Leghorn breed/s with prettiest hens?

[UrbanEnthusiast]

ADDENDUM: Thanks everyone for the info!

I have some friends of friends who live on a hobby farm about 40 minutes away and as it turns out, they have roosters and quarantine/breeding pens and incubators already, so I'm going to breed my Exchequer hens next spring instead of buying chicks! I'm so excited!!!

END ADDENDUM

I'm a big fan of Leghorns! I live in Seattle and can only have up to seven hens, so I like Leghorns for their laying capacity, but I also appreciate their flightiness to escape any predators who might wander our way. However, I prefer more interesting plumage than solid white, brown, or buff. I already have one Blue Leghorn and two Exchequer Leghorns and I love them! I've read about the Cuckoo Leghorn and the Duckwing Leghorn, which are both gorgeous, but I can't seem to find any for sale in my area, or even from a hatchery in the U.S.

Any suggestions?!? Thanks a bunch!!!

 

[UrbanEnthusiast]

*bump*

Ideas, anyone?

 

[ve]

McMuray hatchery has Silver Duckwing Leghorns, Sand Hils has Mile Fleour Leghorns. Leghorns are the pretiest chickens , aren't they

 

[UrbanEnthusiast]

McMuray hatchery has Silver Duckwing Leghorns, Sand Hils has Mile Fleour Leghorns. Leghorns are the pretiest chickens , aren't they

They sure are beautiful, especially the more exotic varieties! I am so, so, so new to raising chickens! Do Leghorns stop laying in the winter? And by "winter", I mean a Seattle winter - rainy but very rarely below freezing?

 

[Sylverfly]

Temp doesn't effect laying nearly as much as amount of light they are exposed to, so if you give them a light on a timer they should lay all year

 

[Sylverfly]

I know leghorns come in a more colors then that, but if you want that leghorn temperament and look there are tons of white egg layers that would fit that bill, and come in tons of different colors.

 

[UrbanEnthusiast]

Hmm, I did not know that it had more to do with light than temperature! That makes sense. Unfortunately I can't really provide a light for our flock as they free range all day and sleep 30-40' up in a giant pine tree at night (crazy, I know, but they love it and they have been safe from predators up there since we let them outside seven months ago). At this latitude, our winter days are extremely short, and overcast virtually all the time, so we'll see what happens. Thanks for the info!

 

[UrbanEnthusiast]

Also, I believe McMurray Hatchery has a large chick-minimum, right? I understand it's safer to ship them in large numbers, but legally I can only have three more chickens. Hmm, maybe some other chicken freaks in the area would like to share an order sometime?

 

[Sylverfly]

People tend to really stress the light thing, I have never used a light and I live in northern Michigan short days, gets dark at like 4 and 5 pm in the winter sometimes, and some of my hens never stopped laying all year light or no light and they kept up an egg a day to every other day for a few years never did figure that one out. But I also had some hens that stopped laying in the fall and didn't lay until spring as well, I sold them fast and cheap. Nutrition, light, temp, good breeding and happiness all decide how they lay and all those things have to be just the right amounts to make a good layer, but its not always 5+5=10 sometimes 4+6=10 or 7+3=10 or so on, you get the idea. Also I've heard that if you use artificial light the hens bodies never get a break and they don't live nearly as long as those that just get natural light. I have found in my experience that the leghorns don't live as long as some other hens anyway. Mine just laid so many eggs that they ended up having complications as they aged and died sooner then my other hens for the most part. I like less prolific layers I get slightly smaller and a few less eggs a day but I have my hens longer, and thats nice for the hens, me, and my checking account since I don't need to buy, hatch, or brood chicks as much.

 

[Sylverfly]

Ideal Hatchery used to let you order less then 25 chicks, but you need to tell them you want to insure your order or they will make up the difference with a random breed of male chicks for warmth. The insurance is normally not over 5-10 dollars I've heard. There are a few other hatcheries that do the same but most of those are pricey to buy small orders from, I guess. Your right Its probably cheaper to try and find someone to split the order with unless you go with ideal poultry in TX.