Mcmurray Hatchery Red Leghorns

[stuckinthecity]

Can anyone share photos of their adult red leghorns from mcmurray? I want to order some just bc I’ve never had them. But the photo they’re using to advertise the breed is not ideal lol. Surely someone has bought some of these birds?

 

[Debbie292d]

Well this is unusual as surely many folks here have purchased those from McMurray's. The only thing I can say is I've never heard anyone complaining about them.

You could try call or send a message off of their website asking if they've got more pictures.

 

[stuckinthecity]

I’ve ordered from mcmurray for years. Just saying the photo they’re using is def not a good one to advertise the breed. It looks like a mixed breed rooster in the photo they’re using.

 

[The Moonshiner]

@KF0002

 

[KF0002]

Can anyone share photos of their adult red leghorns from mcmurray? I want to order some just bc I’ve never had them. But the photo they’re using to advertise the breed is not ideal lol. Surely someone has bought some of these birds?

I purchased Red Leghorn chicks from Murray McMurray last spring. Let me start off by saying I have ordered chicks from MM for years and their chicks are always hardy, vigorous, and we rarely experienced losses. That is, until we ordered the Red Leghorns. Out of the Red Leghorns that survived shipping (both the initial shipment, and the subsequent replacement shipment), I only ended up with 2 Red Leghorn males that survived. All of the pullets, and 2 of the cockerel chicks died. They seemed very tender and fragile. Not hardy and spunky like the White or Brown Leghorns in the same order, of which we did not lose any in shipping or in the days/weeks after they arrived that I recall. The Red Leghorn line must be weak from inbreeding, because a friend of mine ordered a very large shipment of 40 chicks back in the summer and I think he only has 6-7 chicks that survived out of the bunch.

That being said, I have ordered more chicks (not Red Leghorns) from MM since then and will continue to order chicks from them in the future. I don't hold the bad experience with the Red Leghorns against them. They swiftly tried to make it right with me and have wonderful customer service. I commend them for trying to offer such a rare variety, but like a lot of rare birds, due to a smaller gene pool, the line is not as sturdy and robust as breeds/varieties that are more common and less rare because of limited access to fresh breeders to add genetic diversity to their breeding stock.

We culled one of the Red Leghorn males due to wry tail and still have one of the males we are using to create my own line of Red Leghorns. I will dig through my phone to hunt pictures.

I highly recommend Murray McMurray as a hatchery, but I can't recommend ordering their Red Leghorn chicks unless you plan on picking them up and taking extra special care of them because they are delicate and tender when they are chicks. Their White Leghorns and Brown Leghorns are super sturdy and hardy as chicks, and survive well. They are healthy and lay well as they grow out. I highly recommend those two varieties, as I have personal experience with them. Our broilers from them also did very well. I also have Silver Leghorns from them, and they are also very hardy and robust. They are just on the dainty (small) side. lol

I hope this helps.

 

[KF0002]

Here is my Red Leghorn cock from MM. I call him Saw Blade because of his ugly comb. He is a gentle bird, non-aggressive. After he got past the initial tender chick stage (with a lot of babying and TLC) he and his brother grew out well and were hardy as grow outs. Both he and his brother had pasty butt after shipping and required a lot of TLC. But they pulled through and Saw Blade has become a good brood bird. He has produced some nice looking birds, much nicer than himself. I bred him to a Brown Leghorn hen in the initial F1 cross and the incomplete Black Tailed Reds they produced are quite nice, and extremely hardy.

 

[KF0002]

Here are a few of his offspring. They are Incomplete Black Tailed Reds.

 

[SourRoses]

Here are a few of his offspring. They are Incomplete Black Tailed Reds.

View attachment 4261887View attachment 4261888

That color actually looks really good on them. Surprising because I don't usually like red birds.

 

[KF0002]

That color actually looks really good on them. Surprising because I don't usually like red birds.

Thank you! I love a deep mahogany red bird, they are my favorite color variety.

 

[The Moonshiner]

I purchased Red Leghorn chicks from Murray McMurray last spring. Let me start off by saying I have ordered chicks from MM for years and their chicks are always hardy, vigorous, and we rarely experienced losses. That is, until we ordered the Red Leghorns. Out of the Red Leghorns that survived shipping (both the initial shipment, and the subsequent replacement shipment), I only ended up with 2 Red Leghorn males that survived. All of the pullets, and 2 of the cockerel chicks died. They seemed very tender and fragile. Not hardy and spunky like the White or Brown Leghorns in the same order, of which we did not lose any in shipping or in the days/weeks after they arrived that I recall. The Red Leghorn line must be weak from inbreeding, because a friend of mine ordered a very large shipment of 40 chicks back in the summer and I think he only has 6-7 chicks that survived out of the bunch.

That being said, I have ordered more chicks (not Red Leghorns) from MM since then and will continue to order chicks from them in the future. I don't hold the bad experience with the Red Leghorns against them. They swiftly tried to make it right with me and have wonderful customer service. I commend them for trying to offer such a rare variety, but like a lot of rare birds, due to a smaller gene pool, the line is not as sturdy and robust as breeds/varieties that are more common and less rare because of limited access to fresh breeders to add genetic diversity to their breeding stock.

We culled one of the Red Leghorn males due to wry tail and still have one of the males we are using to create my own line of Red Leghorns. I will dig through my phone to hunt pictures.

I highly recommend Murray McMurray as a hatchery, but I can't recommend ordering their Red Leghorn chicks unless you plan on picking them up and taking extra special care of them because they are delicate and tender when they are chicks. Their White Leghorns and Brown Leghorns are super sturdy and hardy as chicks, and survive well. They are healthy and lay well as they grow out. I highly recommend those two varieties, as I have personal experience with them. Our broilers from them also did very well. I also have Silver Leghorns from them, and they are also very hardy and robust. They are just on the dainty (small) side. lol

I hope this helps.

This is about the same thing I've heard from everyone I've talked to that ordered them. Failure to thrive and weak.
What does survive isn't the best representation of the breed. The females I had did not lay well either.
They're a place to start but unless you have a plan of adding some other line to them I'd say they're a dead end.