The Legbar Thread!

[dretd]

I am new to Cream Legbars. I purchased 2 dozen eggs and hatched them. I kept 3 pellets that are just at point of lay. Should be any day now. The odd thing is I ended up with a "blue" Cream Legbar. I'm wondering if anyone has seen this before or heard of it happening before. I breed blue black and splash silliest and blue and black English orpingtons, so I am familiar with how the genes work. She does not appear to be a mix and I saw parent stock of the eggs I purchased and they were all separate from any other breeds.

Hi lcammack! She is quite pretty, but the wrong coloration for a Cream Legbar.

Her breast looks lacking in proper salmon and honestly I can't see any barring. Those points along with the blue coloration lead me to believe a stray rooster (or maybe the hen was a hussy and hopped the fence to be with the rooster) is the papa. Judging by the blue coloration and the type (she has a horn colored beak, a lower tail angle and has more feathering in front of her tail than is typical for a Cream Legbar pullet for example) I think that dad was a Blue Laced Barnvelder. My guess is that she will be a lovely Olive Egger for you!

 

[chicken pickin]

Oh

Hi lcammack! She is quite pretty, but the wrong coloration for a Cream Legbar.

Her breast looks lacking in proper salmon and honestly I can't see any barring. Those points along with the blue coloration lead me to believe a stray rooster (or maybe the hen was a hussy and hopped the fence to be with the rooster) is the papa. Judging by the blue coloration and the type (she has a horn colored beak, a lower tail angle and has more feathering in front of her tail than is typical for a Cream Legbar pullet for example) I think that dad was a Blue Laced Barnvelder. My guess is that she will be a lovely Olive Egger for you!

oh good suggestion on the barnevelder! I can see that as the possible cross also.

 

[dretd]

I moved them to a better pen for now. I did a count as I was moving them and found another couple bodies. I had 5 males but am left with the worst 2. For females I had 14 legbars but am down to 10, one is unable to use a leg so she may be culled and a couple others have cuts on the backs so I might just be left with 7 usable females. I also lost a pullet from my ambar x marans. I still have Ingrid my original hen and a couple of the best pullets but the males are not ideal. A local guy who got some of my stock last year has a nice looking cockerel available so I plan to get him.

I am very sorry to hear of your predator induced depopulation. I have had one coyote loss from a hen that insisted on free ranging outside of the large backyard where I keep the flock pastured. I have a Border Collie who plays in the yard and I haven't had any Coyotes in the yard since she has been on patrol. I do have a game cam so I can see whats around and they definitely come up to the fence several nights a week looking for rabbits, but have not come into the yard. Any chance you could get a Livestock Guardian Dog to set some boundaries/scare off the coyotes?

Let us know how (or if) your lame girl recovers.

 

[RobG7aChattTN]

I've got single-comb BLRW so that certainly could be it (my roo has a rose comb so all the chicks do too). The first dozen CL eggs that I hatched out I only got to cockerels. One was a runt and the other was so dark I thought it was a pullet. Instead he turned out to be just a dark cockerel. I sold them both off cheap with a bunch of cockerels and started over. He wasn't a bad looking bird but not to type. I don't know if she's "blue" or if she just has bad color or is a cross with another breed.

 

[stryker]

I moved them to a better pen for now. I did a count as I was moving them and found another couple bodies. I had 5 males but am left with the worst 2. For females I had 14 legbars but am down to 10, one is unable to use a leg so she may be culled and a couple others have cuts on the backs so I might just be left with 7 usable females. I also lost a pullet from my ambar x marans. I still have Ingrid my original hen and a couple of the best pullets but the males are not ideal. A local guy who got some of my stock last year has a nice looking cockerel available so I plan to get him.

I feel soo bad for your unfortunate loss with your prized chickens. Two years ago, I had two different dog attacks and a skunk which killed a totaled 60 birds in one summer. They were not the prized chickens that you have so I cannot even imagine the unbearable loss that you are going through. Good luck with your survivors.

 

[soldier]

I recently posted photos of my 2014 pullets and the hens/rooster they were produced by (2013 models). The photo I took of the rooster was when he was very young.

Photos attached are recent photos of my rooster. He is my only rooster. I did not hold back any male offspring/sons as I do not want to cross his sons on his daughters. I thought he did a great job with the cross on the hens he was used on. I guess I could use a son on the 2013 hens if I have to or the sire on daughters. My only concern would be the tight breeding and I do not want the quality of bird or size to diminish due to tight crossing.

I would love your input on a couple of things.

I am pondering purchasing some pullets and rooster chicks from the Greenfire Rees line. I know some folks on this list purchased stock from the Rees line. What do you think of the offspring? What are the positive/negatives of the line.

Attached is my rooster for review. Again my only one so I have no choices. In winter lives with a bunch of guineas and a couple of roosters so they have yanked some of his tail feathers out but other then that he looks good. He has improved the stock in one generation, I am please about that.
I would love remarks on him both good and bad. This is the only way I learn.
He was not a happy camper for the photos, I put in him the snow for some pics.

Last question. If you had this stock what would your next move be to obtain a rooster of different blood. Buy Greenfire Rees chicks or buy some hatching eggs? And if you think hatching eggs what breeder of Legbars would you recommend that would compliment this stock?

 

[ChicKat]

Soldier--
My opinion is that those photos are so beautiful. They really are a beautiful picture of winter. I hope BYC makes it a picture of the week - or that when the calendar contest starts next autumn you will submit one -- they are just fantastic IMO.

