The Legbar chicken is a British breed created by Reginald Crundall Punnett and Michael Pease. It is now a rare breed which was developed in the early 20th century in the Genetical Institute of Cambridge University. The main aim for creating this chicken breed was to create a utility breed with a focus on eggs laying.
Legbar chicken is an auto-sexing breed, which means the males and females are easily distinguished by their color after their birth. The developers used a cross breeding programme with two excellent egg layers; the Barred Plymouth Rock and Leghorn chicken. For introducing sex-linked barring gene into the Leghorn, the Barred Plymouth Rock was used.
The Gold Legbar chicken was standardized in 1945, and was created by crossing Brown Leghorn and Barred Plymouth Rock. The Silver Lagbar chicken was created in 1951 by crossing the Gold Legbar with Silver Cambar and White Leghorn.
And the Cream Legbar chicken was created by crossing White Leghorn and Araucana chicken. Cream Legbar was standardized in 1958, but nearly died in the 1970s. Because blue eggs are not in demand. Review characteristics, behavior, temperament and full breed profile of Legbar chicken below.
Legbar Chicken Characteristics
Legbar chicken’s appearance is similar to that of barred Leghorn chicken. The Legbar roosters are firm and muscular birds with a wedge shaped body and prominent breast. They have long flat back, and their wings are large carried close to the body.
Their beak is strong and yellow or horn colored. They have large erect bright red colored single comb with five to seven even spikes with broad bases.
The crest of the Cream Legbar is small and compact which is carried well back from the red or orange eyes, falling off the back of the head below the extended comb. Their face is smooth and is of red color smooth and pendant cream or opaque white earlobes.
The wattles of the Legbar rooster are long and thin and red in color. They have strong, round and clean legs with evenly spaced four toes. They have long and well feathered neck. Their skin color is yellow. The roosters have a plumage of silky texture which is free from coarse or excessive feathers.
On the other hand, the Legbar hens have some general characteristics similar to that of the roosters. The single comb however can be either erect or falling gracefully over to either side of the face without obstructing the eyesight. The tail of the hens are carried at a lower angle.
The crest of the Cream Legbar hen is somewhat fuller and larger than that of the roosters. But crest should never be so full as to obstruct their eyes. The legs and feet of the Gold Legbar or Silver Lagbar hens can be either yellow, orange or light willow. On an average, the Legbar roosters weight about 3.4 kg and hens about 2.7 kg. Photo from Wikipedia.
Behavior/Temperament
Legbar chicken is a utility breed mostly suitable for egg production. The cream Legbar chicken is a fairly noisy breed. And their voice is very like the Araucana. They Legbars are flighty and tend to be nervous. Hens are cream or white egg layers, but the Cream Legbar hens lay blue or green eggs.
They are not considered as good winter layers. Hens are not broody. The breed is very good for free range system and dislike confinement. The roosters are easily tamed and can be aggressive during the breeding season. Review full breed profile of Legbar chicken below.
| Breed Name | Legbar |
| Other Name | None |
| Breed Purpose | Egg Layer |
| Breed Temperament | Can’t Bear Confinement Well, Easy to Handle, Noisy, Flighty |
| Breed Size | Large |
| Broodiness | Seldom |
| Comb | Single |
| Climate Tolerance | All Climates |
| Egg Color | Cream or White, Cream Legbars lay Blue or Green eggs |
| Egg Size | Medium |
| Egg Productivity | Medium to High |
| Feathered Legs | No |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Varieties | Cream, Gold and Silver |
| Country of Origin | United Kingdom |
