The Legbar Thread!

[flyingmonkeypoop]

It was my pure cream legbar cockerel from GFF. Something else he said was about the color. It was along the lines of "It's like it is supposed to be crele but it is a bad version of that" which I responded with the fact that it is a cream light brown (like the dutch bantams) but with barring. I told him that the hens barring isn't like a crele hens barring but it is because of the way they breed. I figure I'll keep showing, eventually the judges and public will accept them

 

[Dirt Farmer]

I've hatched the first wave of eggs set in my incubator. I got one pullet, and two cockerels from a different egg source, out of a total of 13 eggs. Not a great hatch rate but at least I didn't get skunked. I hatched Swedish Flower Hens and Basque in the same hatch at a rate of 11/17. I don't have any space to raise them and have them sold already. I have 20 more CL eggs due to hatch in one week. Five eggs from the same source as the two cockerels, and 15 eggs from a third source. The sexing was easy. No question what I had as soon as they dried. I'm liking that aspect. The CL isn't anything like breeds I've been attracted to in the past but they grow on you.
With regard to the above post, I think there is confusion as to correct hackle/saddle color even with fanciers, including myself. I like flyingmonkeypoop's description, but what I see on the internet (acknowledging the difficulty with color reproduction) are either gold without much dilution or silver. I'm interested to see what a cross on the light leghorn will produce with regard to color.

 

[lawatt]

I've hatched the first wave of eggs set in my incubator. I got one pullet, and two cockerels from a different egg source, out of a total of 13 eggs. Not a great hatch rate but at least I didn't get skunked. I hatched Swedish Flower Hens and Basque in the same hatch at a rate of 11/17. I don't have any space to raise them and have them sold already. I have 20 more CL eggs due to hatch in one week. Five eggs from the same source as the two cockerels, and 15 eggs from a third source. The sexing was easy. No question what I had as soon as they dried. I'm liking that aspect. The CL isn't anything like breeds I've been attracted to in the past but they grow on you.
With regard to the above post, I think there is confusion as to correct hackle/saddle color even with fanciers, including myself. I like flyingmonkeypoop's description, but what I see on the internet (acknowledging the difficulty with color reproduction) are either gold without much dilution or silver. I'm interested to see what a cross on the light leghorn will produce with regard to color.

if you end up with any extras of any of those three breeds that you need to find homes for, let me know!
laura

 

[ADIDAS]

The Cream Legbar eggs seem more fragile. I have tried hatching from 5 different sources. Swedish Flower Hens have had way better hatch rates even when eggs were same dates and source as the Cream Legbars.

 

[flyingmonkeypoop]

The light brown leghorns crossed with the cream legbars produced all light brown chicks because the legbars are just cream light brown with barring. The cream in them is recessive but if you cross to a good line of light browns, you should be able to see what the light brown in the legbars looks like. I know I had issues with green legs when I crossed them.

 

[normanack]

. . . what I see on the internet (acknowledging the difficulty with color reproduction) are either gold without much dilution or silver.

Isn't it interesting that figuring out "cream" is so elusive in the Cream Legbar?

 

[GaryDean26]

The Cream Legbar eggs seem more fragile. I have tried hatching from 5 different sources. Swedish Flower Hens have had way better hatch rates even when eggs were same dates and source as the Cream Legbars.

As a general rule I don't hatch shipped eggs. I did make an exception this Spring when I had the opportunity to get hatching eggs directly from Greenfire Farm. My hatch rates were as follows:

Qty (5) Euskal Oiloa (Basque Hen): 40% clear eggs, 20% late quieter, 40% hatched
Qty (4) Cream Legbar: 75% clear eggs, 25% hatched
Qty (3) Breda Gueldre (Breda): 33% clear eggs, 67% hatched
Qty (2) Birchen Marans: 100% hatched
Qty (1) Gold Laced Orpington: 100% clear eggs

Our home grown Cream Legbars have been a different story. We have hatched about 4 dozen eggs with about 10% clear eggs, 10% early quitters, 10% late quitters and 70% hatched.

Note: Our home grown Marans eggs were a dismal 40% hatchrate this spring with about 20% late quitters so I love the hatchability of our Cream Legbars.

 

[ChicKat]

Isn't it interesting that figuring out "cream" is so elusive in the Cream Legbar?

O.K. -- I got this brainstorm.

We will get a color card, like the one for blue eggs. We will have swatches -- go out, hold it beside our chicken's cream feathers and be able to name our numbered match.... what d'ya think??? LOL

sorry, the silliness just overcame me.

 

[ChicKat]

As a general rule I don't hatch shipped eggs. I did make an exception this Spring when I had the opportunity to get hatching eggs directly from Greenfire Farm. My hatch rates were as follows:

Qty (5) Euskal Oiloa (Basque Hen): 40% clear eggs, 20% late quieter, 40% hatched
Qty (4) Cream Legbar: 75% clear eggs, 25% hatched
Qty (3) Breda Gueldre (Breda): 33% clear eggs, 67% hatched
Qty (2) Birchen Marans: 100% hatched
Qty (1) Gold Laced Orpington: 100% clear eggs

Our home grown Cream Legbars have been a different story. We have hatched about 4 dozen eggs with about 10% clear eggs, 10% early quitters, 10% late quitters and 70% hatched.

Note: Our home grown Marans eggs were a dismal 40% hatchrate this spring with about 20% late quitters so I love the hatchability of our Cream Legbars.

This is great GaryDean.... I have been thinking that I should keep hatch-rate stats.

Questions for clarification to my uninitiated brain:
'Clear' - means when you first candle you see no veining thus conclude that the egg was infertile,
'early quitters' - means a blood ring, and
'late quitters' -> Didn't successfully hatch. Is that the best way to categorize??


So my first hatch of CL I set 7, and one was blood ring when I first candled. The other 6 successfully hatch.

From that small sample I say 7/7 fertile, 1/7 early quitter and 6/7 hatched. So my hatch rate is...85.71% on sample size of 7 (below the level of statistical significance in the world of chicken eggs I bet.)--- but I have the process correct? Hoping I am understanding it.

We should have a registry where people could fill in the pedegree of their birds, The egg color on the color chart, hatch rate, weight -- (I'm too much into the registered cattle and EPD's -- better just back off here....but it would be an interesting thing.)

What if we made a page here somewhere on BYC... pictures of the parents, color of egg from the egg color chart.........hatch rate - and sample size --because that would be a factor...etc. -- Just blanks that people could fill in - date and post....then change as the numbers changed. Too crazy??. I think I just had too much espresso. g'nite.

 

[Miss Molly]

Just hatched 9 Cream legbars

going to leave them in the hatcher overnight, I still have 3 more legbar eggs in there.
They were all fertile. Hopefully the rest will hatch tonight..