Aggressive White LegHorns

[The Yakima Kid]

Alight they now free range on my 13 acre property. As expected the pecking has disappeared. Of one pecks another it hops away and the attacker becomes distracted. So this is great no more attacks and no more bloody eggs from vent pecking.

However, what am i going to do in the winter months can they still free range when its 10-20 degrees F out?

No, Leghorns are not particularly cold tolerant. Try hanging toys in the coop. Shiny pie pans, chicken swings, etc.

 

[Livndeadgurl27]

Alight they now free range on my 13 acre property. As expected the pecking has disappeared. Of one pecks another it hops away and the attacker becomes distracted. So this is great no more attacks and no more bloody eggs from vent pecking.

However, what am i going to do in the winter months can they still free range when its 10-20 degrees F out?

It's hard to believe but yes. I currently have and have had White Leghorns for a few years. I live in Northern Pennsylvania so our winters can get a bit cold. White Leghorns are a breed that is meant for colder climates. Their core temperature is actually slightly higher. If you ever get to cold, hold onto one. My rooster is like a lighter heater himself. We just made sure that they had a constant way into the coop that was weather guarded and they had heated water bowls. One thing that also helps is if you feed them a corn based type of food either mixed in with their normal feed or once a day. We used scratch grain sind it was easier for hens and roosters. The corn actually helps naturally with their core temperature, too, helping them to stay warm. Biggest thing is frostbite on the comb or wobble.... Looks kinda like bruising. It's very painful for them. My Leghorns are friendly so I just made a point to hold them once a day and breathed on their comb. Face to comb or reverse is a sign of affection... Like a chicken's way of hugging you.

 

[FrostRanger]

This person hasn't been seen for 9-10 years. I'm sure they got things sorted with their leghorns

 

[Happy hen lover]

It's hard to believe but yes. I currently have and have had White Leghorns for a few years. I live in Northern Pennsylvania so our winters can get a bit cold. White Leghorns are a breed that is meant for colder climates. Their core temperature is actually slightly higher. If you ever get to cold, hold onto one. My rooster is like a lighter heater himself. We just made sure that they had a constant way into the coop that was weather guarded and they had heated water bowls. One thing that also helps is if you feed them a corn based type of food either mixed in with their normal feed or once a day. We used scratch grain sind it was easier for hens and roosters. The corn actually helps naturally with their core temperature, too, helping them to stay warm. Biggest thing is frostbite on the comb or wobble.... Looks kinda like bruising. It's very painful for them. My Leghorns are friendly so I just made a point to hold them once a day and breathed on their comb. Face to comb or reverse is a sign of affection... Like a chicken's way of hugging you.

I love my one leghorn, she is the friendliest of my whole flock of hens. Cinnamon queens,EE. &smoky pearls.
I do get the comb to cheek hug every time I hold her! So I guess it's a crap shoot
MY EE's are the flightiest birds I have, and I read her how friendly they are. ?

 

[FrostRanger]

I love my one leghorn, she is the friendliest of my whole flock of hens. Cinnamon queens,EE. &smoky pearls.
I do get the comb to cheek hug every time I hold her! So I guess it's a crap shoot
MY EE's are the flightiest birds I have, and I read her how friendly they are. ?

Might depend on where you get them, no leghorns, but my easter eggers are very friendly and always want to see what i'm doing

 

[McChooky]

I got 9 brown leghorns pullets,2 easter eggers and 2 welsummers a year ago but only have 4 leghorns after a predator got 1 and giving 4 away. Even the welsummers that were raised with them avoid them.One or both usually roost with my australorps.Once these are gone I will get no more

 

[Mrs. K]

Mine are out at -20F. I let the choose. I do have wind protection set up in various places in my run.

 

[Mrs. K]

Do not keep a bird you don’t like for any reason, reasonable or not that bird is not working for you. A person that likes eggs will be happy to get her.

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

Before the idealists arrive, I will suggest that you want to really think about it. Leghorns tend to be human avoidant, to paraphrase Robert Plamondon, they're easier to have on range because they have room to panic, in a house, they bounced off the walls when he had to come in. I had them in high school more than forty years ago. Most have been bred intensely for production and temperament has been neglected. Long before intensive breeding they were known as high strung and nervous; this is part of the reason that farmers sought dual purpose white egg layers, to the extent that the Lamona, California Gray (originally the "Oregons" at OAC, which were white), the California White hybrid, and the Holland were developed by agricultural scientists at the Department of Agriculture and through state agricultural programs.

Feeding mealworms by hand while they are in a brooder can add to fighting and aggression. To hand tame a chick, take it out of the pen and hand feed it out of sight of the others. Do this with every chick in your small brooder batch. This eliminates most competition in the brooder over treats, and restricts any aggression to competitions over who gets to be picked up first - which is why I try and pick them up in random order.

If you hand feed in the brooder, the chicks have one eye the hand with the food, and the other on the other chicks. They want you to give it to them right *NOW* before someone else comes up and takes it - and they aren't share about telling you so - and they may well fight over who gets the treat. This encourages chicken violence - and makes the lower ranking chickens human avoidant, even if it isn't in their nature, because the human hand becomes associated with being attacked by another chick.

One year olds are a bit young to have much interaction with chickens unless parents are tightly supervising to teach the child how not to frighten or hurt the chicken and vice versa. I would skip the white Leghorn with small children. I'd probably go for Buff Orpingtons, Cochins, and Brahmas - maybe even bantams. Barred Rocks, Speckled Sussex, some Delaware strains, and some Wyandottes are also friendly birds. So are many Australorps. If you want cuddle in the lap chickens, the first three breeds and maybe the Sussex are the way to go. If you want positive, active interactions and a bit less cuddliness, the Australorp, Wyandotte, Delaware, and Barred Rock are the way to go. As a kid, I fell in love with chickens because of Barred Rocks - they would actively engage with me, talk to me, and follow me around being curious and hoping I might turn up a treat for them. They would sit in my lap on their own - but they weren't interested in being picked up - but they'd come surround me when I sat down, and eventually one would jump up to have a "talk." A friend fell in love with chickens because of a large Cochin that was almost like a doll for her - it would let her pick it up and carry it around, a task she found really hard as a small child because the hen was a big hen and my friend was a little girl. She used to even dress it in costumes, something that wouldn't have gone over in my family. B^0

I feel like your first point is also true of Rhode Island Red. I had a few reds, and they displayed the same behavior as op’s birds.

This is of course different depending on the individual. My current RIR hens are much milder than the first flock, and the only full grown Leghorn I know is more sassy than anything. She breaks eggs. Doesn’t usually eat the eggs, she just passive aggressive throws them on the ground from a raised nest box.

 

[McChooky]

Do not keep a bird you don’t like for any reason, reasonable or not that bird is not working for you. A person that likes eggs will be happy to get her.

I'll ask the guy I gave the others to if he wants these too. Maybe he'll give me 2 rr who knows?Thanks!