Show Notes
Cream Legbars are one of the most sought-after chicken varieties among those of us who love coloured eggs. They’re also one of the more complicated chickens to breed well. That’s why I went straight to the source, to the Cream Legbar’s home country of the UK where they were originally created at Cambridge University. There I found experienced Cream Legbar breeder Ethan Rivers who's been breeding the variety longer than it's even existed in Australia. In this conversation we discuss the faults found in the variety, how to work with them and mistakes that can trip up beginner breeders. The cream gene is denoted by the abbreviation Ig — you’ll hear Ethan refer to it that way in this conversation. Another term you’ll hear is “gold, split for cream” which means a bird that is gold but carries one copy of the cream gene, hidden because it’s recessive. Is there a topic you’d like Chook to look into? A guest you’d love to hear from? Let us know by sending a note to [email protected] Loving the show? Ensure we continue by leaving a review on your podcast app.
More from Chook. The Podcast
For almost 40 years, Phil and Anne Westwood have run Freeranger Eggs in Grantville, 90 km south east of Melbourne.
Brendon Murphy presides over the Australian Facebook group dedicated to Cream Legbar breeding.
Belinda Burgess tried having a regular job. She tried retiring. Neither stuck. Despite 12 hour days, 7 days a week, she says running a commercial poultry farm is a good job, a passion. Therapy, even. She sells 30-40+ dozen eggs per week at the height of the season, and hatches hundreds of chicks per week. She sells year-round. Ask her how many breeds she keeps and she'll have to check. In this conversation, Belinda is beautifully candid. She shares what it’s really like selling hatching eggs as a business — the ups and downs and some of her major learnings along the way. Whether it’s leg banding baby chicks at midnight or packing eggs at dawn…this chat will give you a feel for what it takes to build a successful operation. Topics discussed include: