The Legbar Thread!

[flyingmonkeypoop]

I hatched 2 blonde chicks last week and banded them so I can keep track. I dont think anyone has reported any blonde pullets yet though

 

[KPenley]

I remember Emilie De Grey discussing once that she turned her whole flock around using a beautiful shaped male that barely had any color. I wonder if he was one of the results of these blond, though not white, chicks.

 

[CibolaChooks]

whats the correct earlobe color again. My male has decent earlobe size and little to no lines or creases on them but i forgot what color is correct for the CCL

 

[lonnyandrinda]

"32. Ear-lobes pure opaque, white or cream, slight pink markings not unduly to handicap an otherwise good male."

Wholly red is a serious defect.

 

[chickendeal]

they are so friendly and very social

 

[CibolaChooks]

Where does this come from. #32 and what's wholly red????

 

[CibolaChooks]

His comb got frost bite. After the tips feel off he matured and the points plumped up. My other male had same thing happen but his comb never got bigger it stayed the same size as it was before frost bite. Kinda strange to see frost bite affect the combs this way. I guess I never had it happen pre maturity

 

[lonnyandrinda]

It came from one of the earlier posts, I think in the Standard of Perfection thread, I believe that is the wording of the UK standard. I actually copied it from the "Words from Walt" section in the google club house. Any club member has access to it there.

"Wholly red" means what it sounds like- if the whole lobe is red that is a serious defect.

Since it's been a while since it's come up, I'll copy and paste the proposed standard from the Cream Legbar Club with the earlobe part in red text. It's not nearly as descriptive as the UK standard, but many people were having trouble wrapping their minds around opaque versus white. Anyone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe we decided opaque meant like "fridge white" which is an enamel white? Anyway from the advice of Walt we went with Enamel white as that is a common descriptor in the US for breeds with white earlobes. All those shades of white are confusing.


Posted to club members by Kestlyn Penley of the SOP Committee on March 8 2013:

To All Cream Legbar Club Members,
The Cream Legbar Club is proud to announce the first public draft for the American Standard. A topic conversation is also available Backyard Chickens: Cream Legbar Working Group: Standard of Perfection for those who are members. Best efforts will be made to review and consider everyone's comments. Group insight is appreciated. Myself and others will check in here regularly. We look forward to hearing what you all think!
Sincerely,
All of us at the Cream Legbar Club

SHAPE -- MALE​

Comb: Single; large, fine in texture, straight and upright, deeply and evenly serrated with six distinct points, extending well over the back of the head and following, without touching, the line of the head, free from side spikes, thumb-marks or twists.

Beak: Stout, point clear of the front of the comb, slightly curved.

Face: Smooth, skin fine in texture.

Eyes: Large, bright, and prominent. Round in appearance.

Wattles: Moderately long, thin, uniform in size, well rounded, free from folds or wrinkles. Skin soft.

Ear-lobes: Large, elongated oval, pendant, smooth and free from folds, equally matched in size and shape.

Crest: Small, well back from the eyes with narrow feathers falling off the back of the head to below the blade of the comb.

Head: Medium size, symmetrical, well balanced, and of fine quality.

Neck: Long and well covered with hackle feathers.

Back: Moderately broad at the shoulders, narrowing slightly toward the tail, long in length, flat, sloping slightly to the tail.

Saddle feathers—Abundant, long, and filling well in front of the tail.

Tail: Moderately full, carried at an angle of forty-five degrees above horizontal.
Main tail—feathers broad and overlapping.
Sickles—long and well curved.
Lesser Sickles and Coverts—long, of good width, nicely curved and abundant.

Wings: Large and carried close to the body without dropping.

Breast: Prominent, well-rounded, carried forward and upright.

Body and Fluff: Body moderately long, sloping to the tail, broad in front tapering slightly to the rear. Keel is of good length, following the line of the back. Feathers moderately long and close to the body.
Fluff—medium in length, moderately full.

Legs and Toes: Legs moderately long, straight when viewed from the front. Thighs are medium length.
Shanks round, strong, and free from feathers.
Toes—four, long, straight, and well-spread.

SHAPE -- FEMALE​

Comb: Single; large, fine in texture, erect or first point to stand erect and the remainder of the comb dropping gracefully to the side without obscuring the eyes, deeply and evenly serrated having six distinct points.

Beak: Stout, point clear of the front of the comb, slightly curved.

Face: Smooth, skin fine in texture.

Eyes: Large, bright, and prominent. Round in appearance.

Wattles: Medium in length, thin, uniform in size, well-rounded, free from folds or wrinkles. Skin soft.

Ear-lobes: Medium, elongated oval, pendant, smooth and free from folds, equally matched in size and shape.

Crest: Medium, affixed at the forefront of the skull on both sides of the base of the comb and running length of comb. Rising well in front so as not to obstruct the eyes, with feathers narrow and falling off the back of the head to below the blade of the comb.

Head: Medium size, symmetrical, well balanced, and of fine quality.

Neck: Long and well covered with hackle feathers.

Back: Moderately broad at the shoulders, long, with an even slope to the tail. Feathers moderately broad and of sufficient length to carry well up to tail.

Tail: Moderately long, carried at an angle of thirty-five degrees above horizontal.
Main tail—feathers broad and overlapping.
Coverts—broad and abundant, extending well onto main tail.

Wings: Large and carried close to the body without dropping.

Breast: Prominent, well-rounded, carried forward and upright.

Body and Fluff: Body moderately long, sloping to the tail, broad in front tapering slightly to the rear. Keel is of good length, following the line of the back. Feathers moderately long and close to the body.
Fluff—medium in length, moderately full.

