Legbar Chicken

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 here.