A lot of leghorns probably are black based chickens, with the Dominant White covering it up.
Someone brought up very good point- there are a lot of 'leghorn hybrids'.. California Whites are one of those.. if two California Whites are bred together then 25% of the chicks will come out black. Most will be white with black spots with a few pure white.
Another possiblity is the leghorn(s) are crosses like the above.. which means if they are bred with say, a RIR or EE or whatever else about half of the chicks will hatch out white with spots and other half will be 'not white' with most probably being black.. with a different color showing up on neck, saddles or breasts later on.
RIR x 'not pure white' leghorn chicks that start out white probably will also show red on their bodies later on.. Dominant White is pretty good at covering up white but it doesn't do much to red/gold colors.
Someone brought up very good point- there are a lot of 'leghorn hybrids'.. California Whites are one of those.. if two California Whites are bred together then 25% of the chicks will come out black. Most will be white with black spots with a few pure white.
Another possiblity is the leghorn(s) are crosses like the above.. which means if they are bred with say, a RIR or EE or whatever else about half of the chicks will hatch out white with spots and other half will be 'not white' with most probably being black.. with a different color showing up on neck, saddles or breasts later on.
RIR x 'not pure white' leghorn chicks that start out white probably will also show red on their bodies later on.. Dominant White is pretty good at covering up white but it doesn't do much to red/gold colors.
