It’s December and you know what that means, right? Some people are Christmas shopping, some people are busy planning their gardens and shopping for seeds for the spring, but around here? Well, I’m shopping for my next chicken breeds! In case this is you, I’m here to help you out!
Building your flock is an exciting endeavor. And as odd as this sounds, egg color never even entered my mind when I was building my flock. I was more concerned about having nice chickens who behaved around our kids and who laid delicious eggs. Then, Pinterest happened, and the backyard chicken market exploded! Avid chicken keepers creating beautiful spaces, urban coops and colorful egg baskets lured me in.
So today, I want to talk with you about the Cream Legbar breed.
This is MY egg basket!
According to Hoover’s Hatchery, “Legbars are a lightweight British breed created in the 1930s by mating blue egg-laying birds from South America (similar to the Araucana) with Golden Penciled Hamburgs, and Buff, Brown and White Leghorns. The goal of the geneticists was to develop a blue egg-laying chicken that was auto-sexing. Auto-sexing means that generation after generation the chicks can be sexed at one-day of age by the color of their down. After about 15-years of work, the Legbar finally came into existence and was first exhibited at the London Dairy Show in 1947. Their plumage is a mix of cream shades overlaid with faint black barring and features a small crest on the top of the head.”
Cream Legbars lay approximately 280 beautiful, medium sized blue eggs per year. I have one Cream Legbar in my flock. When Scarlet O’Henna was a new chick in the coop, she was very docile and friendly. She ran with the bottom of the pecking order and didn’t bother the other chickens. She’s not overly snuggly, but she is very nice to humans. However, when I added to my flock after her, she got bossy! When my flock boss, Bitty, died, Scarlett quickly took advantage of the top spot. She isn’t like Bitty in that she looks out for the less aggressive chickens. As long as she gets the good snacks, there’s peace in the coop. Haha! Overall, however, as a breed, they are friendly birds.
Scarlett enjoying some Happy Tract.
Sometimes called Crested Cream Legbars, these chickens have a cute little poof of feathers on top of their head. They do well in the cold and the heat. They are lightweight, active and good foragers. This breed is fairly quiet as well, so if you live in an urban area, it’s a great fit. They have a single comb that can stand straight up or flop to the side like my Scarlett’s. They have beautiful plumage and rarely go broody. Cream Legbars aren’t great for meat production, but let’s be honest, most people buy them for the beautiful blue eggs!
The one day during COVID that I realized I looked like Scarlett. 🤣
I really do recommend having one or a few of these chickens in your flock. As a whole, they are wonderful. And, because they are easily sexed, you are more than likely going to be able to add as many as you want to your flock.
Until next time,
The Wing Lady