California Whites, anyone know anything about them?

[MoonGoddess]

Hi there guys,

Well like everyone else, I got chicken fever and while picking up feed this weekend I got 4 California Whites about the same age as my other babies. I know they are a cross between Leghorns and Grays, but I was wondering if anyone had any experience with them.

Funny enough they are more docile and friendly then my Reds and my Barred Rocks...I mean MUCH more. That threw me, so that's why I'm asking if anyone knows their temperment first hand. They seem very sweet and I wasn't expecting that. Honestly I was prepared for panicky, flighty birds. They aren't like that at all. Does that change when they get older?

Also, does anyone know if they lay as productively as Leghorns?

 

[Orpingtonlover]

they are hardy, mature quickly, and lay enormous numbers of white eggs, but they are panicky. This makes them annoying to work with, as you end up doing everything in slow motion to avoid panicking the flock. This is less of a nuisance on free range, where they have room to run around squawking. In confinement you will literally have them bouncing off the walls. they usually lay around 8 eggs a week most likely this many After 9 months before that expect somewhere around 5

 

[MoonGoddess]

Hmmm, I guess that means that they're going to "grow into" the panicky-ness. Oh well, I had a feeling it was just because they're babies that they were being so tame.

But hey...I'll never run out of eggs. Geez 8???? Holy moly!

Thank you, Orpingtonlover.

 

[MoonGoddess]

Oh lordie,
I just did the math here. Counting the egg capacity of all my hens, that puts me somewhere in the vicinity of 75 eggs a week.

I was sorta going for 4 dozen a week.

Ummm...whoopsies. Looks like I'm selling eggs. LOL.

 

[silkiechicken]

I've raised a few of thoes california whites and leghorns. They are both really flighty once they are a few weeks old no matter how much you handle them and give them treats. Laing though, that is what they are good at. At the moment I only have one white leghorn and I get one egg a day from her, maybe skipping an egg every 2 weeks or so. She's the only white egger left from my bunch. Brown eggs sell better.

 

[MoonGoddess]

Brown eggs sell better.

Isn't that funny... I wouldn't have guessed that, silkiechicken.​

 

[ChickenGeorge]

I have 25 two week old leghorns. 20 white 5 brown. They get "wilder" by the day, you go in now and they go everywhere, into the sides, hop, jump, fly, I am ready to get them into the barn.

 

[MoonGoddess]

Eek, well then....I'm wondering if I should put them in a seperate coop?

 

[equine chick]

I saw some at my feed store this weekend in a separate brooder. They were scattering all over the pen. They were about 3 weeks old, that explains a lot. How old are yours moon goddess?
Chicken george, are there any difference between your white and brown leghorns? I ordered four of the browns to come in 3 weeks with my 25 coming from meyers. I heard they were calmer.

 

[Varisha]

I have a few california whites they are about 6 weeks old now. One of them seems to be very tame, I hope she stays that way. She is the one we named Chibi and seems to like just sitting on my lap while I play computer games.