

I also took two pictures of my cockerel today...and in one he looks really white, and in another he looks really colorful. Same rooster, same day, same camera.....different sunlight/shade situations. I'll see if I can comeback and post them in awhile. Part of what I am trying to say is Pictures and lighting can show quite a lot of variation.

ETA pictures:






sooo is it me? or does he look lighter in the top picture and darker in the bottom picture? Or since one is in shade and one is in sun, one is on dark background and one is on light---does the human eye compensate and it doesn't look different? Also, I think he is getting lighter as he gets "older".

 

[ChicKat]

Phage, your white bird is so pretty---and in that last picture that deb copied and made smaller looks really feminine....and is 'all eyes'. What a gorgeous chick!

 

[madamwlf]

So here are my guys. The rooster on the left in the first picture is a week younger then the other rooster. The young one is about 5 weeks and the older one is around 6 weeks. I love the crest on the hen in the second picture.

 

[ChicKat]

Madamwlf -- Fabulous!!. I love the crest too.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Beautiful!

 

[boykin2010]

At first glance I thought your polish were cream legbars! I was about to say, I want a CL with that big of a crest!