08/19/2025
CREAM LEGBAR - Proposed SOP (January 6, 2019)
(Proposed Standard of Perfection Draft 5 with recommended changes as requested by Walt Leonard and the APA Committee of Standard Revision)
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 in**ed 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.
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 with an obvious canthus.
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, 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 with an obvious canthus.
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 C***s only, no defect cuts for red covering up to one-third of the surface, red covering one-third to one-half of the surface is a one point deduction, red covering more than one-half of the surface is a disqualification.
Head: Plumage, cream and gray.
Crest: Cream and gray, chestnut up to 30% intermixed with cream and gray permissible.
Neck: Hackle—cream, sparsely barred with gray.
Shoulder—cream, barred with dark gray, chestnut up to 30% intermixed with cream and gray permissible.
Front of neck—same as breast.
Wings: Fronts and Bows—dark gray, faintly barred, chestnut up to 30% intermixed with gray permissible.
Coverts—gray, barred, tipped in cream.
Primaries—dark gray, faintly barred, white up to 10% permissible.
Secondaries—dark gray, sparsely barred with gray intermixed with cream, white up to 30% permissible.
Back: Cream, barred with dark gray, chestnut up to 30% intermixed with cream and dark gray permissible.
Saddle—cream, barred with dark gray, edged in cream.
Tail: Main Tail—gray, evenly barred.
Sickle and Coverts—light gray, barred, white sections up to 30% of three individual feathers permissible.
Breast: Dark gray, evenly barred, well defined outline.
Legs and Toes: Yellow.
Under-Color of All Sections: Silver-gray.
COLOR -- FEMALE
Comb, Face, and Wattles: Bright red.
Beak: Yellow.
Eyes: Reddish bay.
Ear-lobes: Enamel white.
Head: Plumage, cream and gray.
Crest: Cream and gray, chestnut up to 30% intermixed with cream and gray permissible.
Neck: Hackle—cream, softly barred gray.
Front of neck—salmon.
Wings: Fronts, Bows and Coverts—silver-gray, faintly barred.
Primaries— gray, very faintly barred.
Secondaries— gray, faintly barred, the outer web stippled with lighter gray and cream.
Back: Gray, softly barred, feathers having a lighter shaft permissible.
Tail: Main Tail and Coverts—silver-gray, faintly barred.
Breast: Salmon, well defined in outline, feathers having a slightly lighter shaft permissible.
Body and Fluff: Silver-gray, indistinctly barred.
Legs and Toes: Yellow.
Under-Color of All Sections: Silver-gray.
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