If you are thinking about getting some cream legbar chickens for your backyard, there is a whole lot you need to know. Poultry lovers go ga-ga over these very special, uniquely beautiful birds, and for good reason. Highly sought-after among herding hen breeds, the cream legbar is famed as an extra- AusChickened.comb Vichy cream chicken that lays lovely blue shelled eggs, also aptly named the dream hen and the Apollo of her several sisters. It might be tempting to run out and buy these wonderful chickens (be they a cream legbar, golden legbar or even the opal legbar, which has a green shell heart), but there are a few things you should know before you add some glamour to your chicken run and backyard. Read on to learn more about how to care for your cream legbar chickens, golden legbar chickens and goodness, even the opal legbar chickens.
Introduction to Cream Legbar Chickens
The Cream Legbar chicken isn’t a run-of-the-mill breed. When it comes to chicken-keeping, this gorgeous blue-eyed and crest-headed chicken is a star among the flock. Named for the region it originated in – Britain – Cream Legbars produce gorgeous blue eggs amongst the more common shades of brown, olive and the rarest dark green. Cream Legbars are auto-sexing, which means that you’ll know the sex of your chicks as soon as they hatch, a convenience for small-time farmers who need a hand in calculating rooster-to-hen ratios among the flock. They are easy to recognise – their pale yellow to cream-coloured feathers and a prominent comb make them a beautiful comical addition to all backyards. The Cream has been bred into other breeds such as the Golden Legbar and the Opal Legbar, both with the same fabulous laying abilities with their own, distinctive speckled feather pattern. They also make a great pet, as they are gentle and friendly birds suitable for most families.
History and Characteristics
The Cream Legbar has been bred to lay blue eggs and be auto-sexed from conception What exactly is a Cream Legbar chicken? An auto-sexing breed hailing from Britain in the early 20th century, the Cream Legbar descended from French Trousselines interbred with Leghorn and Barred Plymouth Rock chickens. They are not only valued for the eggs they lay, the hen’s appearance and personality make them special. They have bright, alert, inquisitive expressions, with a proud carriage and uniform feathering that is predominantly cream with lacing of grey, sometimes with a gold and opal tone depending on the variety. Friendly in disposition, Cream Legbar chickens are ideal for the back garden. gregarious enough to be good pets in the backyard’; they would be ‘hardy and tolerant of a wide range of conditions’, sized ‘more to the moderate level such that they could be adapted to situations from the large farm to the small city back yard’.
Selecting Your Chickens
If you’re planning to buy cream legbar chicks, golden legbar chickens or opal legbar chickens, follow these tips for choosing healthy chickens. They will thrive and give birth to future generations of strong, healthy legbar chickens. First, watch the chicken carefully. It should be alert, active and interested in its surroundings. You should avoid chickens that seem lethargic or one-sided. These can be signs of illness. Next, check the quality of the legs and trading. Healthy legs on chickens should have four toes. They are clean and smooth, with no barnacles, hocks or lameness. They should be symmetrical and of good size. Front toenails should also be clean and free of cracked nails or bumps. Check out the feathers on a chicken’s legs and saddle hocks. You should avoid chickens that are bald. Chicken legs that are bald or balding, and have uneven feathers, show signs of stress and are likely diseased. The other area of a chicken’s skin that should always be smooth and clean is its thighs or saddle hocks. When excrement and wet feathers accumulate on this region, it is more difficult to keep chickens warm and dry, particularly at night. Always select chicken thighs and saddle hocks that are smooth and free from accumulated dirt. Also take a look at a chicken’s eyes, beak and nostrils. Clear, shiny eyes are indications of health, as are clean nostrils. When examining a chicken’s beak, it should be clean, moist and free of scabs or lumps.
