White Leghorn thread!!

[WhiteLeghorn2]

Hi everyone. I am a huge fan of the beautiful White Leghorns. I do not own any, but I love their abnormally large combs and their beautiful snow-white feathers. I've heard a 50/50 ratio of good and bad reviews for them. Some people say they're sweet, great layers, and are not loud. Others say they're flighty, mean, unsocial, and loud. This thread is for you to share photos of your white leghorns and give some facts about their personalities! Go!

bufforpingtonlover22

 

[Bellatrixed]

My experience has been that it depends largely upon how they are raised. My leghorns were handled a lot as babies because I wanted a very calm flock. It worked in that they grew up to be very "pushy" chickens--they were always following me around and seemingly fearless. However, their energy level never went down. They sprinted everywhere all the time and were, for lack of a better word, stressful. I like calm, lazy chickens! I got rid of the last of them a few months ago because they were way too high strung for my tastes.

You can't really beat them for beautiful, huge white eggs and production though, so if you don't mind flighty/energetic chickens, you'll probably love them. One of mine was 'tame' enough that I could pet her since she was always underfoot, but it didn't stop her from sprinting around all the time. They're just very active little buggers.

 

[WhiteLeghorn2]

My experience has been that it depends largely upon how they are raised. My leghorns were handled a lot as babies because I wanted a very calm flock. It worked in that they grew up to be very "pushy" chickens--they were always following me around and seemingly fearless. However, their energy level never went down. They sprinted everywhere all the time and were, for lack of a better word, stressful. I like calm, lazy chickens! I got rid of the last of them a few months ago because they were way too high strung for my tastes.

You can't really beat them for beautiful, huge white eggs and production though, so if you don't mind flighty/energetic chickens, you'll probably love them. One of mine was 'tame' enough that I could pet her since she was always underfoot, but it didn't stop her from sprinting around all the time. They're just very active little buggers.

Thanks for the info. And I don't mind flighty birds too much as long as I can get them into the coop

. Hopefully some time in the future I'll try to get at least one White Leghorn hen, so I can get some white eggs! All of our current hens are brown egg-layers. (Our Easter Egger died from an unknown disease. Sadly, we never got one of her green eggs that we were looking forward to seeing!) Thanks.

 

[graciel57]

I like Leghorns a lot, and like you I'm not into chickens for the meat, just the eggs (YUM!) I've had "The Pearl" Leghorns from McMurray and while they aren't a show bird, they are good steady layers of big white eggs. The roosters have the big comb and are very stately looking. I have had Brown Leghorns as well, and next to the Browns the Pearls are a little more laid back. My Browns came from show stock and were right on the edge of being too wild for me, and they weren't the layers that the Pearls are. I'm down to one old hen in the Browns now, and she lives a great life outdoors with a pack of other misfits. They are my lawn ornaments.

Within chickens individual strains can vary a lot. Leghorns tend to be more active than the brown egg laying utility type birds, but they have a large range between just being active and being off the wall crazy. Most just fall into the average activity side of things,though,I think.

 

[cluckcluckluke]

I'm up for this.
I was just about to make my own WLH thread because.....there is hardly anything on BYC for them

. But then I found this and all is good hahah.

I have just sold most of my existing 30 chicken flock and have decided to go into breeding WLH's.
I currently have THE best WLH rooster hahah and 2 hens. From this trio I plan on breeding the biggest and most prolific layers

.

Here is my rooster.










and his two hens

 

[WhiteLeghorn2]

I'm up for this.
I was just about to make my own WLH thread because.....there is hardly anything on BYC for them

. But then I found this and all is good hahah.

I have just sold most of my existing 30 chicken flock and have decided to go into breeding WLH's.
I currently have THE best WLH rooster hahah and 2 hens. From this trio I plan on breeding the biggest and most prolific layers

.

Here is my rooster.





and his two hens

Awwww! They're so cute! Thanks for sharing. What's your experience with their personalities? Would you mind if I used one of your leghorn photos as my profile picture? Wonderful pictures, and can't wait to hear your stories about them!

 

[laura261]

I have 3 WLHs that I got from Tractor Supply back in March. I love them! My sweetest hen, Rita, is a WLH and loves to be held and petted! Granted I handled them as chicks quite a bit, but my ISA browns are not nearly as nice as the WLHs. Maybe I was just lucky and got a particularly nice strain. None of my chickens have been flighty, I have a 4 ft fence around my backyard and the girls have yet to escape (even when a red-tail hawk paid a visit!). Of course, you can take my experiences with a grain of salt- these are my first backyard chickens and I haven't interacted with other breeds that are known to be sweet and calm. And, this is officially my first post on BYC!

 

[cluckcluckluke]

Quote:
Thanks!
Well my rooster who I raised from a chick ( only one to hatch from 12 ) is the most friendly gentle rooster. He loves people.
My 2 WLH hens who came POl from a big farm are not to fond of people but are not loud and not flighty.
No, by all means you may use what ever one you want, but could you please put a caption on it saying its my picture

thanks.

 

[WhiteLeghorn2]

Thanks!
Well my rooster who I raised from a chick ( only one to hatch from 12 ) is the most friendly gentle rooster. He loves people.
My 2 WLH hens who came POl from a big farm are not to fond of people but are not loud and not flighty.
No, by all means you may use what ever one you want, but could you please put a caption on it saying its my picture

thanks.

Yep, they sound like a great breed. BTW I put a caption on your photo and am now using it as my profile photo.

 

[livestock10]

I have 2 White Leghorn roosters and several other breeds of hens. I want to know which breeds will be best to cross with the leghorn roo? and keep egg production high!