Best white egg layer for backyard flock?

[Cyprus]

Thank you! Are Your's white leghorns?

Yes, they are white leghorns.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

People say White Leghorns are super flighty and need a ton of room. Mine is very friendly and does great in the run or free ranging. I actually have trouble getting back inside when she’s loose lol she follows me like a dog into the garage lol

Let's just say that there are some groups out there that do not want anyone to keep any type or color of chicken in any type of confinement system regardless if it is your own back yard or in a layer cage. If white leghorns did not stand confinement well then I ask why are white leghorns kept in layer cages? These groups are not shy about propagating untruths about chickens or other animals to further their agenda.

There are no chickens that produce as many eggs on as little feed as White Leghorns. Though other strains of layer chickens come close. As a scientific experiment back in the 1950s we kept a daily track of one house full of cage layers. One of these hens laid 365 eggs in only one full year and she was still laying every day when she went back to the hatchery. Leghorns are FLIGHTY because they are survivors and in a world where every varmint and it's brother eats chicken would you rather have a distrustful hen running around or a trusting hen with a big neon "EAT ME" sign painted on her back?

To better understand Leghorn chickens check out "Mediterranean chickens" or "Mediterranean types or breeds of chickens."

 

[chickengeorgeto]

To better understand the non-benefits that a mixed flock of chickens represents, the next time that you take a road trip notice the herds of cows grazing along the sides of the highway. How many times are there one or two Brahma cows, a couple of Jersey cows, three or four Charolais cows, a brown Swiss or two, a few Angus cattle, and some White Face or Hereford cows all grazing together in the same pasture? Never you say? Well back when farming for an existence instead of for a living was what many people did, a Dukes Mixture of different types or breeds of cows would have been common. However since today the average farm girl or boy has at least graduated high school now cow herds have ceased to be a millage of different types and breeds while to be sure cross breed cows are quite popular in the beef industry as a way to achieve the best of two worlds, like fast gain, ease of calving, good foraging abilities, etc. etc.

In fact it is against the law in the UK to bring any other cattle breeds to the Isle of Jersey because the locals are afraid that their name sake cows' DNA will become infected with non-Jersey genes.

 

[Gdove419]

I have 3 California whites and they are pretty tame and friendly. They seem to tolerate confinement ok, since we got chicks in September and didn't have the coop completely fenced and ready to put them outside. Then the winter was pretty cold with them being small, so they spent many days inside the coop, but it is a pretty good-sized coop. They are not very noisy. One does sing her "chicken song" when she lays an egg every day, which is actually cute and entertaining. They also have 2 younger chickens in the coop with them and don't seem to bother them. They also can lay up to 300 eggs per year! Two lay white eggs and one lays a cream color egg. So far I'm having a lot of fun with these birds!

 

[missanthrope]

I have a 1-year-old California gray in my flock. She was a little flighty when she was younger, but since she started laying she has been the best-tempered chicken you could hope for. She's a very good layer, too, and hasn't had any flock-relations issues.

 

[2theranch]

Blue Andalusians are beautiful too and lay white eggs. I’m a sucker for blue birds though.

 

[2theranch]

We had a blue andie, she was a beautiful friendly bird but a terrible layer. She was a bit noisy but that does not bother us. Unfortunately she only laid a handful of eggs in all the years we had her.

 

[EggyErin]

I have an Austrawhite, an Exchequer and a brown Leghorn. The two Leghorns are flighty little nutbags. My Austrawhite is quite vocal but hardy as can be (she survived a bobcat attack), curious, and lays an egg just about every day even during the winter. She's only two though. She squats for me and is pretty friendly. She won't stay in the chicken yard all day though. All my others are new so I was hoping they would adjust to yard life. The Exchequer likes to fly out of the yard, doesn't squat or let me near her. She lays few and tiny eggs so far though she isn't long into laying. My brown Leghorn has only just begun to settle down. She would bounce off the walls of the coop trying to stay away from me even if I wasn't trying to do anything! She doesn't lay much, though she, too, has only been laying about six or seven weeks. I have a feeling neither Leghorn is going to be a prodigious layer. Maybe that will change. I don't think I'll get any more of those. What about a Dorking? Don't they lay white eggs?

 

[2theranch]

My grandmother loved her white leg horns and RIRs. Farm is for sale so we are not adding any more animals right now. Current flock lays brown or green. When we get relocated will be adding white and tinted layers. We also do not recommend any of the sex links, too many problems with them.