Do Cream Legbars and Ameraucanas both lay blue eggs?

Yes. Both carry the dominant blue-egg (oocyan) gene, so both lay blue eggs that are blue through the full thickness of the shell. Cream Legbars can range toward blue-green, while the Ameraucana ideal is a clearer pastel blue; breeders of both select toward a cleaner, more uniform blue.

Which breed can I show at APA poultry shows?

The **Ameraucana** — it's APA-recognized in the All Other Standard Breeds class (since 1984) in nine large-fowl varieties. The **Cream Legbar** is a British breed that is not in the APA Standard, so in the US it's shown as an Ornamental/project breed against the Cream Legbar Club and Poultry Club of Great Britain standards, not an APA class.

What is autosexing, and does the Ameraucana have it?

Autosexing means day-old chicks show different down patterns by sex, and — unlike a one-off sex-link cross — the trait breeds true every generation. The **Cream Legbar** is autosexing; the **Ameraucana** is not, so you sex Ameraucana chicks by vent or by waiting for feathering.

What's the visible difference between the two breeds?

The Cream Legbar wears a **crest** on a single comb. The Ameraucana has **muffs and a beard** framing the face, plus a pea comb and slate-blue legs. They look quite different in the hand despite both laying blue eggs.

Which breed is better for making olive eggers?

Both are excellent. Each is a reliable blue-egg parent, so crossing either over a dark-brown layer such as a Marans gives olive-laying F1 pullets. The Cream Legbar is one of the most popular olive-egger sires specifically because it's a strong, dependable blue-egg layer, but a good Ameraucana works just as well.

Do both breeds breed true?

Yes, in their own ways. The Cream Legbar breeds true for its autosexing down pattern and, when cream lines are kept separate from gold, for cream color. The Ameraucana breeds true to color by variety when kept in single-variety pens — the trait that separates it from the mixed-breed Easter Egger.

Cream Legbar vs Ameraucana

Verified September 2026

The short version

Both breeds lay blue eggs and both are excellent olive-egger parents, but they solve different problems. The Cream Legbar is autosexing — you can read a chick's sex from its down the day it hatches, and that trait breeds true every generation — and it wears a crest, but it is a British breed that is not APA-recognized, so there is no APA class to show it in. The Ameraucana is an APA-recognized breed (All Other Standard Breeds, since 1984) with muffs, a beard, a pea comb, and slate legs, exhibited in 9 large-fowl varieties that breed true to color. Pick the Cream Legbar if you want blue eggs plus day-one sexing; pick the Ameraucana if you want blue eggs plus a bird you can enter at APA shows.

Attribute	Cream Legbar	Ameraucana
Egg color	Blue to blue-green (oocyan gene)	True pastel blue (oocyan gene)
APA recognition	No — British breed, not in the APA Standard	Yes — All Other Standard Breeds (1984)
Autosexing (sex chicks at hatch)	Yes — down pattern breeds true every generation	No — sex by vent or wait for feathering
Head/face type	Crest on a single comb	Muffs, beard, pea comb, slate legs
Breeds true	Yes (autosexing + cream color)	Yes (true to color by variety)
Recognized colors/varieties	Cream and Gold (crested)	9 large-fowl varieties (Black, Blue, Wheaten, etc.)
Availability in the US	Project/other-registry breed; buy from club-standard breeders	Established APA breed; widely available from breeders
Olive-egger use	Top blue-egg parent (× Marans → olive F1)	Reliable blue-egg parent (× dark-brown layer → olive F1)

The verdict

Choose the **Cream Legbar** if autosexing matters to you — sexing chicks by down at hatch saves weeks of feeding out unknown cockerels, and no other blue-egg breed offers it in a form that breeds true. It's the better pick for a working blue-egg or olive-egger flock where you don't plan to enter APA shows. Choose the **Ameraucana** if you want to exhibit: it's a recognized APA breed with a written standard, a defined class, and nine varieties, so you can build matched, showable pairs. Both lay blue eggs and both make excellent olive-egger sires, so if egg color is your only goal, buy whichever comes from the better local breeder.

