WHITE LEGBAR SOP (STANDARD OF PERFECTION)

 

U.S.A. Legbars are all understood to be gold-based birds: the Cream Legbar, the Golden Crele Legbar and the White Legbar. The genetic variations differentiate the colors and patterns. For more details, see our varieties page.

 

Where White Is So Much Like Gold

The Golden Crele is essentially the base color and pattern for all three varieties. The White Legbar is identical to the Golden Crele Legbar and the Cream Legbar, however, it is entirely white in appearance. It is a gold-based bird which has barring genes, and may or may not have the cream gene. The White Legbar does have two copies of the recessive white gene (c,c) which masks or prevents the expression of color and pattern.

Proposed Standard of Perfection Draft 1 for Preliminary Show Requirements

The White Legbar is descended from the Cream legbar. The Cream Legbar was presented at the 1947 London Dairy Show as a new breed of cream colored autosexing chicken, friendly in temperament, and prolific layer of blue eggs. The recessive nature of the cream color, the dominate blue egg color, and the crest which sets this breed apart from its similar Legbar relations was discovered in genetic experimentation performed by Professors R.C. Punnett and Michael Pease.

Professor Punnett received blue egg laying crested Chilean hens from botanist Clarence Elliott in 1929. One of these hens led to Professor Punnett’s monumental discovery of the recessive cream color in poultry in 1931. Professor Punnett experimented with these birds at the University of Cambridge to create crested blue egg layers with the heartiness, production, plumage pattern and type of the Danish Brown Leghorns he used, except with cream replacing the gold coloring. Later Professor Pease performed his own breeding experiments using Gold Legbars and an inbred UK type White Leghorn from Reaseheath College in Cheshire, England, which also resulted in a number of cream colored birds.

Professors Pease and Punnett bred their cream birds together to see if they had stumbled upon the same cream gene, proving it upon the hatching of all cream offspring. Descendants of these birds were selected for straight single combs, crests, production blue egg laying, and the remarkable autosexing feature that allowed the sexes to be identified at hatch. These qualities were stabilized by 1947, and The Poultry Club of Great Britain adopted a written standard in May, 1958.

The Cream Legbar arrived in the United States in the fall of 2010. Greenfire Farms imported two breeding groups and has subsequently imported other breeding groups in the years since then. As poultry fanciers began breeding these birds a discovery was made. Periodically, yellow down chick was hatched which grew into the white legbar. Similar to the cream legbar parentage, the white legbar relies on recessive genes to achieve the white color. Two white recessive genes are required for the white legbar to be realized in breeding efforts. Initially, the white legbar was considered a white sport. It has since been shown that the white legbar consistently breeds true and will only produce white progeny when white legbars are paired. The white legbar is similarly characterized by a single comb, crests, production blue egg laying, and the autosexing feature found in its cream legbar heritage.

Economic Qualities

Especially noted for the autosexing feature in offspring, and production of eggs. Color of skin, yellow; color of egg shell, blue or green.

Disqualifications

Absence of crest. (See General Disqualifications and Cutting for Defects.)

Standard Weights

Cock…………………………7 lbs. Hens……………………..…..5 1/2 lbs.
Cockerel……………………..6 lbs. Pullet………………………..4 1/2 lbs.

 

SHAPE—MALE

Comb: Single; large, fine in texture, straight and upright, deeply and evenly serrated with six distinct points, extending well over the back of the head and following, without touching, the line of the head, free from side sprigs, thumb-marks or twists.
Beak: Stout, point clear of the front of the comb, slightly curved.
Face: Smooth, skin fine in texture.
Eyes: Large, bright, and prominent. Round in appearance.
Wattles: Moderately long, thin, uniform in size, well rounded, free from folds or wrinkles. Skin soft.
Ear-lobes: Large, elongated oval, pendant, smooth and free from folds, equally matched in size and shape.
Crest: Small to medium, well back from the eyes with narrow feathers falling off the back of the head to below the blade of the comb.
Head: Medium size, symmetrical, well balanced, and of fine quality.
Neck: Long and well covered with hackle feathers.
Back: Moderately broad at the shoulders, narrowing slightly toward the tail, long in length, flat, sloping slightly to the tail.
Saddle feathers—Abundant, long, and filling well in front of the tail.

