The Legbar was created at Cambridge in the 1930s by geneticists Reginald Punnett and Michael Pease as an autosexing breed — chicks can be told apart by down pattern on hatch day, no vent-sexing required. The Cream Legbar variety adds a jaunty head crest and, thanks to Araucana ancestry, lays lovely pastel-blue eggs in good numbers. They're active, alert foragers with a friendly streak, rarely broody, and hardy in most climates. A strong choice for a blue-egg layer that doubles as a practical, productive bird.
Beginner friendly
Good with kids
Cold hardy
Heat tolerant
Egg colorBlue
Egg production200–280 / year
TemperamentDocile
BroodinessRare
ClimateCold hardy, Heat tolerant
PurposeEggs
Weight
Hen5 lb
Rooster6 lb
How to spot it
CombSingle
Single comb, upright in roosters, often flopping in hens
Earlobes
White or cream
Legs & feet
Yellow legs, four toes
Plumage
Cream Legbar is cream and grey barred; hens carry a salmon breast, and both sexes a modest head crest
Look for
A small backward-tipping crest on a barred cream-grey bird — and day-old chicks already sexable by their down
Ancestry
How this breed was developed. Historical records, not crosses to make today.
Single
Olive Egger
