LAST UPDATED ON: February 17, 2023
Our third barn stall is our Legbar flock. It is currently a mix of half Cream Crested Legbar and half autosexing Olive Egger hens. This cross is considered an Easter Egger, where it’s a green and a blue layer cross. As spring approaches, we will change breeding plans and be offering these Autosexing Olive Eggers.
Our Golden Bielefelder x Cream Crested Legbar are dual purpose autosexing Olive Egger crosses. These beautiful birds are by far our best egg producers on the farm, offering a consistent supply of jumbo light green tinted eggs. They laid consistently at 7 months in the depth of the cold, dark Maine winter without supplemental lighting.
This cross consistently carries the coloring of the Golden Bielefelder and the crest of the Legbar.
The major difference in the two color varieties are the hen size. The autosexing Olive Egger hens are substantially larger than the Cream girls. Secondarily, the Cream Crested Legbar tend to have a more full and rounded crest.
These autosexing Olive Egger hens are so similar to the Bielefelders in markings that two Bielefelders snuck into the Legbar stall, and weren’t noticed until a Bielefelder egg was found in the Legbar’s nesting box.
For 2022, we have hatched each breed we keep here on our little family farm from multiple sources for longterm genetic diversity, allowing us to carry out a strict closed flock breeding program for each breed. Several roosters will be vetted in twice-annual personal stock hatches, and only the very best hens will overwinter.
Starting with so many gorgeous birds will surely make it hard to choose. After the tragic loss of our young flocks in 2021 we have been forced to start over with all new stock for 2022.