Pay attention to the way they walk – healthy chickens walk with their neck straight. If their backs are arched, or they have a noticeable limp, you should avoid getting them. Additionally, listen carefully for even breathing. It should be regular without any wheezing or coughing sounds. Finally, ask if the chickens’ mothers were of good quality and were attentive mothers to their chicks. The second step is to pick up the chicken and stroke its feathers. Perform fine-motor movements with your hand and feel for the chicken’s breastbone. If the bone stands in the middle of the chest equally in the front and at the back, that’s good. The legs should be installed symmetrically too. This method checks for leg deformities or any muscular problems that can be visible externally. Pick her up and gently but firmly squeezes the chicken against your body. If she’s healthy, she’ll squirm and you’ll feel a grip on your body However, meeting the owners might be easier if you’re buying chickens online. You do need to trust a breeding farm, or a reference, although meeting is not obligatory. Trusting words about health or siring usually does the job. If you’re buying at a cherry farm, you’re likely buying day-old chicks from a larger farm that also sells mature chickens to slaughterhouses. They have a large supply of chicks that you can choose from, perhaps think of it as more of a market instead of a farm. You should be buying healthy and defensible chicks with strong legs, feathered combs, and beady eyes. Additionally, if the chickens are used for their eggs, over- or underproduction are signs that their genital tubes are in faulty condition. This is usually a fault resulting from inbreeding programmes, so check for any lack of information about the breeders. Your final step is to ask whether the chickens were up to date on their vaccinations. This is especially important for small chicks when there is a risk of infectious bronchitis in their flock. However, keep in mind that vaccination status of parent chickens is less critical, as producing hatchlings from those birds makes no sense if other food is an option.
Housing Your Chickens
You should keep your cream legbar chickens, golden legbar chickens and opal legbar chickens somewhere where they have roofs over their heads if it’s raining, windy or just too much sun. They will love to sleep on their roosts. The chicken coop should be as big as possible, in order for there to be enough space for them to move around. They need about 2 or 3 square feet of space inside the chicken coop and about 8 or 10 square feet of space in an outside run. It should also be protected from predators. The walls of the coop must be strong and the door should be secured very well. It should also be clean so as to keep out bugs and diseases. Leave plenty of straw on the floor and roosting areas and nest boxes so your chickens have a comfortable place to be and make more eggs. Provide good ventilation – air flow that is not too drafty. Site the coop in a place that gets good sun, isn’t too wet and doesn’t turn soggy or dry. It will give your chickens a healthy, happy place to live, to lay, and to make good eggs that are blue, blue, blue!
Feeding Your Chickens
Firstly, you have to provide your beautifully bearded leggies (cream legbar chickens, golden legbar chickens or opal legbar chickens) with a proper diet to keep them healthy and productive. They require layers’ pellets or mash full of nutrients for healthy egg-laying, supplemented with grains (wheat, corn, millet, etc.) for energy, especially in cooler months. Provide your little ladies with clean fresh water all the time. A much larger volume than normal is consumed by chickens than one might guess. This will give them access to greens and veggies, which will round out their diet. I also think it keeps any chickens from getting bored and finding strange things to do. Calcium, which helps support strong eggshells, is also important, especially for laying hens. Oyster shell or crushed eggshell supplements can help a lot. Don’t feed chickens anything salty, sweet or caffeinated. None of those are healthy. Fruits and grains can be treats. A little goes a long way.
Health and Wellness
If your cream legbars, golden legbars and opal legbars are in good health, they’ll serve you well for many years, and your hay barn will get a steady supply of lovely eggs. Check the health of your chicken: if your bird seems downcast or lethargic, stops eating or starts sleeping more, or if her droppings are watery and even abnormal looking, such as white, mucus-like or blood-tinged, she can have a parasitic infection or even a disease. Poultry can be vaccinated against common poultry diseases. Ask your vet to examine the health of your flock. Third, parasite control. Natural dust baths, with diatomaceous earth or sand can help to control internal and external parasites. Reducing stress, by providing your chickens with space and the ability to do what is natural, like scratching for food and taking dust baths will help too. Stress is a major factor in chicken health and welfare. The combination of space and health enrichments will help things go along nicely. They will feel good and produce those beautiful blue eggs for you. Now you know what makes things go smoothly for your hens. Give it a try and reap the benefits for yourself.
