I love my white leghorns

[Nslangton]

Just spent my morning browsing through BYC, my new addiction. I have come across about 20 different posts referring to Leghorns as "flighty & skittish" I have to disagree. I have four white leghorn chicks that are almost a month old and I love them. They are the sweetest girls. Love to be handled, get treats, and they perch at the top of the brooder usually right under one of my dogs noses. Nothing seems to bother them. They are hands down friendlier and less skittish than my RIR chicks. They can fly pretty well, but their feather development is faster than the RIRs. I wish more people would love the Leghorns and save them from a life at a commercial egg laying facility.

Ok so my chicks are now 5 weeks old, and I have to agree the leghorns are getting pretty flighty. They were so much sweeter then the RIR crosses a few weeks ago. The tides have turned. My brown chicks love me and come running when they see me, but I seem to have to catch the Leghorns in order to hold them. They are already roosting about 4 feet high and are excellent fliers. I still love them though, and I can't wait to get those Jumbo white eggs!

 

[featherz]

My leghorns (3) are not flighty or skittish and are the best of my layers (duh) and the only ones that will let me pick them up without screaming bloody murder.. (and they are two years old so not a chick thing). They can get very cranky when not let out of the pen early enough and they have a thing for cat food - they are SO pushy that they will literally push my barn cat out of his dish! And when we try to get them out of the garage they will stand their ground. I almost wish they were skittish.

If only I could get rose combed leghorns that laid as well I'd have all leghorns. The combs are a bit of a problem out here, although no frostbite this year due to the mild winter.

 

[AngelaPenny]

I'm glad I found this thread. I have leghorn eggs in my bator now, due to hatch next week.

My son came home from a barn with a dozen eggs that he wanted me to incubate, because in his mind, a leghorn is what a 'real' chicken looks like. What a kid.

We have golden comets, a barred rock roo, and a bunch of chicks from them, I guess they all don't look like "real" chickens.

I was worried about the leghorns though, you're right, everything I read claimed they were skittish. My golden comets are like friendly cats, they can't get close enough to you, and as soon as I sit down on the steps they are fighting over who gets to crawl on my lap.

 

[Nslangton]

I'm glad I found this thread. I have leghorn eggs in my bator now, due to hatch next week.

My son came home from a barn with a dozen eggs that he wanted me to incubate, because in his mind, a leghorn is what a 'real' chicken looks like. What a kid.

We have golden comets, a barred rock roo, and a bunch of chicks from them, I guess they all don't look like "real" chickens.

I was worried about the leghorns though, you're right, everything I read claimed they were skittish. My golden comets are like friendly cats, they can't get close enough to you, and as soon as I sit down on the steps they are fighting over who gets to crawl on my lap.

Kids are so funny!!! We had a million chickens growing up and all I can remember is the huge white eggs from the leghorns. Mine are definitely not as friendly as the RIR chicks, but the coop and run have a lot of activity around them and my dogs are still obsessed with the chicks and never leave the run all day. They bark and run and the chicks run back to the coop. It is pretty amusing. I hope the novelty of the chicks wares off soon and everyone will become accustomed to each other.

 

[Nslangton]

My leghorns (3) are not flighty or skittish and are the best of my layers (duh) and the only ones that will let me pick them up without screaming bloody murder.. (and they are two years old so not a chick thing). They can get very cranky when not let out of the pen early enough and they have a thing for cat food - they are SO pushy that they will literally push my barn cat out of his dish! And when we try to get them out of the garage they will stand their ground. I almost wish they were skittish.

If only I could get rose combed leghorns that laid as well I'd have all leghorns. The combs are a bit of a problem out here, although no frostbite this year due to the mild winter.

It is cold here too (except for this year). What do you reccomend for the frostbite? I am not sure about the different combs though. I didn't realize there was a difference within the breed.