Because I'm a strong advocate of the 'colorful' CL - I won't say anything other than this about hiscolor especially since he is absolutely beautiful as a stunning rooster. IN the very last photo his breast appears a darker gray -- that is comparatively darker than the rest of his plumage as the SOP calls for a darker breast on the male.

You have such a nice-long back there and great tail-angle. You have straight comb and HUGE crest - which defies the odds. It looks like he has 6-points on his comb -- nice yellow legs and beak NIce eye nice carriage. My critiques of him would be although his comb looks like 6-points it looks a bit like his blade is missing? His earlobe just like the earlobes on my older ones is reddening.

One thing for you to consider is to pair him with daughters. This is a pretty common thing that breeders do "line breeding" -- supposedly does NOT have as high in-breeding co-efficient as any brother sister pairing. Doing line breeding father-to-daughter would also reveal any hidden genetics.

Regarding expanding your genetic diversity- you may need to decide just what factor you wish to work on...... keep the nice straight comb - but add a bit of balance at the back? I'm not sure that the results of the Rees line have had particularly good combs. Perhaps you could network with other people raising them - and specifically ask who has stock that would complement the things that you want to work on for your flock and get some hatching eggs from them. HTH

Thanks again for posting -- the photos really cheer up a dreary winter's day!

 

[chicken pickin]

@soldier I agree with a lot of what @ChicKat has to say about your pictures. First beautiful pictures they really are just lovely he looks so nice against the snow. I have to add that my DH who doesn't love chickens (he barely likes them lol) he walked by when I was viewing your male and he made a point to say how pretty he was and he had a gorgeous color. That's a big compliment cause he doesn't say things like that often

.

Looking at your cock bird I think he has good type to start off with, Good yellow beak and leg color. Fantastic that he has a small comb and able to have the large crest. He carries his wings well. So again I agree with all the good type qualities that ChicKat stated already. What I see that I do not like about your male is his color, he is VERY diluted, his color is very similar throughout his entire body without much break. The SOP call for dark grays and light grays and evenly well defined barring. I don't see any of that in your male. But color isnt everything at first type is very important a breed is not correct if it doesn't have the correct type. But do keep color in mind as you move forward, especially when working with a male as diluted as your male because you dont want to accidentally lose your auto sexing ability down the way. You would benefit from keeping a better son and paring him back to his mother and also pairing the father your original male to his best colored daughter. Father/Daughter pairings and Mother/Son pairings are good, it will eventually bring out their best qualities and also show if they have any hidden unwanted genetics. Bring in outside blood you never know what you are going to get in each new mating and your breeding program wont get anywhere. Knowing the genetics within your flock and pairing them up correctly will bring you much further in the long run.

I would like to add in also and it is not talked about ever in these CL threads is feather quality. I do take that into considereation and within each breed a certain tightness or looseness is called for. Im just guessing when I am looking for feather quality in my CLs but I like to see the feathers not too tight but also not to loose and airy/fly away. To me the feathers on your male are very loose and they don't seem to lay proper giving him a windy day fly away appearance. Again Im not sure if the feather quality are a big deal but it seems like it should be important. @ChicKat maybe you can refresh my memory if there has been a lengthy discussion of feather quality, if not maybe it is something we could bring up. Just a thought.

As for the Rees line, I have a trio of Rees they are 7 months old. While they have good qualities they also have many that arent so great. The are slow maturing, and males are smaller than our other lines here in the states also males seem to have smaller heads and floppy combs. The males also seem to stand more upright with a more slanted back angle than called for also the wings are carried downward more like a game chicken and not up high more and parallel to the ground. The females in the Rees line (atleast the ones I have) are nice, They have a nice body shape and type they are a good overall size full breast, nice sized heads and medium crests. The only thing I don't care for in my Rees females is that they seem to carry the salmon breast color somewhat throughout their whole body and on the wings etc. I don't care for all that color to be on them and the SOP doesn't call for it. I am happy to have my Rees birds though and hope I can do great things with them. Please remember I only have 1 male and 2 females so my assessment of the Rees line is only based on what I have in front of me, not necessarily the Rees line as a whole (though I have heard the same things about the males from others as well).

For type and size comparison this is the CL from my flock and then my Rees CL (they are close to the same age in the pics though the Rees male looks much younger and smaller)
Male from my flock


Rees

 

[enola]

The ONLY thing I see wrong with soldiers rooster is his color. Of course, I also am going to be breeding for the 'alternate' color Legbars. He is a good example of build the barn and then paint it!! I wonder if you could weigh him for us?

 

[ChicKat]

...............

I would like to add in also and it is not talked about ever in these CL threads is feather quality. I do take that into considereation and within each breed a certain tightness or looseness is called for. Im just guessing when I am looking for feather quality in my CLs but I like to see the feathers not too tight but also not to loose and airy/fly away. To me the feathers on your male are very loose and they don't seem to lay proper giving him a windy day fly away appearance. Again Im not sure if the feather quality are a big deal but it seems like it should be important. @ChicKat maybe you can refresh my memory if there has been a lengthy discussion of feather quality, if not maybe it is something we could bring up. Just a thought.

............

Hi chicken pickin,


we haven't talked about feathers or feather quality--but I bet that it is something that judges pick up on when they are examining a chicken. It is beyond the sheen too. Sometimes when I pick up a juvenile CL I am amazed at the sensation of how soft the feathers are -- but you are right on target - I think our breed can have a tendency to have unruly feathers and too much excess fluff.

Glad you brought up the topic. I think KPenley has mentioned too the size/breadth of the feathers is preferred. It is another thing on the list of what we will be working on with our birds.

The picture of your male breeding rooster is gorgeous too... We do have a lot of very nice roosters appearing in photos.