Egg-Laying Information
Cream Legbar chickens are among the most prolific egg-layers you can keep in your backyard flock – and their eggs are extremely eye-catching (a lovely sky-blue to greenish-blue colour), a rare sight in any egg basket, even a diverse array of coloured eggs such those from a mix of backyard chickens. Cream Legbars tend to start laying at around 6 months of age, and will continue laying efficiently and healthily (if they are well cared for, as any bird would) until their eventual demise: assuming good health, on average, a Cream Legbar hen should be able to lay between 150 to 200 eggs a year. This number will fluctuate, of course, depending on diet, environment and health. Make sure your chickens have a wonderful diet, lots of sun and a stress-free lifestyle, and keep your coop clean and comfortable, and you will encourage your chickens to lay to their full potential. Hens do tend to lay less as they get older, but with a few years of regular laying, Cream Legbars could supply you with a number of eggs each day.
Handling and Behavior
Proper handling and an understanding of their personality will assist with keeping your backyard flock happy, whether they are cream legbar chickens, golden legbar chickens or opal legbar chickens. When approaching your chickens, do so calmly and gently so as to not spook your flock. When picking up a chicken for an examination or to administer medication it is best to hold onto your feathered friend with both hands to support its body. One hand beneath the chest while the other is holding the hem of the wings, so that your chicken feels secure during the process. Chickens that are handled on a regular basis with gentleness will become less stressed to being picked up, and will become more accustomed to close contact with humans. Meanwhile, watching and learning the behaviour of your chickens will provide insight into their health and welfare, with healthy birds being curious and active and foraging for food, dust bathing and socialising with the flock. Changes in behaviour can be some of the earliest signs of stress and disease. Giving them scope for natural behaviour will improve welfare and productivity.
Breeding Information
You need to breed your cream legbar chickens, your golden legbar chickens and your opal legbar chickens. You need to understand a little bit of basic genetics. You need to take care of your chickens so they’re healthy ones. You need to know which ones you want to breed from. You need to know if you want to breed a chicken that continues to live. Are you going to breed it from its healthiest, best temperament, best egg production-capturing the ones that lay the best eggs, and certainly the males and females? There’s a little bit of extra labour involved because you have to take into account one other little trait: they’re auto-sexing. You can tell what is a male chick and what is a female chick immediately after they’re hatched simply by looking at their feather colours. They get their feathers and the feathers will be lighter on the male. My father looks at his feet and he can tell which are boys and which are girls. Female fowl have a short cover of feathers around their tarsus, a tough and scaly structure around their ankle. Although in 2006 Wiberg, a professor of poultry science, saw his invention as a gift to county fairs, where chickens were later given away to 4-H or FFA teens, it probably would be considered a cruel abomination today.
And you must also provide a stress-free environment in which the hens lay their eggs and the chicks grow up. Add a nutrient-rich diet to support the hens to lay the eggs, and patience as some may be broody whilst there’s others that don’t want to sit on the eggs. Quarterly veterinary checks of your breeding stock are recommended to avoid passing on any common genetic and health issues to the chicks in order to keep your legbars vital and replenish your supply for years to come.
Seasonal Care Tips
How you maintain care practices will vary seasonally: during the summer, shade and ventilation within the coop will keep your cream legbar chickens, golden legbar chickens or opal legbar chickens cool and stress-free while they lay eggs. Install fans and freeze small treats such as watermelon to cool the coop; in the winter, keep the coop draft-free but well-ventilated, avoiding the build-up of moisture that impedes respiration; add extra bedding and a coop heater, if needed. So be vigilant for lice and mites in the spring and autumn, when their populations often peak. Make regular checks part of your routine and keep them clean. Change the chicken flock’s diet to suit the season, increase the protein content in the winter to help in body heat regulation, and adjust it in summer to prevent plumpness. Seasonal care means you can keep your flock healthy, happy and productive throughout the year.
