[Tigerwren]

Hi
I have gone today to have a chat with my girls and noticed that my cream legbar's ears are red, not white like they were before.  She is only about 18/19 wks and I saw her parents when I picked her up.  She does have a lighter colouring than her sisters were - she is more of a salmon colour.  Does this mean that she is not a cream legbar? (she has a beautifull crest etc and otherwise looks 'right') Or is there a problem?  Any ideas or suggestions very welcome!

[Casey76]

Cream legbars should have a grey body with pink/salmon coloured breast

http://www.cream-legbar.co.uk/

[Tigerwren]

Hi Casey,
thanks, yes i have been on lots of websites but not seen anything exactly like her.  Her siblings were the typical cream legbar and she did look like them in all other ways, although her feathers were lighter.  It doesn't really matter other than the fact that I would like to know if I've been had.  She is adorable in  temperament, loves a cuddle (when you catch her) so I wouldn't get rid or exchange her.  I just wondered.  Thanks for your link.

[chickadee]

my cream legbar has red ear lobes and lays a blue egg

[Tigerwren]

Hi Chickadee,
Hoping that my girl is going to be like yours then and she doesn't have a problem    Is your legbar quite grey?

[Helenaj]

It sounds as if you may have a Columbine, which is a Legbar hybrid. Have a look at this link -

http://www.glencroftpoultry.co.uk/COLUMBINE2.JPG

They tend to be more Salmon in colour and lay a blue/olive egg.

[Tigerwren]

Hi all,
Have finally managed to get my OH to help me upload a pic.  I thought you might enjoy telling me what options I have as I now think maybe a Cotswold legbar??? 
I also noticed that her ears change colour depending on how stretched her neck is and there is a blue ish tinge although still a bit red.
Thanks for any help for Ethel's parentage

[Tigerwren]

Hi Helenaj,
just seen your message (it took me aaaaages to reduce the size of the file size!!).  Yes, she does look very like the Columbine in the picture from your link.  Thanks for taking the time to post.  What do  you think?  Would you say Columbine? 

[cammi]

I'm off to buy a 19 week columbine tomorrow! She looks very much like their picture on the website.
http://www.chickens-for-sale.com/Point%20of%20Lay%20Hens.html

[Tigerwren]

Well Cammi, if she's anything like mine, you will have an amazing girl!  I love mine to bits!! 

[Sassy]

She's not like my Cotswold Legbar

[Tigerwren]

Thanks Sassy, I can probably rule that out then! 

[uktitan]

your lady, looks just like my two Columbine...They are Awesome Birds, VERY good layers, and quite friendly to, Not flighty at all ( well mine arnt) 

[hillfooter]

Hi all,
Have finally managed to get my OH to help me upload a pic.  I thought you might enjoy telling me what options I have as I now think maybe a Cotswold legbar??? 
I also noticed that her ears change colour depending on how stretched her neck is and there is a blue ish tinge although still a bit red.
Thanks for any help for Ethel's parentage

Well if you haven't figured this out yet she's not a Cream Legbar but unless you particularly wanted a  CLB or paid a premium for one it probably doesn't matter.

I  remember when I bought my first CLB hen she was quite expensive as I bought her from a specialist breeder who was working on an improvement programme.  Unfortunately my cock wasn't so good (now sadly departed) but their offspring are nice hens which lay reasonable blue eggs and apart from having an over large tail are good examples of CLBs.  A Columbine is a Hybrid hen bred from selected strains of Cream Legbar and Arucana.  They are being developed as a  commercial bluse egg layer and not so far as I know currently suficiently standardised so I guess almost certainly the hens you saw were progeny from a breeding programme which will have varying characteristics.  Was the supplier developing Columbines or was he just taking stock from a breeding programme. 

It's very regretable that amateur breeders are jumping on the backyard poultry bandwaggon and producing birds which look like the pure breeds that have been used in their make up and are described as such but have a mixed genetic and non standardised genetic make up.  Offspring from such chickens will have alsorts of characteristics and looks which end up poluting the pure breed strain if propagated.  If these birds were sold to you as CLB that's either through ignorance or fraud.  Very often though breeders carelessly describe the birds as the the familiar pure breed or a cross of a purebreed and that is what sticks in the novice purchasers mind.  I've had people tell me my pure breed birds are over priced Sussex when infact they are comparing them with prices of hybrids described as Sussex.  There was a recent post on this site which referenced a seller on ebay who was selling buff X light sussex crosses as a Buff Sussex.  This maybe OK if they aren't bred from and described correctly as first crosses but it's a practise open to abuse.

I see many posts on this site which talk about hybrids as "breeds" and compare characteristics whereas in fact the birds are from different breeders and have widely varied individual characteristics though described similarly or often indentically.

HF

[Helenaj]

Tigerwren, I would definately say that you have a Columbine - she looks exactly the same as mine. I have three Columbines. All three have a slightly differing colour to each other, but all are mainly the salmon colour - and yours is a mirror image of one of mine. They are lovely birds, but can be a bit of a bully to newcomers. The egg colour also varies, I have a blue, olive green and a tinted egg layer which makes the daily egg collection a very colourful sight! I would echo Hillfooter's comments though. If you paid for her as a legbar then you need to go back to your supplier and ask for a refund.