Hoover Isabella Leghorn

[JacinLarkwell]

New for 2021, and they only have the one picture on their website.
https://hoovershatchery.com/isabellaleghorn.html

Not looking for APA show quaility, but does the picture raise any red flags that it's not actually Isabella coloring? Anything that I should know that would make me reconsider ordering chicks (frailtt, poor generics, ect.)

 

[Percheron chick]

There was a hatchery a few years back that introduced Isabella leghorn. They discontinued selling them mid season due to poor fertility. That would be my major concern.

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

I think Cackle hatchery was the first to carry them, they may have even had some small part in developing the variety. They used to have them but they had some problems with chick survivability in shipping so I guess they took a break, they no longer carry them. I have Isabella leghorns and they're... fine. They come with the same problems you have in pretty much all large fowl lavender birds in the US—serious feather quality issues. Because of the dilution of the gold duckwing pattern you have problems with "wing patch" in males in addition to the feather fray. They are decent layers of large off-white eggs. They are generally considerably larger and "meatier" than regular commercial leghorn lines, more on par with my standardbred browns.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I think Cackle hatchery was the first to carry them, they may have even had some small part in developing the variety. They used to have them but they had some problems with chick survivability in shipping so I guess they took a break, they no longer carry them. I have Isabella leghorns and they're... fine. They come with the same problems you have in pretty much all large fowl lavender birds in the US—serious feather quality issues. Because of the dilution of the gold duckwing pattern you have problems with "wing patch" in males in addition to the feather fray. They are decent layers of large off-white eggs. They are generally considerably larger and "meatier" than regular commercial leghorn lines, more on par with my standardbred browns.

What's wing patch?

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

What's wing patch?

Wing patch is a condition wherein the gold sections on a lavender bird express retarded growth. The feather may never fully emerge from the pin in some cases, particularly in the gold wing bow of males. Females carry the problem but don't express it.

 

[Newyorkrita]

I noticed them at Cackle. Discontinued. Too bad as they look like fabulous birds.