The Legbar Thread!

[DCchicken]

So, I'm picking up a couple little pullet chicks (so excited!

!) in a couple weeks and considering getting a Roo-( the neighbors are bought off with the free egg prospect) the breed is amazing and I'd love to perpetuate it, but how are the temperaments of these roosters? I had an Ameraucana 'roo who was a jerk and don't care to repeat it. Plus, he crowed continuously all day nonstop worse than anything I'd heard(probably linked to the aggression thing). Pretty mean to his girls too. Obviously it depends on the original bird, but you can get a good idea of average behavior.
Thoughts?
How are your cream legbar roosters?

I have three CreamLegbar roosters that constantly attack me. Of course I am not going to use them for breeding. On Tuesday those three are going for processing. All of the remaining roos are fine. Cream Legbar roosters are not as gentle as Bielefelder roosters, however, they are not as mean/protective as Bresse roosters.

 

[normanack]

All my various breeds are in a single flock except when some are pulled out for breeding. My Cream Legbar hens' feathers are shredded from the flock roosters' attentions; most of the other hens have little or no damage. Has anyone looked specifically at feather quality in their Cream Legbars? What have you found?

 

[HaplessRunner]

So, I'm picking up a couple little pullet chicks (so excited!

!) in a couple weeks and considering getting a Roo-( the neighbors are bought off with the free egg prospect) the breed is amazing and I'd love to perpetuate it, but how are the temperaments of these roosters? I had an Ameraucana 'roo who was a jerk and don't care to repeat it. Plus, he crowed continuously all day nonstop worse than anything I'd heard(probably linked to the aggression thing). Pretty mean to his girls too. Obviously it depends on the original bird, but you can get a good idea of average behavior.
Thoughts?
How are your cream legbar roosters?

My experience with cream legbar roosters has been uniformly positive. No people aggression and very little aggression toward other chicken breeds. They do not take bullying from other breed roosters but do not seem to want to look for trouble.

With ameraucanas, the experience has been almost uniformly bad. Not so much aggression to people, they are aloof and a few will eat from your hand. That said, ameraucana roosters always seem to pick fights with other breed roosters. They will occasionally gang up on one rooster and will chase him incessantly to finish him off. Ameraucanas are beautiful and the pullets and hens are the some of nicest and friendliest chickens you will find. The ameraucana roosters are strikingly beautiful too, but they are also strikingly aggressive to other chickens.

 

[DCchicken]

I just had another Cream Legbar rooster (in a separate coop) attack me. Maybe it is because it has been raining and snowing for 3 days. I think the weather is making them crazy. I know it is making me bitter. I had to use my rooster stick to get their feeder full.

 

[GaryDean26]

My first year with cream Legbars I grew out 4 cockerels. Three were jerks. My 2nd year I sourced a cream colored cockerel that is non-aggressive and a super sweet bird. Year three...some of sons of the cream cockbird are even better than his dad. So the flock is looking o have a positive future. Below is what another BYC's said about her 10 month old CLB cockerel that she got out of my cream colored cockbird. It just depends on the bird (even in the Polish Breed of Chickens).

Quote: Originally Posted by SlipsWife
He is very sweet. [GD26] From her New CLB Cockerel After having a mean Polish rooster (which I've since heard in uncommon for Polish?) the kids were not at all happy about another rooster until they spent a few minutes with him. He's perfect! Extremely calm, shows the girls where everything is. Our original group pretty much ignores him, other than our red Turken who just stand there and stares at him in awe.

 

[lonnyandrinda]

My first year with cream Legbars I grew out 4 cockerels. Three were jerks. My 2nd year I sourced a cream colored cockerel that is non-aggressive and a super sweet bird. Year three...some of sons of the cream cockbird are even better than his dad. So the flock is looking o have a positive future. Below is what another BYC's said about her 10 month old CLB cockerel that she got out of my cream colored cockbird. It just depends on the bird (even in the Polish Breed of Chickens).

Quote: Originally Posted by SlipsWife

Way to go Brother of Hugger!

I've been meaning to ask how the matings are going with him. Are you far enough along to see any progress yet? Be aware he may be carrying recessive white.

 

[GaryDean26]

Quote:

Way to go Brother of Hugger!

I've been meaning to ask how the matings are going with him. Are you far enough along to see any progress yet? Be aware he may be carrying recessive white.

Here is a photo I got of Hugger's brother this afternoon.

I sold about everything I hatched from him last spring since it was the Maran's turn to fill the grow out pens and I hatch CLB's in the Fall. I saw a lot of good photos of Cream Hens & Cream Cockerels back from other who got eggs and chicks from us early in the year though. In the fall I set up four breeding groups to hatch from. Hugger's little bro was pair with two "A" line GFF hens. Both hens proved to be carriers of cream. Of the 25 cockerels and 7 pullets in that grow out group I only kept three cockerels and two hens. Two cockerels and one pullet were from Huggar's brother, and I kept a single pullet from my "B" line foundation cockbird's group and a single cockerel from my "C" line foundation Cockbird's group. So...I now am wanting to pair mate Huggar's brother to my hen that has been giving me the best cream birds, but am out of coop space. I have been trying to open something up for the past three weeks, but have been taking birds to shows and community events as well as bringing in new breeding stock, so all the isolation pens are full (one with a Broody Hen who will be hatching on Easter Day) and I haven't been able to make things happen yet.

 

[lonnyandrinda]

I hear ya on the pens.... I feel like I've done nothing but build pens at our new house this whole nasty cold winter long! I like to have a small one empty for emergency quarantine or acquisitions but not quite there yet! This Friday I may finally be able to shift everyone around and make it happen. Pondering dropping a breed, too. NOT Cream Legbars though!

 

[GaryDean26]

We dropped the Blue Breda Last year, but added them right back as soon as we could. I guess I am just going to have to cut back from 4 pens of Black Copper Marans to one. I did go from 4 Pens of Cream Legbars to 2. Hmm..? Now I just need to figure out what to do with the three CLB cockerels I saved from last fall. I think I am going to have to cut one more cock and two more cockerels. :-(

 

[Flaming Chicken]

I just had another Cream Legbar rooster (in a separate coop) attack me.  Maybe it is because it has been raining and snowing for 3 days.  I think the weather is making them crazy.  I know it is making me bitter.  I had to use my rooster stick to get their feeder full.

I have had 2 out of many CLB Roos that were aggressive toward people. The one I have now didn't tolerate sharing his space with another rooster but most of them have been fine with people and others roosters.