Legs and Toes: Legs moderately long, straight when viewed from the front. Thighs are medium length. Shanks round, strong, and free from feathers.
Toes—four, long, straight, and well-spread.

COLOR -- MALE​

Comb, Face and Wattles: Bright Red.

Beak: Yellow.

Eyes: Reddish bay.

Ear-lobes: Enamel white.

Head: Plumage, cream and gray.

Crest: Cream and gray, some chestnut permissible.

Neck: Hackle—cream, sparsely barred with gray.
Shoulder—cream, barred with dark gray, some chestnut permissible.
Front of neck—same as breast.

Wings: Fronts and Bows—dark gray, faintly barred, some chestnut permissible.
Coverts—gray, barred, tipped in cream.
Primaries—dark gray, faintly barred, some white permissible.
Secondaries—dark gray, more clearly barred.

Back: Cream, barred with dark gray, some chestnut permissible.
Saddle—cream, barred with dark gray, edged in cream.

Tail: Main Tail—gray, evenly barred.
Sickle and Coverts—light gray, barred, some white feathers permissible.

Breast: Dark gray, evenly barred, well defined outline.

Body and Fluff: Silver-gray, indistinctly barred.

Legs and Toes: Yellow.

Under-Color of All Sections: Silver-gray.

COLOR -- FEMALE
​

Comb, Face, and Wattles: Bright red.

Beak: Yellow.

Eyes: Reddish bay.

Ear-lobes: Enamel white.

Head: Plumage, cream and gray.

Crest: Cream and gray, some chestnut permissible.
Neck: Hackle—cream, softly barred gray.
Front of neck—salmon.

Wings: Fronts, Bows and Coverts—silver-gray, faintly barred.
Primaries—gray, peppered.
Secondaries—gray, very faintly barred.

Back: Gray, softly barred.

Tail: Main Tail and Coverts—silver-gray, faintly barred.

Breast: Salmon, well defined in outline.

Body and Fluff: Silver-gray, indistinctly barred.

Legs and Toes: Yellow.

Under-Color of All Sections: Silver-gray.

 

[normanack]

Will do! What part of Michigan? I'm in Southwest Michigan near Kalamazoo.

A tad northeast of Lansing.

 

[dretd]

"Wholly red" means what it sounds like- if the whole lobe is red that is a serious defect.

Since it's been a while since it's come up, I'll copy and paste the proposed standard from the Cream Legbar Club with the earlobe part in red text. It's not nearly as descriptive as the UK standard, but many people were having trouble wrapping their minds around opaque versus white. Anyone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe we decided opaque meant like "fridge white" which is an enamel white? Anyway from the advice of Walt we went with Enamel white as that is a common descriptor in the US for breeds with white earlobes. All those shades of white are confusing.

SHAPE -- MALE​

Comb: Single; large, fine in texture, straight and upright, deeply and evenly serrated with six distinct points, extending well over the back of the head and following, without touching, the line of the head, free from side spikes, thumb-marks or twists.

Ear-lobes: Large, elongated oval, pendant, smooth and free from folds, equally matched in size and shape.

Crest: Small, well back from the eyes with narrow feathers falling off the back of the head to below the blade of the comb.

SHAPE -- FEMALE​

Comb: Single; large, fine in texture, erect or first point to stand erect and the remainder of the comb dropping gracefully to the side without obscuring the eyes, deeply and evenly serrated having six distinct points.


Ear-lobes: Medium, elongated oval, pendant, smooth and free from folds, equally matched in size and shape.

Crest: Medium, affixed at the forefront of the skull on both sides of the base of the comb and running length of comb. Rising well in front so as not to obstruct the eyes, with feathers narrow and falling off the back of the head to below the blade of the comb.


Ear-lobes: Enamel white.

Thank you for re-posting these as a reminder of what the US group is looking at for APA acceptance. I have been going off of the English standards and they had listed:
[FONT=georgia,serif]Color in both sexes: Beak yellow. Eyes orange or red. Comb, face, and wattles red. [/FONT][FONT=georgia,serif]Ear lobes pure opaque, white or cream, slight pink markings not unduly to handicap an otherwise good male[/FONT][FONT=georgia,serif]. Legs and feet yellow.[/FONT] ( source:https://sites.google.com/site/creamlegbarsonline/breed-standard)

So I have several questions related to this. It appears as though the American breed standard is more specific and limiting than the English standard. Is this a necessity because of the requirements of the APA in how they want things listed (I remember the APA wanted one number for comb spikes where the English Standard called for an allowable range). Or is it that we will be allowed to and will publish guidelines to clarify for the judges such as listed above in the quote from the English standard highlighted in red? I recall that the DQ's are still a work in progress so I am thinking that this sort of clarification may also be in the works as well. But then I think that the APA seems more absolute in the standard so they may not allow 'the spirit of the law' guidance.

With regard to Steen's rooster, I would describe it as white or maybe cream but it certainly has a few slight pink markings. So he is fine in the English standards but would not be ideal according to what I see in the proposed American standard. Am I reading this right or wrong? Forgive me I am new to the whole breed standards thing and I am trying to understand what judges look for and how the standards are applied, and really appreciate everyone's advice/take on this sort of thing!

Another question I've had is what does thumb marks mean in the comb section? Is that a variation of side-sprigs, but ones that are flatter like knotty grooves in a walnut or pea comb or something else?

Thanks again for all of your insights and clarifications not mention hard work on the standard!