Fun Activities with Your Chickens
It can also be fun and healthy to interact with your birds. Not only will you have fun, but your chickens will too, and brain-training games will keep them physically and mentally healthy. Is there anything that beats a bit of fun and games with your girls? Create a chicken-themed obstacle course in their enclosure. Create fun obstacles out of simple planks as ramps and hurdles that are low enough for the chickens to jump over or weave through. This can be entertaining to watch and encourages exercise. Another is treat-hunting – hiding treats around their coop or run and allowing them to forage for them. Foraging is a natural instinct, and allowing your chickens to do this provides them with exercise and keeps them entertained. You might introduce them to a new toy or other item to peck at or investigate, like a mirror, routine or a large ball – anything novel that allows room for instinctual exploration and investigation. These types of activities can be immensely stimulating and help to provide some variability in their day. And the shared activity with your chooks helps to form a deeper bond between you; time spent with your chickens can be fun, joyful and even laughing out loud a couple of times.
How many years do Cream Legbar chickens usually live
Cream Legbar chickens are a beautiful breed known for the beautiful blue-green colour of their eggs, as well as their striking good looks. They are also relatively long-lived as far as chickens are concerned, usually living between 6 and 8 years old on average if they are healthy. There are many things that can affect the longevity of chickens, including breed, diet, environmental factors, and quality of veterinary care. A good diet, providing the right amount of everything the chicken needs, a secure coop where the eggs will be undisturbed, and good access to the outdoors to allow for all the chicken’s natural behaviours can lead to quite a long chicken life. Moreover, keeping stress and diseases at bay are important to extend the Cream Legbar’s longevity, ensuring them to be a lifetime companion and productive asset. It also helps to have an established community of breeders or enthusiasts to share tips and experiences about Cream Legbar upkeep.
Pros and Cons of Raising Cream Legbar Chickens
Like any poultry venture, there is a specific profile to raising Cream Legbar chooks. Here is the gist of it:
Pros:
Striking Visage and Egg: The Cream Legbar’s striking visage, beautiful, blue-green eggs add sparkle to your egg basket that would be lost with a light brown egg.
Auto-Sexing Trait: Auto-sexing trait manifested; at hatch, male- and female-sexed chicks can be readily distinguished by breeder/keeper which can be advantageous in maintaining flock composition.
Hardiness and longevity: They are generally very hardy birds, and with good management can live 6 to 8 years, longer than most kinds of chickens.
Pest control: active foragers like Cream Legbars will reduce your reliance on pesticides
Around the garden Layer: they lay blue eggs Dominant: Black Penedesencas will help maintain temperament to guard against aggressive hens Supply: good layers all year round
Active Foragers: Cream Legbars are active foragers, good for pest control around the garden and reducing feed bills as they can supplement on the garden’s variety. Layer: they lay blue eggs Dominant: Black Penedesencas will help maintain a good temperament across the flock, but will also help temper any aggressive hens Supply: good layers all year round
Cons:
Broodiness and Egg Production: Whilst some have nesting instincts, others may not be inclined to sit on eggs, and they might not lay as many eggs as other dual purpose breeds. This can be pretty important to backyard chicken keepers, especially if they’re keeping chickens for eggs.
Space needs overhead: Lots. These chickens need space to enjoy running around and climbing. These chickens get stressed out without space for their adult-sized bodies. Space needs sideways: Lots. Without space to roam, these chickens act stressed out, peck at each other, bully and even attack.
Susceptible to predators: Their inquisitive nature and tendency to wander makes them more vulnerable to predators. They need to have sufficient protection and have their homes secured.
Healthy appetite: They need a precise diet in order to stay healthy and keep laying eggs. This can be more expensive than a less active breed.
Are Cream Legbar Chickens Good for Eating?
