Breed Questions: Leghorn.

[Rye]

I think it's pure for rose birds that suffer fertility issues.

That seems to be the consensus. I have not noticed much decline personally.

 

[The Angry Hen]

Wow! I really missed a lot of helpful comments since I last was on. I have learned so much since I started this thread! (I started it yesterday and I'm plowed in with remarkable info!) I truly am learning a lot. Thank you everyone for your responses!
I'd mostly be looking for Leghorns for egg and dual. (Eye candy too but it ain't a need). I am glad to hear they are more "competitive" than aggressive. Many of the birds I have already are competitive... So that's not a bad thing on my case! From the info I gathered from each one of you... Leghorn's sound more fitting to my needs and more tame than my Sussex or Australorp's. From what I am reading, I find myself more interested in the breed than when I started the thread. Pretty much the only issue I have is since I'm a Mainer I'll probably need the rose combed ones. But I do have breeds with larger combs already... So ya never know! I might get away with the single combed depending on how they're housed.

Lucky, I’m currently in ca, and it never snows. I think I’m surrounded by idiots though, as I was dying from the heat today while everyone else was wearing a jacket.

In Maine when I'm freezing everyone else is in shorts. People are funny like that.

 

[Rye]

I personally wouldn't call Leghorn's "tame', but I do not handle my birds unless I need to. They are fine when I feed and water. They come for treats and scratch when I call. Older ones seem to calm a bit with age and experience, but are always weary.

Show strains seem to be a bit more calm than the production strains.

 

[OG Anomaly]

In June, I was adopted by a Leghorn who showed up in my yard and decided she was home. I have no idea how old she is or what her previous living conditions had been. She would only allow me to get within 3 feet of her and was terrified of dogs. Initially she would free range all day and roost in the Live Oaks at night. With the absence of the sickle and saddle feathers, I felt certain my squatter was a hen so I bought her a nesting box...she started laying daily shortly after. Within a couple of weeks, she was eating out of my hand, following me around the yard. She is very sociable....she even hangs out with my 110 pound dog-child. She relatively quiet with occasional soft clucking and purring noises. She now has her own coop with enclosed pen but still free ranges during the day. There is over 200 acres of woods behind my house and the area is loaded with daytime threats from ospreys, hawks, falcons and feral cats. The Leghorn is so aware of her surroundings and seems to be an air traffic controller with radar if a predator comes within a quarter mile of the property. I had tried to move her in the back fenced yard (6' fence). After 2 days she flew back to the front.....smart chickie....I discovered there was a 3 foot diameter nest in one of the tallest trees in the back. I set up her coop on the side of the house outside my bedroom window which also sheltered her from the heat of the afternoon sun and the prevalent winter winds.

Mrs "Tallulah" Winners (Leghorn) did go broody before I had finished building her coop. She refused to roost in the trees a night and stayed in her ground level nesting box. The area is loaded with night time predators (possum, raccoons, red fox, owls and black bears). To protect her, I would bring her and her nesting box inside at night. I did break her broodiest after I was able to move her to her coop by locking her out of the coop and only allowing access to the covered run area for several days.

She is atypical of the temperament I would have expected of the breed based on my research but that may be due to the prevalence of the breed being predominantly used by commercial egg producers with little to no human interaction. She is very attached to me. She will follow me into the house if I don't watch carefully. She allows me to pet her and pick her up....not her favorite thing but doesn't put up a fuss. The other day she was feeling "needy" and followed me to my car and wanted to get in. When I drove off, she followed the car down the driveway chasing after me "come back, come back". I had to turn around and lock her in the run! I'm sure she is lonely....she is an only feathered child but with a job transfer looming, we can't increase the flock until we know whether the new, undisclosed area allows backyard chickens.

What a great story! I'm so glad she found you!

 

[OG Anomaly]

I'm a complete newb at chicken owning, but we have 8 white Leghorns, and since you asked...
This will be our first winter, so I can't give any advice there, but I can share what ours have been like so far.
They were born last March and started laying in early summer. We get eggs everyday and at least two or three double yolkers a week. I am expecting them to slow down for the winter, but so far they haven't done so.
Ours are free range during the day but are locked up in their coop at night. They are much smarter than I thought they would be and learn very quickly. Thanks to some great advice from people on this site, I was able to quickly train them to come when I call and to go home to the coop on their own at night. So far, they haven't left our property. It's almost as though we had an invisible fence around the yard, they'll get close to the property line, but haven't crossed it.
As for friendliness/personality, they kind of remind me of cats, lol. Someone we know said it perfectly "Chickens want nothing & everything to do with you!" They don't like to be held, but will put up with it, especially if there's some scratching involved.
Even though they don't want to be held, they want to be as close as possible otherwise. Following us everywhere, including into the house! Now, they know they're not supposed to be in here and if I catch them inside I just have to look at them, point at the door, and say "Owwt" and they'll begrudgingly turn around and leave the way they came in. Looking over their shoulder the whole time to see if I'm still watching. I don't know what they want in here, because they don't even eat the cat food, they just walk around like they're on a tour or something, lol.
Also, whoever said they were fast, wasn't kidding, I had no idea! It's hilarious to watch them run! They can also fly pretty high & have gotten onto the roof of our 3 story house by way of the car & the deck. It scared the heck out of me the first time I saw it. I was in the bathroom and heard a racket outside the window, jumped up to see if maybe a branch had fallen and came face to face with a chicken staring at me! It's only one of them that will do this, the others just watch.
Concerning chicken on chicken aggression, we've only had two minor incidents with no serious injuries. They seem to get along pretty well and we haven't witnessed any real bullying between them. We don't have a rooster, just hens. The biggest problem we've had was a raccoon attack earlier in the year, other than that, they've been relatively easy to care for.
Getting chickens was not my idea, haha, but I've really warmed up to them and am glad we have them.
Good luck with whatever breed you choose and look forward to reading about your chicken adventures!