Leghorn Breeders Thread - All Varieties

[Bullitt]

In my area with leghorns of course whites are the most entered with light browns being a close second. There are very very few of the other varieties shown around here.
As for how common compared to all the other breeds. They're somewhere in the middle I suppose. Lots of more popular breeds but lots of breeds aren't even represented at all.
Oh how I miss the shows back in the 70s and 80s.

Were there more breeds and varieties shown then?

I would guess it has something to do with more people moving away from agriculture.

In 1976 my parents ordered 25 white Leghorn chickens from the Sears & Roebuck farm catalog. We received a little box with 25 little chickens. Only seven turned out to be roosters, which was good. Six roosters went in the freezer. We kept one rooster and named him Lucky.

 

[The Moonshiner]

76 thats a few years after I received my first very own sought out by me birds as well.
Back then you ordered birds from catalogs that you sent off for and paid by a little piece of paper we called "checks"
Soon after my first chicks I went to my first poultry show. I was a kid in a candy store. So many breeds I had never imagined.... Anyways back then poultry shows were like the internet is now. That's where you found birds, discovered breeds and varieties, sought out breeders and soaked up information.
In my area shows were huge compared to now a days and there were several throughout the year. Now there's only 3 per year that I sometimes go to. Back then there were probably 8 or 10 in the same area.
So yes more breeds and varieties and more total birds. But yes that was only part of it. The biggest thing was that's where you got to get involved with others instead of clicking and scrolling like now.

 

[Tbird84]

We had a few whites when I was growing up. The male was huge. The hen went broody every year, sometimes twice. It was always a hunt to figure out where her nest was each time. They were completely free ranged on 60acres of mostly wooded and VERY rural land. Won't you know they outsmarted every predator. Except the huge great horned owl that tried to take the male. Owl got more than it bargained for. He was too big for it.

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

HERE IT IS. I've been looking everywhere for the standardbred leghorn thread, and was just typing up a new one when I decided to give it one more go. YAY! Glad to be here. I have so much to say.

 

[cmom]

At most shows I see mostly SC Whites and SC Light Browns and occasionally Buffs. I have RC dark browns. I was planning on showing them when covid came along and most of the shows were cancelled.

 

[cmom]

HERE IT IS. I've been looking everywhere for the standardbred leghorn thread, and was just typing up a new one when I decided to give it one more go. YAY! Glad to be here. I have so much to say.

You have some earlier posts here. I was reading through the thread. Getting ready to set up my breeding pens.

 

[cmom]

I'll let you in on a little secret.
For a lot of beginners when searching for info they go to the experts.... Show breeders.
Well the mast majority of show breeders know their breed very well but actually know very little about color/pattern genetics. Even within their breed. It's not that they don't want to help but that they can't be much help in that regard.
With show breeders you stick to your color and breed towards the SOP for mostly type.
It is a sin to color cross so no one learns color/pattern genetics to any degree.

This is true. In the past I did some experimental breeding but now concentrate on type. On some of the Reds I had too much green leakage in the hackles so I bred to eliminate it. I got marked down by a judge for it. He said the bird had good type except for that leakage. Live and learn.

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

I'll let you in on a little secret.
For a lot of beginners when searching for info they go to the experts.... Show breeders.
Well the mast majority of show breeders know their breed very well but actually know very little about color/pattern genetics. Even within their breed. It's not that they don't want to help but that they can't be much help in that regard.
With show breeders you stick to your color and breed towards the SOP for mostly type.
It is a sin to color cross so no one learns color/pattern genetics to any degree.

Wow, I have learned a LOT in the last year and found some excellent mentors in brown leghorns. It's true that they don't know or care much about varieties that they aren't (or haven't) worked on, and they DEFINITELY do not know or care a whit about the results of crossing varieties unless it has been found by some other intrepid breeder to improve their own.

HOWEVER, I have yet to find anyone that breeds for color or is focused on color genetics (or other cosmetic genetics) that knows as much as they do about type and making good matches to improve type and color in their chosen varieties. It's not as cloistered a community as I originally thought, but going in talking about "trendy" Isabellas was not the way to garner respect in the community, it turns out. Can't blame them. There's a lot of trendy stuff that doesn't have any staying power but attracts a lot of profiteers and non-serious breeders. I don't blame them for not wanting to waste their time on mentoring someone that only cares about the color of the birds.

 

[Alaskan]

Dark brown cockerel

Young pullet, dark brown x white... rose comb

dark brown rose comb. Chick at front is also dark brown rose comb... black chick, I can't remember.

Hen is a dark brown x white, male was a dark brown..... so chicks are pure dark brown or white cross. All rose comb

Rose comb white

 

[cmom]

My Dark Brown looks like yours except I have Rose Comb. Love them...