Leghorn

[Htee]

I have kept chickens for most of the last thirty years. I usually get several eye catching breeds from a hatchery, then allow them to mix and hatch the eggs until I am several generations in and just have a bunch of BYM chickens. Last spring after looking at chicken breeds from several different hatcheries I decided to get a small order of leghorns. We had them when I was a kid but I always passed over them when buying chickens for something I thought was fancier. I have been very happy with these hens. They free range during the day, get buy on very limited supplemental feed and lay nice big white eggs. I have a brown leghorn rooster and a trio of white leghorn hens. As we round the corner into next year I hope to hatch some eggs. I believe as I breed and hatch this cross I will see lots of colors come out but they will still all be leghorns, laying nice big white eggs and foraging all around the place, just a little more colorful then plain white chickens. Anyway, just my thoughts.

 

[Not-so Slick Chicken]

Love leghorns
White Leghorns are some of the classics I grew up with. But I've had difficulty finding them the past few years?
The other varieties seem to never be locally available.

 

[AusHen]

The first time you breed your leghorns don't be surprised to only get white chickens with some black flecks, but if you breed those daughters back to the father (or siblings/aunts/uncles/grandparents etc) you will get your wonderful variety as white leghorn often also mask barring and blue.

 

[Htee]

That is what I hope to do, do you think I will get any pile or pied, red / white in the first generation?

 

[AusHen]

In my experience I didn't as my whites were 'pure' for extended black which resulted in just white in the first generation, but if any of your hens are split for extended black then it's possible for pyle to appear in the F1 offspring

 

[Htee]

In my experience I didn't as my whites were 'pure' for extended black which resulted in just white in the first generation, but if any of your hens are split for extended black then it's possible for pyle to appear in the F1 offspring

Thanks for the info, I have a basic understanding of chicken color genetics but they a still a bit complex for me to fully wrap my head around. Will there be any hidden genes in the brown leghorn rooster or will the only masked genes come from the white hen?

 

[Amer]

Thanks for the info, I have a basic understanding of chicken color genetics but they a still a bit complex for me to fully wrap my head around. Will there be any hidden genes in the brown leghorn rooster or will the only masked genes come from the white hen?

Just from the white. The white dilution covers up whatever other color genes the bird might have.

 

[McChooky]

I crossed brown leghorns with a legbar rooster and hatched 5 chicks
( 2 pullets and 3 cockerels) They will be laying soon

 

[Htee]

Do you free range your leghorns or keep them penned up? I think they make an excellent free range chicken.

 

[McChooky]

My leghorns are my 1st free range flock! I couldn't ask for better chickens. They forage in a fence with trained dogs that protect them