Anti White Leghorn Bias?

[The Yakima Kid]

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.

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

Different breeds appear to have differing levels of resistance to different diseases and parasites.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

Good historic insight. Added to that pre-WWII, white eggs brought a premium to the egg seller. Hence my dh's grandmother sent two daughters to college on her egg money from white Leghorns. Times change, now brown eggs often bring a premium. :O)

Regional differences - in New England people preferred brown eggs because they were sure they were local eggs, as opposed to eggs shipped in from the Midwest and possibly held in cold storage for weeks on end.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

Hi Cowgirl,
does BPR +Leghorn to get California Gray break the rule of brown gene + white gene will produce brown eggs?

The California Gray is not a hybrid; it is a non-APA breed developed by Professor Dryden.

The approach involved very careful selection of the offspring of the original crosses, mating the offspring, and maybe even back crosses.

The white egg laying, yellow skinned dual purpose was the Holy Grail of early 20th Century poultry scientists. Which is why the Lamona, California Gray, and Holland originated at that time.

 

[N Texas Ladies]

I think that because the white leghorn can be flighty but mine is very friendly but some what assertive and if you want meat they don't provide much if any but I love them nonetheless

 

[The Yakima Kid]

ChickKat -

The California White is a hybrid created by using a California Gray rooster on a White Leghorn hen. The cross adds greater cold weather tolerance and a slightly calmer bred.

The California Gray is not a hybrid; it was created using judicious crosses and back crosses of Barred Rocks, White Leghorns, and their hybrid offspring until the combination of white eggs, dual purpose size, and cuckoo coloring was set. They are a non-APA recognized true breed, like the Iowa Blue, although the Iowa Blue is a landrace.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

I think that because the white leghorn can be flighty but mine is very friendly but some what assertive and if you want meat they don't provide much if any but I love them nonetheless

Cannibalism is a bigger objection for a lot of people, along with cold intolerance.

 

[picklesbuddy]

The white leghorn is a pretty good layer...before this one dog attack we had 30 white leghorns and they layed a load of eggs

 

[gootziecat]

I have one Calif. wh that was a left over from a hatchery order. There were a total of 5 Calif whs with the order of other breeds. Without a doubt, these shine. They grew the fastest, feathered up the quickest, were the smartest, didn't get poopy butts, and were friendly. My "leftover" Calif wh is also a great layer of large eggs, laying the first of her age group, and size increased rapidly. The others were buff Orps and EEs. Even comparing them to other breeds of chicks I've raised, these were still some of the best, if not the best. I've never had a pure Leghorn as the skittishness and aggression with age, so often reported, has kept me from doing so. But I am impressed with my Calif wh. She is now 6 mo old.

 

[lynordb]

I was wondering whether any of you think there is a bias against White Leghorn chickens, and if so, why it exists?


Are they seen as too plain, too commercial, too boring, or anything like that?  It seems like when I view pictures of peoples' flocks, I rarely see White Leghorns, and I'm wondering why that might be?


Thanks for your help,


Clare

I think that the White Leg Horns are what is used in chicken farms, because that they lay a lot of white eggs, and even manipulated by lights, shots, GMO basically to get more than one egg a day from them, and that's probably what Wal-Mart and other stores sell their medium and large white eggs from. I have my 9 White Leg Horn hens and just love them.I just about get one egg a day from them,I finally got me 4 Roosters and trying them out one at the time, for my incubator to see what the best hen I can produce, and yes one of them is a White Leg Horn rooster, one is a Hubbard isa brown, one is a buff Orpington, and one is a Dominique rooster. If any one can tell me which rooster will be best for hatching, please let me know? Thanks and YHVH bless you

 

[ChickChuck22]

Perhaps white leghorns have become unpopular because people prefer brown eggs, and possibly white eggs and hens conger up the thought of caged hens. Even so I want one!