Pearl vs Ideal 236 vs California vs ISA vs Shaver vs Hisex vs Dekalb vs Bovans vs Babcock vs Hi-line

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sovietkennels

Chirping
7 Years
Jul 3, 2015
23
15
91
Charlotte NC
Hello, I'm interested in hearing from owners of white leghorns who have had some experience with different strains.

I understand these birds all have leghorn ancestry and some are hybrids, and I would like to know what they were mixed with and why.

I know every hatchery has their own stain to set them apart, but has anyone seen a true difference that would have you choose one over another?

Also would they not breed true like Cornish Xs, or are they not on that level vigor.

Last question I promise, do the production cocks at least look like their heritage leghorn cousins?

whiteleghorns_art_print.jpg


Pearl
Ideal 236
California white
ISA white
Shaver white
Hisex white
DeKalb white
Bovans white
Babcock white
Hi-line w-36/w-98/cv-24L/cv-22
 
I've personally owned three of the birds on your list (Pearl White Leghorn, California White, and Isa White). All of the birds on your list are commercial White Leghorn strains which will breed true (the offspring look like their WL parents) with the exception of the Ideal 236 and the California White; and they are all egg laying machines. California Whites are a hybrid produced by crossing California Gray roosters with White Leghorn hens. They are not quite as prolific a layer as the pure White Leghorn strains, but they have have a better temperament (less high strung and flighty). I've never had Ideal 236 but I do know that they are hybrids bred by crossing White Leghorn roosters with California Gray hens. They will not breed true and I would expect their lay rate to be about the same as that of the California Gray hens. Based on my personal experience with the commercial strains of White Leghorns that I've had, there is really no significant difference in the the lay rate of these White Leghorn strains (if there were the other strains would soon go out of business). :eek:) Any of them will normally exceed 300 large white eggs per hen per year. Hope this helps.
 
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Thank you Micheal, so if egg production was basically the same in the 3 strains you've owned, was there any physical or behavioral difference in them, and did you own any cocks off those strains?
 
sovietkennels said:
Thank you Micheal, so if egg production was basically the same in the 3 strains you've owned, was there any physical or behavioral difference in them, and did you own any cocks off those strains?
Click to expand...

You're welcome. I've had some cocks from both White Leghorn strains. I couldn't really see any physical or behavioral difference in either of the white Leghorn strains (roosters or hens). They both had a typical Leghorn temperament; high strung and flighty (they hated being handled). If you want a better temperament in a white egg layer go with the California Whites. :eek:)
 
In commercial breeding, they start with 8 pure lines of leghorns and then go down, so all commercial strains have 4 lines of leghorns in their pedigrees. So to answer the genetics quetions, no one can reproduce the stains of the commerical breeds, thus the birds bear the breeders names.
 
JPPoultry said:
In commercial breeding, they start with 8 pure lines of leghorns and then go down, so all commercial strains have 4 lines of leghorns in their pedigrees. So to answer the genetics quetions, no one can reproduce the stains of the commerical breeds, thus the birds bear the breeders names.
Click to expand...
You seem to know your chickens so want to ask "Which Leghorn Line was the best layer and temperament?" In your opinion.
Looking into Pearl White Leghorns
Read reviews how nice they are and XL egg a day even during Winter.
 
lilcougar4 said:
You seem to know your chickens so want to ask "Which Leghorn Line was the best layer and temperament?" In your opinion.
Looking into Pearl White Leghorns
Read reviews how nice they are and XL egg a day even during Winter.
Click to expand...
The poster has not posted since August 2021.

The prolific egg laying business is control by two large companies.

Hy-Line International(45% Globally and 75% in the USA) and Hendrix Genetics

In this case(white leghorn type birds), Hyline owns the Hyline White and for Hedrix Genetics, they own Isa White, Babcock White, Dekalb White, Bovans White, Hisex White, Shaver White

Hatcheries like Murray McMurray buy the acquire the parent stock and rights from any of those companies and they give them their own Catchy name like Pearl White Leghorns.

They are not like CornishX hybrids these brids(Pearl White Leghorns and production type leghorns) are pure strain of leghorns that have been separated in two a few strains that when combined boost desired traits(desired by their producers) like hatchability and fertility(every hatch egg is $) but both parents(A,B,C,D) are capable of producing more than 300 eggs at 72 weeks of age
 
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sovietkennels said:
Hello, I'm interested in hearing from owners of white leghorns who have had some experience with different strains.

I understand these birds all have leghorn ancestry and some are hybrids, and I would like to know what they were mixed with and why.

I know every hatchery has their own stain to set them apart, but has anyone seen a true difference that would have you choose one over another?

Also would they not breed true like Cornish Xs, or are they not on that level vigor.

Last question I promise, do the production cocks at least look like their heritage leghorn cousins?

whiteleghorns_art_print.jpg


Pearl
Ideal 236
California white
ISA white
Shaver white
Hisex white
DeKalb white
Bovans white
Babcock white
Hi-line w-36/w-98/cv-24L/cv-22
Click to expand...
So did you get any of the High Production Leghorn strains you listed?
I'm still looking into the Pearl or Novogen Whites.
 

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