Tail: Moderately full, carried at an angle of forty-five degrees above horizontal.
Main tail—feathers broad and overlapping.
Sickles—long and well curved.
Lesser Sickles and Coverts—long, of good width, nicely curved and abundant.

Wings: Large and carried close to the body without dropping.

Breast: Prominent, well-rounded, carried forward and upright.

Body and Fluff: Body–moderately long, sloping to the tail, broad in front tapering slightly to the rear. Keel is of good length, following the line of the back. Feathers moderately long and close to the body.
Fluff—medium in length, moderately full.

Legs and Toes: Legs–moderately long, straight when viewed from the front. Thighs are medium length. Shanks round, strong, and free from feathers.
Toes—four, long, straight, and well-spread.

SHAPE—FEMALE

Comb: Single; large, fine in texture, erect or first point to stand erect and the remainder of the comb dropping gracefully to the side without obscuring the eyes, deeply and evenly serrated having six distinct points.

Beak: Stout, point clear of the front of the comb, slightly curved.

Face: Smooth, skin fine in texture.

Eyes: Large, bright, and prominent. Round in appearance.

Wattles: Medium in length, thin, uniform in size, well-rounded, free from folds or wrinkles. Skin soft.

Ear-lobes: Medium, elongated oval, pendant, smooth and free from folds, equally matched in size and shape.

Crest: Medium, rising well in front so as not to obstruct the eyes, with feathers narrow and falling off the back of the head to below the blade of the comb.

Head: Medium size, symmetrical, well balanced, and of fine quality.

Neck: Long and well covered with hackle feathers.

Back: Moderately broad at the shoulders, long, with an even slope to the tail. Feathers moderately broad and of sufficient length to carry well up to tail.

Tail: Moderately long, carried at an angle of thirty-five degrees above horizontal.
Main tail—feathers broad and overlapping.
Coverts—broad and abundant, extending well onto main tail.

Wings: Large and carried close to the body without dropping.

Breast: Prominent, well-rounded, carried forward and upright.

Body and Fluff: Body– moderately long, sloping to the tail, broad in front tapering slightly to the rear. Keel is of good length, following the line of the back. Feathers moderately long and close to the body.
Fluff—medium in length, moderately full.

Legs and Toes: Legs– moderately long, straight when viewed from the front. Thighs are medium length. Shanks round, strong, and free from feathers.
Toes—four, long, straight, and well-spread.

COLOR—MALE

Comb, Face and Wattles: Bright Red.
Beak: Yellow.
Eyes: Reddish bay.
Ear-lobes: Enamel white. For Cocks over one year of age only, no defect cuts for red covering up to one-third of the surface.
Head: Plumage, white.
Crest: White.

Neck: Hackle—white.
Shoulder—white.
Front of neck—same as breast.

Wings: Fronts and Bows—white.
Coverts—white.
Primaries—white.
Secondaries—white.

Back: White.

Tail: Main Tail—white.
Sickle and Coverts—white.

Breast: White.

Legs and Toes: Yellow.

Under-Color of All Sections: White.

COLOR—FEMALE

Comb, Face, and Wattles: Bright red.
Beak: Yellow.
Eyes: Reddish bay.
Ear-lobes: Enamel white.
Head: Plumage, white.
Crest: White.
Neck: Hackle—white.
Front of neck—white.

Wings: Fronts, Bows and Coverts—white.
Primaries— white.
Secondaries— white.

Back: White.

Tail: Main Tail and Coverts—white.

Breast: White.

Body and Fluff: White.

Legs and Toes: Yellow.

Under-Color of All Sections: White.