The Legbar Thread!

[The Sheriff]

Good luck with your hatch lonnyandrinda! Boobytrap that power cord!

 

[flyingmonkeypoop]

I've chosen my own direction as I've got to have a plan and I think this forum and thread is a good start for me with this breed, and I feel lucky to be able to toss ideas and thoughts around with like-minded folks but I know that our directions differ.

I agree all the way! I am breeding for my own style of birds. Sure, they can still be considered cream legbars by definition but I am breeding them for a different look than others. I have a friend who wants larger, more dual purpose type CLB's but I want more leghorn type with some other modifications. To me, any birds that come out without a crest will just be EE's around here and be sold as such. I am breeding for a rose comb version of them which suits me just fine. I know some people will say they arent a real CLB but they don't have to deal with the birds. I will be the one breeding and feeding them, I will be the one out watching them for hours and ensuring that they are happy. To me, a rose comb with the type of a leghorn, a crest, and the coloring/autosexing of the cream legbars is a great bird that I am already working on. Just like any other non-standard breed, everyone will be breeding for what they like. Even after they are admitted to the standard I know there will still be people breeding them to their own personal standards

 

[Miss Molly]

Let me know if you start one.  I would be interested in this too.

Count me in

 

[GaryDean26]

Which raises several questions: ....

I opened the can, whether it was wise or not, so I will chime in.

1) If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, then it is probably a duck. Same goes for the Cream Legbar. If it meets the SOP and breeds true then it is probably a Cream Legbar. If it doesn't look like a Cream Legbar, or doesn't breed true, then it is what we call a CULL. All breeds require culling.

2) As a rule of thumb, 50% or better of the offspring should conform to the standard. If you are getting those results then it is probably a cream legar. Additionally the parent and grandparent stock should look like the standard. The only way to know what the parent and grandparent stock look like is from the breeder that you get your stock from. Another rule of thumb is if the breeder won't provide full disclosure of the parent stock, then look elsewhere.

If you have stock now and don't know what the parent stock looks like and it doesn't look like a cream legbar, you have to ask yourself, What to do next? If you have better stock use that for your breeders and cull the rest (our culls go to a laying flock, other sell them, etc.). If you don't have better stock then go ahead and test breed what you have. Prove it out and see what it produces. That may be more work than you are willing to do. Especially if it takes a few years to get back to something that looks like the standards (if at all), but those are the options I see.

 

[normanack]

Thanks, everyone for your thoughts, and thanks in advance to anyone chiming in later.

I am so glad you all are here and am looking forward to your future help as my current birds and eventual flock grow.

Flyingmonkeypoop, watch out as I've been diving into my genetics textbook and will undoubtedly be peppering you with questions as I progress. ;-)

 

[Dirt Farmer]

I agree. Poultry are standard bred, meaning they meet the standard of perfection. In truth, very few individuals of any breed meet the standard particularly well. As far as outcrossing, it can be done, but takes a skilled breeder to actually make any improvements. Outcrossings can fix some problems but will introduce other problems that will take further breeding to get back to standard. Most oldtimers will tell you that type makes the breed, even though we generally focus more on color. Some breeders of chanteclers will tell you that only white chanteclers are the real deal, because the other color varieties, while meeting the standard, weren't bred for the winter hardiness and productive capabilities. When I was involved in sheep, some composite breed sheep registeries would allow crossing back to one of the breeds used in the original breeding. Offspring were sold as 1/2 blood, 3/4 blood etc, when you got to 15/16 they could be registered as "pure blooded". This always seemed like a good idea to me to keep vigor in the line. In the case of the CL, I'm not sure what provided the cream color.
Just some thoughts....I'm not even sure I had a point.

 

[GaryDean26]

Quote:


Punnett published a paper in the Journal of Genetic called "Cream Plumage". If you want a copy of this paper PM me or look in the files of the Cream Legbar Breeders Yahoo group.

Punnett discovered the cream color when crossing a Mongrel blue egg laying Chilean hen that he received from Claude Elliot (NOT Clearance Elliot as is post everywhere on the internet) with a Hamburg Rooster. There weren't any Cream Colored offspring in the F1 generation, just the F2 generation. At any rate he collected the cream colored birds and called them "Creams" in his studies of this color gene.

Later Micheal Pease also discovered Cream Plumage when crossing a Pearl Leghorn with Gold Legbars to increase production. Pease was able to prove that the Cream Color was from the Pearl Leghorn Rooster.

Punnett later crossed the Non-crested Cream colored Legbars with what I am guessing were either his Creams which were crested and laid blue eggs, or the foundation Chilean Hen. This was done to see if the cream color for both sources where the same gene. The test proved that they were and was the introduction of the Cresting and Blue Eggs to the Crested Cream Legbar breed.

So...we know the Cream came from a Pearl Leghorn Rooster and either a Hamburg Rooster or Chilean Hen (or both) too.

 

[rc50]

I agree 100% with GaryDean26... he is talking about true breeding.....

 

[ADIDAS]

I have eggs due to hatch next week from Cindylee53 as well. I am curious what they will look like. They eggs seem like the same blue color as the other Cream Legbar eggs I have, just a little larger.

I wonder if they are Cream Legbar hens with another rooster in the mix, and if all the chicks will look the same.

 

[normanack]

I have eggs due to hatch next week from Cindylee53 as well. I am curious what they will look like. They eggs seem like the same blue color as the other Cream Legbar eggs I have, just a little larger.

I wonder if they are Cream Legbar hens with another rooster in the mix, and if all the chicks will look the same.

 

I think we need a photo gallery of cindylee53 chickens. More ambitiously, a gallery of Cream Legbar photos identified by breeding lines. Sort of a database for comparison, so one could look up JaneDoe CLs and compare them to JoeSmith CLs. Ideally with search terms including owner, state, ancestor lines, age in photo, etc. Or is there something like that already?