The Cream Legbar is a popular English breed created by crossing Barred Plymouth Rocks and Brown Leghorns with Araucanas.
The Cream Legbar can easily be sexed at hatching because males appear much paler in color than females. It was bred this way: In 1929, a genetic investigation proved that sex-linking occurs between gold roosters and silver hens. The resulting offspring were gold females and silver males. Barred breeds provided an even stronger sex link. Breeders used this information when selecting the three breeds mentioned above.
Araucana genes give this legbar its funny little crest.
The Cream Legbar is not recognized by the American Poultry Association. It has, however, been recognized by the Poultry Club of Great Britain since 1958. The Cream Legbar Club is working to gain the breed’s U.S. acceptance.
Because of her Araucana genetics, legbar hens lay blue and sometimes olive-hued eggs. This proflic layer averages nearly 175 eggs each year and does go broody.
Mature males weigh as much as 7 1⁄2 pounds.
Hens weigh 6 pounds.
This story originally appeared in the January/February 2018 issue of Chickens magazine.
