Are brown leghorns non-industrial?

[Kenya Mwangi]

If you find any good ones in Texas, let us now.

Hello I found Ruth Carron in Martindale Texas. They sell Leghorn chickens at (512-210-0265) I am not sure if they are good ones I have not seen them yet.

 

[McChooky]

I'm sorry for my unclear questions. My friend says to ask this.

Where can I find these chickens that this website is talking about. https://livestockconservancy.org/heritage-breeds/heritage-breeds-list/leghorn-chicken/

It is the "Leghorn - Non Industrial Chicken"

I would like to have these chickens.

Its my understanding the white leghorn is an industrial breed chosen for the number of eggs.They have a bad reputation for not living long now and having health issues esp if purchased from a hatchery.I bought 9 brown leghorns instead because I want healthy birds

 

[ChickenCanoe]

A white leghorn is a breed of chicken, not an industrial anything. The fact that they were the most productive breed is why they were chosen to genetically select to be even more productive. It just made sense to start with a breed that already laid over 300 eggs a year than a breed that laid 200.
ETA
To clarify, the Leghorn is the breed. White is just the variety.
As with all breeds that come in multiple varieties, even though variety is primarily about feather color, there are other characteristics that can vary from variety to variety within a breed. Among those is size, egg production and egg color intensity.
For instance, Marans. Some varieties lay much darker eggs than others.
With Minorcas, the Black is larger than the White.
In Penedesencas, all varieties are egg type except the black which is a dual purpose bird being significantly larger. While they all lay about as prolifically as each other and lay similar color eggs.

 

[Kenya Mwangi]

Its my understanding the white leghorn is an industrial breed chosen for the number of eggs.They have a bad reputation for not living long now and having health issues esp if purchased from a hatchery.I bought 9 brown leghorns instead because I want healthy birds

Have the brown leghorns proved to have been more healthy so far?

 

[Amer]

Have the brown leghorns proved to have been more healthy so far?

Brown Leghorns are not more healthy than white Leghorns, they have more longevity than the egg laying hybrids they use in the industry. (I use hybrid in the sense that they do not breed true rather than that they have more than one breed in their ancestry, this is simply what the industry calls them.) These birds may be directly derived from Leghorns but are not the same breed as heritage white Leghorns.
Just as New Hampshires are directly derived from Rhode Island Reds, but aren’t the same breed.
I used to call these birds “white Leghorns” as well, but my friends who work for the industry corrected me. Let me show you:
https://www.hyline.com/varieties
These are the varieties Hyline offers. None are called white Leghorns, but their ancestry is from Leghorns.
Hendrix:
https://layinghens.hendrix-genetics.com/en/our-brands/
In conclusion, while the layman may call commercial layers “white Leghorns” this does not mean white Leghorns are any less healthy than brown Leghorns.

 

[saysfaa]

On the livestockconservancy.org webpage it lists the "Leghorn-Non Industrial Chicken" with a status of "Recovering". Are the dark brown and light brown leghorns that are often talked about and pictured on this site those same chickens, the Non Industrial leghorn chicken?

Mostly, yes. The "mostly" because there is some drift from the characteristics of the breed as they were 50 or 100 years or more ago due to selection by show breeders and by hatchery breeders - although in different directions.

If it is the same chickens the livestockconservancy.org lists them as heritage chickens. Being a heritage chicken, does it mean the light brown and dark brown leghorns are not "production" and can lay eggs more years than the typcial production leghorn?

Mostly, yes. For the same reasons as above.

Is the white leghorn a production chicken and not heritage chicken?

Mostly, yes - more mostly than the above "mostly"s. Also for the same reasons but more so - more intense selection for the production characteristics in the vast majority of the white leghorns. I don't know it there are any white leghorns now that have production characteristics similar to the typical white leghorns of more than 60 to 100 years ago.

How many years do brown leghorns lay many eggs without a sudden decline?

I've had mine for three years. She is laying more consistently this year than she did her first or second years - started earlier after her winter break, laying without skipping days like she did earlier years. She shows no signs of any problems, reproductive or otherwise. A VERY small sample (massive understatement).

She is still lays noticeably fewer eggs per year than my australorps and significantly fewer than I would expect a white leghorn from a hatchery to lay per year.

I also wanted to know what to expect but the reality is there isn't a solid answer. It has always been that longevity has almost never been a very important consideration for hens so there is little consistency on it in heritage breeds/varieties/strains or in production breeds. The reasons were somewhat different - instead of inclemently more production per the first two years being more important (as in breeding for production) it may have been predator pressure or harvesting most of the flock to have fewer to feed theough the winter or other reasons in olden times. There were, of course, a few favorite hens who were kept as long as they could live but it was nothing systematic long enough to have much impact.

The answer the me-of-today would give me-of-before-chickens would be: expect two years (of seasonal laying not age) with a high degree of confidence; expect three years with a moderate degree of confidence; expect four or five years as a distinct possibility but no higher degree of confidence. Expect five or more as an outside chance. All assuming very good care. This based partly on a little experience and mostly on extensive reading on the subject.

Thank you for these 4 questions!

You are welcome

 

[saysfaa]

Have the brown leghorns proved to have been more healthy so far?

I would say yes. But based on theory, logic, and extrapolation rather than direct data.

The more any characteristic is pushed to the extremes of the genetically possible, the less margin there is for less than ideal environment. Environment including nutrition, parasite load or management, temperature, steady availability of water, stress from crowding (or loneliness), stress from anything too much or too little or just how something is balanced with other things.