Leghorn

I was going to start with 6 leghorns and 6 Rhode Island Reds but the store was out of the Reds.  I was going to add them later, but now I'm waiting till next year for the Reds.  My leghorns are very friendly, will let me pet them, but don't like to be picked up.  Since there is a fox in the area, I prefer a chicken that can fly on top of the coop for protection.  What's funny is every now and then, one flies out by flying off the perch.  Once out, they seem to want to get right back in, but cannot fly over the fence without the help of a perch.

good layers

Friendly, take care of themselves fairly well, egg laying machine.  What more could one want in an animal kept for eggs and/or enjoyment?  I love my 2 white leghorns as they are currently 2.25 years old, outlaying everything in the flock during the winter months (or summer), and since they were our first hatched chickens we spent lots of time with them making them very tame.  Currently they're laying Jumbo sized 2.5-3.5 oz. eggs.  Yes you read that correctly my little 4 lb chickens are laying 3+ oz. eggs on a routine basis.  

I bought three Ideal 236 / California White Leghorns from Ideal Poultry August 2010.  I found my first egg when they were 23 weeks old! They are a bit nervous, but easy to keep and handle once you get a hold of them.  They are good flyers and can get out of my 6' fence, so wings MUST be clipped if you do not have a top to your run/pen. They seem pretty smart.  We'll see how egg production goes now that they have started laying.