Contents
The legbar chicken breed is quite rare. Breeding scientists Michael Pease and Reginald Pennet from the Genetic Institute of the University of Cambridge in the 30s were engaged in breeding chickens with autosex properties (the ability to determine the sex of chickens by the color of the fluff at day old), but at the same time, so that the chickens were distinguished by high egg production.
Golden legbar hens were the result of crossing leghorns and striped plymouthrocks, and were standardized in 1945. The resulting golden legbar was crossed with a white leghorn and a golden camping rooster, resulting in a silver legbar in 1951. Further, it was crossed with white leghorn and araucana. Bottom line: a creamy legbar that was introduced at an agricultural show in 1958. Hens of a new breed laid blue eggs. For some time the breed was not in demand and almost disappeared. About the legbar chicken breed, see the video:
Breed description
The description of the legbar breed is as follows: legbar roosters are powerful birds. They have a wedge-shaped body, broad chest, long and flat back. The tail is moderately full, tilted at an angle of 45 degrees. The wings are tightly pressed to the body. The head is small, the comb is upright bright red with 5-6 clear teeth, the earrings are light in color, in chickens the comb is leaf-shaped with 6 teeth, not always upright, it can bend to one side from the middle. The eyes are bright orange. The legs are yellow, thin but strong, with 4 widely spaced toes.
The plumage of birds is soft, silky. A distinctive feature of legbars is a crest on the head. Therefore, they often say about the breed “crested legbar”. How representatives of the legbar breed look like, look at the photo.
In total, there are, depending on the color, three varieties of legbars – golden, silver and cream. Today, the most common is the cream legbar color, which combines silver gray and soft golden hues, creating an overall cream color. In cockerels, clear stripes stand out; in hens, they are absent. In addition, the plumage of Legbar chickens is darker, with a predominance of brown shades: from pale cream to salmon-chestnut with bright feather edging.
Legbar chickens have a pronounced autosexism.
In males, the stripe is blurred and blends with the main background, unlike hens, in which the edges of the stripe are clearly defined. In the photo, you can completely distinguish between hens and cockerels of the Legbar breed.
Legbars have a good disposition, you will not find them in a showdown with each other and other breeds. But cockerels zealously follow their girlfriends, protect them and do not give offense.
Chickens of the breed in question are very mobile and love to walk. Therefore, when breeding them, it is imperative to equip a paddock for walking. This will allow the chickens not only to take a walk, but also to find some food for themselves in the form of bugs, worms. Chickens of the legbar breed are highly desirable food of animal origin. And the walking method of keeping poultry allows you to save on feed. In the summer, most experts recommend a slight supplementary feeding.
productive features
The legbar chicken breed has a meat-and-egg direction. With all the beauty of external data, the productive abilities of chickens did not suffer at all.
- Chickens lay eggs with a strong blue or olive shell weighing up to 60 g;
- High egg production persists for 2 years;
- Legbar chickens begin to lay from 4-5 months of age;
- About 220 eggs are produced per year;
- The live weight of legbar hens reaches 2,5 kg, roosters 2,7-3,4 kg.
The qualities of the breed listed above have led to the fact that it has become quite popular.
Cons of the breed
When keeping the breed in private farms, it is necessary to keep in mind some of the disadvantages that are inherent in legbars. Without taking them into account, effective breeding of the breed is impossible. The disadvantages of legbars include:
- Every 2 years, a replacement of the stock is required, since egg production drops sharply after 2 years;
- Legbar laying hens have practically lost their incubation instinct. Some poultry farmers attribute this to the mobile nature of the legbar breed. Nevertheless, breeders will have to attend to the purchase of an incubator;
- In the cold season, egg production decreases and may completely stop. Therefore, in order to get eggs in the cold season, the house should be insulated. You may need to install a heater. The main thing is that the room has a positive temperature. At a temperature of + 15 + 17 degrees, you can count on maintaining egg production in the same volume.
The last drawback has a significant impact on the further distribution of chickens of this breed in the difficult climatic conditions of Our Country.
Features of the content
It is believed that legbars are selective about food and will not eat what other chickens eat.
Feed for the legbar breed consists of 5-6 components. Then such a combined feed will be well eaten by the bird, and the chickens will receive all the necessary elements from food for life and high egg production.
Pour shells, limestone, chalk, crushed egg shells into a separate container. In order for a hen to lay a quality egg, a lot of calcium is required, much more than she can get from the feed.
In the summer, be sure to add greens and seasonal vegetables to your diet. If you give chickens wet mash, then make sure that they are eaten immediately. Leftover food spoils and sours.
In young individuals, obesity leads to the fact that the onset of the egg-laying period is postponed. In adult hens, the number of eggs laid is significantly reduced.
Laying hens consume almost 2 times more water than feed. Change water 2-3 times in summer, less often in winter.
The supply of fresh air is provided through a conventional window. You can also equip the supply and exhaust pipes, providing them with plugs, so you can regulate the air flow, which is especially important in winter in order to save heat.
The poultry house should be well lit. Natural light enters through the windows, in winter, when the daylight hours are short, additional lighting is required.
Keep clean. Change your bedding often. Be sure to do a general cleaning 2 times a year, followed by antiseptic treatment.
Without fail, the poultry house must be equipped with perches, nests, drinkers and feeders for chickens.
Make perches from rounded poles at the rate of 20 cm perch for 1 chicken. At a height of 1 m from the floor and at a distance of 50 cm from each other. The most convenient placement of perches in the form of a ladder, and not one above the other.
For nests, you can use ordinary boxes lined with straw or hay. Approximate dimensions 35×35 cm.
Conclusion
Raising laying hens can be seen as a profitable business. With minimal investment, you can quickly make a profit. In the case of the legbar breed, business can be developed not only on the basis of selling eggs, but also on the sale of eggs and young stock of a thoroughbred bird for further breeding. Do not forget that the bird also has a meat direction. The carcasses of slaughtered poultry have a good presentation.
