commet or leghorn?

[kylen2007]

i am looking into expanding flock. I have a high demand for eggs and I have extra eggs each week but not nearly what I am asked for by friends and family. I am
Looking for a great layer. I have GJ, EE, and ISA Browns. The ISAs are amazing but I like the variations of colors in my flock. Which of the two would you recommend? I want high productivity and large eggs. I plan on getting another 12-18 layers.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

If you want egg diversity then get both. Comet is brown egg and Leghorn white egg. They both lay the same #. Your looking at same production and size of egg as ISA Brown. Any of the produciton layers are a good choice- Production Red, Red Sex-link, etc. Both Comet and Leghorn are smaller birds so feed costs will be same. So the choice is if you want white eggs or brown eggs.

I should add that what your buyers wants will vary by location. Like here in the North East white eggs are shunned. They don't have a fresh back yard feel to folks as that was the extra large cheap store egg back in the day. In my location brown eggs outsell white eggs in stores. It's that much of an irrational thought of poor quality associated with white.

 

[kylen2007]

Right now I get light brown from JG, blue and green from the EE and then the darker brown from my ISAs. They have my variety. I feel like if I explain the color is based on breed of chicken not quality they will understand. Hmmm maybe I will do half and half. The commets look just like my ISA browns. What is the temperment of the birds? All mine are realy docile and I love it!

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Leghorn would take effort to make for a bird you can pick up. They'll come running when called and are friendly but skitish. Always at arms reach away. Red sex links are made from various crosses. They include the ISA Brown, Commet, Cinnamon Queen and just called Red Sexlink. The key with those is guaranteed pullets as they are sexed by color at hatch. All the red sex link behave the same. Found the Black Sex link to be friendlier but they are a larger bird so will consume more feed.

 

[kylen2007]

Gotcha. I have 1 particular ISA that jumps on the roost everytime I walk in the coop so I can pet her. I wouldn't say any of my girls are skiddish but none of them like to be held but all come running as soon as they see me walk out the back door. My rooster is my baby.

 

[DanEP]

I have a mixture of brown,white , and green layers in my flock and just mix them together and nobody seems to mind the white ones I just tell them their all fed the same,and the food quality is equal in all my eggs.
The leghorns are my best layers but not lap chickens. If they are around you a lot they will be ok with you as long as you don't try to hold them.I have a few that will sit with me and eat out of my hand as long as I don't try to pet them. Red sex links will be a close second to the leghorns as far as egg laying goes just fewer extra large eggs than the leghorns but are much calmer. I keep both in my flock and both have their strengths, in fact I have some of each coming next month. If you decide to try leghorns the worst that can happen is you have to eat the extra large white eggs yourself. When I first tried them I only got about four birds to see how I liked them as I do with all new breeds.3-4 birds will give you a better feel for the breed than just one. A single bird may be the best or the worst giving the wrong impression of the breed in general..

 

[kylen2007]

Iam ok them not being lap birds. As long as they are not loud and crazy. Lol. All of mine seem to be very laid back. They will eat out of my hand too but like yours I better not pet them lol. I feed them treats daily so everyone is excited when they see me coming. I think we decided to do 6 white and 6 brown leghorns. If productivity is good i am
Happy. We are also getting 6 silverlaced wyandottes purely for looks lol although they are supposed to be decent layers. Lol. Ah chicken math!

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Brown Leghorn are a pretty bird. They wont lay as much as the pearl white and still lay white eggs.

I've never owned Wyandote but have heard they are a noisy bird. Depending on source some even say they are horrible layers which isn't right for the breed but what some people have reviewed one them here at BYC.

You can go to the breed section and read reviews. Some things you have to take with a grain of salt. Everyone in first year say how awesome their birds lay then they get a production bird and realize the truth. But you will get a general impression of each breed.

 

[DanEP]

I have wyandotes now also and in general the ones that I've had lay about the same as an Orpington just seem to take a little longer to start. I almost always have a couple of SLW around for yard art but stick to my leghorns and sex links for production.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

The color laid down on the outside of the shell in the final 30 minutes before the egg appears is intended by maw nature to protect the embryo from the radiation of the Sun's rays until such time as the hen covers her eggs and begins incubation. Other than that (plus the increased cost of feeding most brown egg layers) the eggs are identical. In fact the brown color isn't even skin deep because the interior of all brown eggs is white. However in the final month or so of a hens laying cycle she will run out of pigment and all her eggs may will be cream or even pure white anyway. Good luck trying to convince your customers who may be 200 or more years removed from the land that this fact is true.

A good lessen on evolution can be learned by building 10 or more Blue Bird nest boxes. The Eastern Blue Bird almost exclusively use to lay robin blue eggs. As Eastern Blue Birds laid in more and more manmade structures, blue birds began to lay more and more pure white eggs. The nest boxes didn't cause this, its just that more and more blue bird chicks survived when humans became involved in their welfare. This has resulted in more white eggs hatching and surviving to adulthood, hence more white blue bird eggs. Like begets like. It always has, and it always will.