The Moonshiner's Leghorns

[KF0002]

While on the subject of Silver Leghorns, how can one create them without introducing a different breed? I have read that you can cross a Brown Leghorn rooster to White Leghorns and then cross the offspring together and potentially get many different varieties. I remember @The Moonshiner said that’s how he created Pyle Leghorns but apparently Birchens and Silvers could result also? Do you know @Amer ?

 

[Chookwagn]

What varieties of Leghorns do you keep? I remember you said you had Silver Leghorns. A friend of mine has tried to order Silver Leghorn eggs from several different sources and hasn’t had any luck getting any to hatch. Are they one of the more rare variety of Leghorn?

Silver is silver duckwing, like a std brown leghorn (gold duckwing) but with silver in place of the gold.

Silver DW is definitely harder to find.

I have Gold duckwing and Cuckoo colors and my dad has silver dw ( so I can use them if I want)

Next season i want to split my cuckoos into 2 groups as I have a cuckoo rooster that I think has silver in.

 

[KF0002]

Silver is silver duckwing, like a std brown leghorn (gold duckwing) but with silver in place of the gold.

Silver DW is definitely harder to find.

I have Gold duckwing and Cuckoo colors and my dad has silver dw ( so I can use them if I want)

Next season i want to split my cuckoos into 2 groups as I have a cuckoo rooster that I think has silver in.

I knew they were Silver DW. We raise Silver DW Games. I should have said Silver DW in my post. My brain is pretty zapped from school/clinical/work.

I had thought about making some from scratch as I can get some Barred Leghorn eggs from a friend. Then I read that some breeders have gotten some from crossing the Brown Leghorns to the Whites, then crossing the offspring. I guess it just depends on what genes the White Leghorns are carrying. I was just curious. I really don’t need another project though.

 

[Amer]

While on the subject of Silver Leghorns, how can one create them without introducing a different breed? I have read that you can cross a Brown Leghorn rooster to White Leghorns and then cross the offspring together and potentially get many different varieties. I remember @The Moonshiner said that’s how he created Pyle Leghorns but apparently Birchens and Silvers could result also? Do you know @Amer ?

White Leghorns are typically silver based to avoid gold leakage (I think. Moony would know better than I.) So crossing a white with a gold duckwing, then breeding their sons to another gold duckwing would give you some silver duckwing pullets. And silverxgold males. Also a lot of other junk but I'm sure you are used to that with breeding turkeys.

 

[Amer]

Leghorn owners, what are your Leghorn temperaments like? I hear all about the infamous Mediterranean flightiness but I don't buy it. True, the three Leghorns I owned (rose combed) were the flightiest birds I had but my Anconas were only shy as chicks and became curious, active, friendly adults.

 

[KF0002]

White Leghorns are typically silver based to avoid gold leakage (I think. Moony would know better than I.) So crossing a white with a gold duckwing, then breeding their sons to another gold duckwing would give you some silver duckwing pullets. And silverxgold males. Also a lot of other junk but I'm sure you are used to that with breeding turkeys.

Oh yeah, my luck with turkeys is I get very few of the varieties I really want, and tons of varieties I really don’t need or want, especially in varieties that dont breed true like the Painted. Or when mixing varieties.

I think that will be a cool project for next year if I end up with a Brown Leghorn male or two out of my eggs.

 

[KF0002]

Leghorn owners, what are your Leghorn temperaments like? I hear all about the infamous Mediterranean flightiness but I don't buy it. True, the three Leghorns I owned (rose combed) were the flightiest birds I had but my Anconas were only shy as chicks and became curious, active, friendly adults.

All of the Leghorns we have owned have been flighty and skittish acting birds, much like our Games. We don’t handle our birds a lot but some breeds are just naturally more docile than others, like our Marans and Olive Eggers. Leghorns act pretty wild and standoffish.

 

[Amer]

Oh yeah, my luck with turkeys is I get very few of the varieties I really want, and tons of varieties I really don’t need or want, especially in varieties that dont breed true like the Painted. Or when mixing varieties.

I think that will be a cool project for next year if I end up with a Brown Leghorn male or two out of my eggs.

The real question is is it faster to breed a white leghorn male with a gold female and breed the F1s together thus getting pure silver males in the second generation albeit not many?
Or is it faster to breed white Leghorn and gold leghorn irrespective of gender and breed their sons to a brown Leghorn hen, producing males only heterozygous for gold but also guaranteeing that half the chicks will be duckwing?

 

[Amer]

All of the Leghorns we have owned have been flighty and skittish acting birds, much like our Games. We don’t handle our birds a lot but some breeds are just naturally more docile than others, like our Marans and Olive Eggers. Leghorns act pretty wild and standoffish.

The Leghorns I see at shows usually look pretty calm and dignified to me but what do I know?

 

[NagemTX]

The Leghorns I see at shows usually look pretty calm and dignified to me but what do I know?

They was trained by professionals to preform on command.