The Cream Legbar's autosexing advantage

The headline reason to keep Cream Legbars is autosexing. Female chicks hatch with a dark, well-defined dorsal stripe and a clear 'chipmunk' pattern; males are paler and blurrier with a light spot on the head. Crucially, unlike a one-generation sex-link cross, this trait breeds true generation after generation — so every hatch lets you make cockerel/pullet decisions on day one instead of feeding out unknown birds for weeks.

The trade-off is show status. The Cream Legbar is a British breed standardised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain in 1958 and has never been admitted to the American Poultry Association's Standard of Perfection. In the US it functions as a project/other-registry breed exhibited as an Ornamental, and breeders work to the Cream Legbar Club and Poultry Club of Great Britain standards rather than an APA large-fowl standard. If you want a bird for the show hall, that's a real limitation.

The Ameraucana's show-breed status

The Ameraucana is the opposite bargain: no autosexing, but full APA recognition. It was recognized by the APA in 1984 and is exhibited in the All Other Standard Breeds class, entered by variety (for example 'Blue Ameraucana, large fowl'). It carries the breed's signature package — full muffs and a beard, a pea comb, and slate-blue legs — and comes in nine large-fowl varieties, all of which breed true to color when kept in single-variety pens.

Because it breeds true to type and color, an Ameraucana breeder can plan matched pairs and pens for the show table in a way a project breed can't match. You sex chicks the ordinary way — by vent or by waiting for feathering — but you gain a bird with a defined class, a written standard, and a recognized path through APA exhibition.

For blue eggs and olive eggers, both win

If your goal is simply a basket of blue eggs or an olive-egger project, the choice is closer to a tie. Both breeds carry the dominant blue-egg (oocyan) gene, which lays blue pigment through the full thickness of the shell rather than tinting the surface, and both are favorite olive-egger parents: cross either over a dark-brown layer such as a Marans and the F1 pullets lay olive. The Cream Legbar's egg can run more blue-green while the Ameraucana ideal is a clearer pastel blue, but both respond well to selecting your hatching eggs from your bluest layers. In that case, buy from whichever breeder near you selects hardest for egg color and type.

Frequently asked questions

Do Cream Legbars and Ameraucanas both lay blue eggs?: Yes. Both carry the dominant blue-egg (oocyan) gene, so both lay blue eggs that are blue through the full thickness of the shell. Cream Legbars can range toward blue-green, while the Ameraucana ideal is a clearer pastel blue; breeders of both select toward a cleaner, more uniform blue.
Which breed can I show at APA poultry shows?: The Ameraucana — it's APA-recognized in the All Other Standard Breeds class (since 1984) in nine large-fowl varieties. The Cream Legbar is a British breed that is not in the APA Standard, so in the US it's shown as an Ornamental/project breed against the Cream Legbar Club and Poultry Club of Great Britain standards, not an APA class.
What is autosexing, and does the Ameraucana have it?: Autosexing means day-old chicks show different down patterns by sex, and — unlike a one-off sex-link cross — the trait breeds true every generation. The Cream Legbar is autosexing; the Ameraucana is not, so you sex Ameraucana chicks by vent or by waiting for feathering.
What's the visible difference between the two breeds?: The Cream Legbar wears a crest on a single comb. The Ameraucana has muffs and a beard framing the face, plus a pea comb and slate-blue legs. They look quite different in the hand despite both laying blue eggs.
Which breed is better for making olive eggers?: Both are excellent. Each is a reliable blue-egg parent, so crossing either over a dark-brown layer such as a Marans gives olive-laying F1 pullets. The Cream Legbar is one of the most popular olive-egger sires specifically because it's a strong, dependable blue-egg layer, but a good Ameraucana works just as well.
Do both breeds breed true?: Yes, in their own ways. The Cream Legbar breeds true for its autosexing down pattern and, when cream lines are kept separate from gold, for cream color. The Ameraucana breeds true to color by variety when kept in single-variety pens — the trait that separates it from the mixed-breed Easter Egger.

Sources

Legbar Breed Overview (history, autosexing, blue egg, cream color) — Cream Legbar Club (Breed club)
Ameraucana Chickens (breed overview, varieties & history) — The Ameraucana Alliance (Ameraucana Breeders Club) (Breed club)
Autosexing: Cream Legbar (origin, egg color, crest, colours) — The Poultry Club of Great Britain (Official / government)