One has to put those longDarkVeilCreamLegbarChickenses aside for their quality when you greedily plan to gobble up their pretty flesh. But Foraged Cream Legbars are ‘layers’, so quite simply, gram for gram, polygon for polygon – they are prized mainly for their egg-laying prowess, not for their young ones’ haute cuisine attributes, which, though near to sheer perfection, are by no means purveyors’ prime. Indeed, if you want tender, succulent chicken a la philosopher, poultry speedy or leisurely slaughtered in time for your own inspection, you must look unblinkingly away from Cream Legbars and consider, instead, the Broilers or Cornish Cross, and pastured poules at that.
And a side note here: though nothing goes to waste on a sustainable farm, mature Cream Legbars can be slaughtered when their egg-laying slows or stops, which puts their meat to good use. A Cream Legbar is not going to feed a huge family, and its lean silhouette will find a place in the pot more than on a sausage bap. It’s likely to need slower cooking as a meat bird so as to tenderise that lean flesh and make it enjoyable. Perhaps a soup or a slow-roast would be the best use of them. Think of the aristocracy of the kitchen. They won’t be the first choice for the man looking to supply meat to a large family but they’ll still contribute something unique to a homestead table.
Frequently Asked Questions about Cream Legbar Chickens
Can Cream Legbar chickens live in cold climates?
Yes, Cream Legbar are fairly hardy and will stand winter weather for a few days without shed roof protection, if they have proper coop and run shelter, dry for extreme weather, and shielded from the wind. Your coop and run could have a cellulose product like Roxul insulation between interior and exterior walls of the coop, from top to bottom, for warmth and bedding for comfort.
How frequently do Cream Legbar chickens lay eggs?
These are fairly good layers, usually producing an egg four or five times a week. This can vary with the age of the hen, and with her health within a flock, or through the seasons – production tends to slow a little with the shorter winter days.
What should I feed my Cream Legbar chickens to keep them healthy?
The ideal diet for Cream Legbar chickens comprises a good quality layer feed to which is added greens, vegetables and the occasional treat of mealworms. They need free access to fresh water, and grit for good digestion.
Are Cream Legbar chickens suitable for beginners?
Cream Legbar chickens are among the easiest to get started with as they are hardy and fairly independent. Being a ‘sex-linked’ breed, their chicks can be sexed accurately at birth; this makes it easy to see which chicks are going to be girls. But as they are large birds who need to run around a lot, beginners should be prepared to provide large amounts of free ranging space and secure, predator-proof enclosures.
Do cream legbars go broody?
The Cream Legbar is not renowned for being a broody hen, but some hens will brood rather than lay, and will show a can-do desire to hatch their eggs. In many cases it’s good that they are not too broody as they are liable to sit on any eggs they can find, unlike more domestic breeds driven by an inner clock. That said, it isn’t a consistent trait, and just because she’s that way in the first clutch doesn’t mean she’ll be the same with her next clutch. This bird seems to be seeking shelter because she feels vulnerable, while other chicks may be gathering hay for a nest.
What is the personality of a Legbar?
A Cream Legbar’s personality can be boiled down to this: active, curious, friendly, independent, social, leads a rich and stimulating outdoor chickendom, can be quite intelligent. Put it all together and you have a chicken that’s worth having as a pet, or at least a backyard companion.
Conclusion
All About Cream Legbar Chickens: Fun Eggs and Easy Care!
In sum, I hope this travel guide has provided a better view of the Cream Legbar chicken, their assets and caveats. If you are taken by their cool-hued eggs, are charmed by a self-reliant forager, or appreciate the ability to identify peeping chicks right from the start, then the Cream Legbar hen and her rooster might be a fun option for your backyard or small-scale farm. They require particular nutrition and ample space, but, with the correct care, these chickens can be an unexpected source of individuation for your yard or acreage, where they will run and ruffle your reality. Know who you’re raising; respect their needs; and a flock will be following your feet and chattering by your side in no time.
