Anti White Leghorn Bias?

[ChicKat]

Obviously, I just read the whole thread of 18-pages, thus all the comments and questions from posts pages ago.

No one has stated that White Leghorns have disease resistance. If I can locate a quote I found about genetics long ago I will come back and post a link. The gist of the story is that WL flock was more resistant to Marek's than RIR flock in a university study. It was one of those midnight googles from some months past.

Thanks everyone here for your WL information. I have an Ideal 236 which is a hybrid from white leghorn. (she has some black feathers). At present she is my best layer.

I wish there was more information on California Grays and California Whites....they sound interesting. And the exchequer leghorns--- awesome. Thanks for someone's post that they are good layers.


Edited: Not the earlier article I referenced, but one that describes resistance to Marek's in White Leghorns:
http://ps.fass.org/content/80/8/1064.full.pdf

 

[humpbacks1962]

I don't like flighty chickens. My flock is a one family, backyard's, not commercial. So the personality does matter to me.
I prefer brown eggs.
I love colored, large birds

The resistance to Marek's does not really motivate me to try them since, for just pennies, I can shoot them a vaccine.

To each his own!!

 

[Duramaxgirl]

Well I succumbed to chicken math once again... and given permission by the DH I ordered 25 of these in pullets. I'm sure most will be the white as they are most common! To be delivered May 1st-3rd. I can hardly wait! Huge white eggs coming my way!!! I hope all goes well as I've never ordered from Meyer before.
here is a link...



https://www.meyerhatchery.com/produ...ickens&grd_prodone_filter=PRODUCT_ID = 'ALHS'

 

[ClareScifi]

Wow! I am super pleased to learn about the high disease resistance of WLs to Marek's! That is wonderful. Thanks for posting such an informative article.

I didn't know to vaccinate on Hatch Day 1, and I was too busy with other issues that day to have done so, anyway, so this is welcome news!

Also, I am so excited that my half white leghorn girls have come into their own, laying-wise, and their beautiful eggs are JUMBO sized, even bigger than my Barred Rock's! The one girl lays pinkish eggs, and the other girl's are a gorgeous white, perfect for Easter Egg dying and hunting. My little Silver-Laced Sebright lays a cream colored small egg. It is so fun to have the great variety. My Barred Rock's eggs are dark brown.

All 5 of my chickens have the nicest personalities, which is very important to me, as my chickens are my children, and they get along so well with my rooster, who also has a very tame nature. I don't think he has any leghorn in him.

 

[chickened]

I have one WL that is on her second laying cycle lays an egg almost every day a big white egg bigger than my JG egg. I keep her for her eggs and her personality. Reminds me of a dizzy blonde with lots of hair like Kelly Bundy.

 

[ClareScifi]

How fu, Chickened! Can you post a picture of her??? I'd love to see what she looks like, and her giant eggs, as well.

 

[chickened]

She doesn't look blond just acts that way, she is a character floppy comb and all. If she will hold still I will try and take her picture.

 

[Beekissed]

I find a bias to the leghorns here as well. Standard comments are that they are "too flighty" and that they aren't "cold hardy".

Three generations of women in my family have included some White Leghorn hens and roosters in their flocks, so I'm familiar with the breed. I don't find them any more flighty than any other breed. They do and can, naturally, move a little quicker than the heavy dual purpose standard breed birds....the same as my skinny son can outrun me.

As for cold hardy? I'm assuming this is stated because of their big combs but they are no more prone to frost bite than any rooster of any other breed that has a large comb. If your housing conditions are right, this shouldn't even be an issue, no matter what breed you have.

I like to have a mix of WL and RIR in with my 30+ flock of DP birds for the simple fact that I like the consistency of lay that the two lighter breeds have that is normally better than any other standard breed. They are extremely hardy and long lived, producing consistent numbers of eggs well into their senior years. They usually continue to lay in the winter when some of the other heavy DP have slowed down, so this keeps me in eggs during the winter.

As they age you will find them laying larger and larger eggs, often with double yolks. I've found this an indicator that these birds are starting to end their egg laying life and I usually take steps to cull them when laying starts to become inconsistent not long after the large and doubles appear.

They are a trusty, old breed that I have never had one ounce of trouble with and I have no complaints at all about the breed.

 

[ClareScifi]

I have fallen in love with my half White Leghorn girls.

I have seen a bias in that if you extol the virtues of white leghorns, the anti-type will say, "Oh, I'd like to have a brown leghorn so I can get stark white eggs," or such. They don't want white leghorns. It has to be a "fancy" colored leghorn. White leghorns are not good enough. :>)

I'd like to have all types of leghorns.

 

[ClareScifi]

My two half white leghorns turn 23 weeks old today and have been laying for a little over a month.

I also have a 2 year old Barred Rock hen and a 23 week old Silver-Laced Sebright Bantam hen. The Barred Rock and the Bantam have never once laid a soft-shelled egg.

However, both of the half white leghorn girls have laid quite a few of them. One is half Buff Orpington, I think, and the other is probably half Rhode Island Red.

Yesterday, an expert shared with me that my Barred Rock and Bantam can probably easily go on All Flock or Flock Raiser with supplemental calcium in a dish free-choice, but that leghorns tend to do best on the layer mash that has calcium in it, for optimal production. So I'm thinking white leghorns must need more calcium than other breeds of hens?

Have others seen a tendency for their white leghorn girls to lay soft shells a lot, or does this usually happen only when they are starting out laying as young pullets?

Thanks for your help.