The most popular autosexing breed in the world! Few breeds are as iconic, or as instantly recognizable, as the Cream Legbar. Beloved for their striking crests, calm personalities, and beautiful sky-blue eggs, these autosexing birds are the total package.
Breed History
Why did the chicken cross the Atlantic? Apparently, to lay mountains of pastel-colored eggs! After nearly a century in Britain, the legendary Cream Legbar, thanks to a little help from Greenfire Farms, has made its way to the United States, delighting backyard poultry keepers with its charm, beauty, and brilliant blue eggs.
The Cream Legbar’s story begins in the early 20th century at Cambridge University, where geneticists Reginald Crundall Punnett (inventor of the Punnett square, still used today) and Michael Pease set out to create an autosexing breed—chicks that could be sexed by color at hatch. The Legbar was only the second autosexing breed ever developed, following the Cambar, which was produced by crossing Barred Plymouth Rocks with Golden Campines. The original Legbar line was created by crossing Plymouth Rocks with Brown Leghorns to combine the barred gene with brown down feathers.
The Cream Legbar itself was born somewhat by accident. Pease’s cross between the Gold Legbar and White Leghorn produced cream-colored, non-crested birds that laid white eggs. A later experimental cross with Araucanas from Punnett’s lab introduced both the signature crest and the blue egg gene—giving rise to the beloved Cream Legbar we know today.
The Cream Legbar made its public debut at the London Dairy Show in 1947 and was officially recognized by the Poultry Club of Great Britain in 1958. Admired for their distinctive crests and striking blue eggs, Legbars quickly gained popularity, but by the 1970s, demand for blue eggs had waned, and the breed nearly vanished. Thanks to the dedication of passionate breeders, however, the Cream Legbar was saved from extinction. One of Punnett’s former students at Cambridge, John Croome, continued breeding the birds after the university’s program ended, preserving the line until his death in 1988. Fortunately, before his passing, Croome sent hatching eggs to fellow breeder David Applegarth in Yorkshire, who carried the legacy forward for many years. Today, a modern variant known as the Cotswold Legbar continues the tradition, producing exquisite blue eggs celebrated as a gourmet staple across Britain’s pastoral countryside.
Appearance and Behavior
With their flashy crests and pastel-colored eggs, it’s easy to forget one of the most practical advantages the Cream Legbar offers: its autosexing ability. This remarkable trait allows breeders to distinguish males from females at hatch—generation after generation—making the Cream Legbar as functional as it is beautiful.
Cream Legbar roosters display light cream neck feathers with subtle barring, transitioning into a gray and cream-barred body accented by cream-tipped wing coverts. Hens feature a small crest and cream hackles with delicate gray barring, complemented by warm salmon or hazelnut-colored breasts and softly barred plumage across the rest of the body. Cream Legbar chicks are easy to identify thanks to their autosexing trait! Females display a distinct chipmunk stripe down their backs, while males have a softer, less defined pattern with grayer tones and a noticeable cream spot on the head. These medium-sized birds are active, hardy foragers that thrive in free-range settings. Roosters are attentive and protective guardians, while hens are occasionally broody and will not hesitate to defend their nests when needed. Due to their energetic nature, we’ve found that a rooster-to-hen ratio of about 1:10 works best for maintaining harmony within the flock.
We’ve found that Cream Legbars can be a bit on the flighty side and often seek higher ground when startled or threatened. Despite their lively nature, hens are excellent layers, producing around 200–250 eggs per year and maintaining steady production well into their third and fourth seasons. Their stunning blue eggs can be deceiving at first glance—slightly more rounded than typical chicken eggs, they may appear smaller, but a quick weigh-in reveals they’re right on par with other standard-sized eggs!
Breed Standard
Legbars are distinguished by cream and gray barring across their bodies, white earlobes, yellow legs, and straight combs (though hens’ combs may lean slightly to one side). Their autosexing trait makes sexing day-old chicks simple: females show a defined brown chipmunk stripe down the back, while males are lighter with more gray tones and a cream spot on the head.
Interest in Cream Legbars is growing among American hobbyists, and a dedicated group recently formed the Cream Legbar Club. Drawing heavily from the British standard, they’ve created a draft standard formatted to align with American Poultry Association (APA) guidelines. While not yet officially recognized by the APA, this draft provides an excellent reference for the breed’s ideal characteristics. The standard can be found on the Cream Legbar Club’s Facebook page or via the link below.
http://www.pritchettssmallpets.com/pages.php?pageid=23
Hatching Eggs
We incubate at 99.5F and 55% humidity, typically achieving a hatch rate of 70–80%. On average, the male-to-female chick ratio is 50:50, though individual hatches may lean heavily toward one sex. Over multiple hatches, however, you can expect an even split. Chicks generally hatch right on schedule, around day 21, and late hatches are rare. Eggs that have not pipped by day 21 can usually be considered non-viable.
Defects
Occasionally, female chicks from our Exhibition Cream Legbar line hatch with a faint chipmunk stripe and an overall lighter coloration. These chicks typically do not develop the most desirable adult plumage, so we recommend excluding them from breeding programs.
When raising chicks, keep an eye on comb development. Roosters’ combs should be closely monitored as they mature, and any males with floppy combs should be excluded from breeding. Similarly, hens whose combs excessively cover one eye are considered nonstandard and should not be used in breeding programs. However, a gentle curve in the comb is accepted for hens.
Notes
We offer three distinct lines of Cream Legbar. Our Exhibition line closely follows the proposed breed standard, making them ideal for showing. The regular line is slightly darker and does not display ideal show-quality plumage. Our newest line, imported in 2023, more closely aligns with the standard but is not currently sold as Exhibition quality. All 3 lines are similar in egg production and color, though we’ve noticed that the regular Cream Legbar line tends to lay slightly larger eggs.
As of March 2024, our Exhibition Cream Legbar line has been genetically tested and confirmed to be homozygous for the blue egg gene. This guarantees that all offspring will also carry the gene, and therefore lay blue eggs. The testing was performed by IQ Bird Testing Lab in Miami, Florida. Please note that this guarantee does not apply to our standard Cream Legbar line. In 2023 we also conducted the same genetic testing for our 2023 Import Line Cream Legbar, allowing us to guarantee offspring will be homozygous for the blue egg gene.
Import Notes
Greenfire Farms was the first and only legal importer of Cream Legbars to the United States. In the fall of 2010, we imported two breeding groups, followed a year later by additional birds with complementary traits. These birds were robust layers of blue eggs, though their feather coloration included more gold and chestnut than the British standard calls for. We maintain this flock because some breeders prefer their brighter colors, and they provide valuable genetic diversity to the limited Legbar gene pool in America. Chicks from this flock are sold simply as Cream Legbars.
In 2012, we visited England to see Cream Legbar flocks maintained by award-winning breeders. Since then, we’ve imported these exhibition lines twice. These birds have less chestnut and gold coloration than our original flock and more closely align with the breed standard and are sold as Exhibition Cream Legbar.
In 2023, we successfully imported additional Cream Legbars from the U.K. and genetically tested the flock to identify birds homozygous for the blue egg gene, keeping only those for breeding. Since then, we’ve been expanding this line and now offer them separately as Cream Legbar (2023 Import Line).
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