True confession about my so-called "egg laying machines"...

[TennesseeTruly]

I have to tell you that we only have one White Leghorn hen and we love her. She's not flighty, she's a lover. She is the only one of our egg layers that lays daily. Nothing stops her...ever. She'll be 2 years old in April and she is still going strong. She greets us daily and even sits on my grandson's lap, nibbles on his ears, and is the first in line for treats.

I wish the rest of our chickens were as sweet as our girl Pearl!

We were just talking about getting more White Leghorns because we adore her so much. We'd love to have a coopful of Pearls!

Laurie

 

[silkiechicken]

Quote:
This is my experience - mine follow me around like dogs..

LOL

I had a few leghorns who were fixated on anything I would carry. SO much so that if I stopped walking, the one that was following the closest would literally run into the back of my legs.

However, this super friendly active leghorn was raised with just 3 in a small group and handled together.

I currently have 2 sexlinks that you'd think were flighty leghorns, all because I only raised them for two weeks before they were just fed and watered daily back at home. The birds can come out with totally different personalities if you raise it from a chick.

 

[magicpigeon]

Seconded! I got 2 silkies from eggs and another 2 at 12 weeks and the personality differences are striking! The ones hatched by me are inquisitive, friendly, and LOUD. The ones I bought are secretive, flighty...but prettier

 

[BigDaddy'sGurl]

Thank you all for your responses! So far as age being a factor, I know that these are in fact young, they are only about 30 weeks old now. Yes, one is sick, but she is isolated. If the others are sick, there are no symptoms. No runny noses, no coughs/sneezes, normal poop, they eat like little piggies, and seem very active...at least when I enter the coop, lol. I am just really frustrated. You see the birds and they are so pretty and you hear such good stories like most of you have reiterated and you think it's just the perfect chicken and instead I get chaos in my coop disguised as "techno chicken" from Youtube.

It wouldn't bother me so much except that these demons have turned all of my previously good natured birds against me! My flock before this was calm, inquisitive, and predictable. Now the moment the door to the run or coop opens it's like there is a frenzy to run, fly, squawk, escape! The big mean woman is hungry! We must all heave ourselves at the ceiling!

I do agree that the commercial farm upbringing probably has something to do with it, but on another note, the Gold Comet I mentioned earlier today actually came from the same farm on the same day and is the most laid back chicken I own. Her name is Charity and she is the only one who does NOT go into a panic upon sight of me. I usually have to nudge her out of the way of the door when I arrive, lol. Also, she laid her first ever egg nearly two weeks ago and hasn't laid since, but unlike the leghorns, she was only 18 weeks old at purchase (22 weeks approx now) so her not laying again yet doesn't stress me because she was awfully young to start anyway. I wasn't expecting her to lay at all yet when she did, but she is only my second brown egg layer and I got one large egg from my BR one day and found a smaller different shade of brown egg that same day and she is the only one it could have been from.

I don't hate all white leghorns. I really like some of yours, lol. I just thought I maybe would get something similar to what you all seem to have. I truly think I am done with the breed after this experience. We were planning on building two more coops/runs in the spring. One of brown egg layers and one of white but this whole scenario has made me decide that I like BRs and Gold Comets best. BRs for their dependable laying, and Gold Comets for their gentle temperament.

My Pharoah quail, who I never intended to keep but fell in love with, is sadly my best laying hen, LOL

 

[BigIslandChicks]

BigDaddy'sGurl: i can relate to you... i got 2 white leghorns a few months back and boy where they some crazy ladies

i too was going what was i thinking getting these crazy birds. they did the same thing with the egg laying- one each the next day then nothing - they both had just finished a molt and with the relocation - no eggs for a while. about a month later we had to move and on the day to move the chooks the nicer looking of the 2 decided she was not going with us no matter what made a huge fuss and escaped!! i live where there are lots of wild chickens, and she found a wild game rooster to shack up with. my old neighbor still see's her around and says she is the meanest hen and even chases off the wild game hens when they throw out some feed.
our "whitey" on the other hand has mellowed out quite a bit now and has finally started to be an egg laying machine - an egg every other day at first - now everyday and the egg we got from her yesterday was "HUMANG-GUS" (DH's word!

) 77.9 grams to be eggzact!
today her egg was a little over 72grams. but like i said she has calmed down a lot!! she no longer runs, and squawks when i come around.

I hope they will chill out a bit and for you, my EE's were the same way when i got them and they now run to me when i turn the corner to come to the back yard and stand at my feet with the barred rocks to see what treats they will be getting! i do agree about the barred rocks being great chickens - curious, sweet, mellow, fairly nice to the other chickens

and since they started to lay a few weeks ago, we now get an egg from each pretty much everyday!

goodluck to you!

 

[Mahonri]

Have you thought about sitting in a chair in the run or in the coop and hand feeding them.

Reward them when they are friendly.

There is no substitute for getting them used to you the first four or five weeks.

Folks here in Phoenix tell me I sell "Lap Chickens".

I still have Ameraucanas that when I go in the coop at night to make sure they all got on their roosts, that love me to tickle their muffs and beards.

My one white leghorn is not a lover... I got her as an 18 week old. She regularly gives me 5 to 6 eggs a week, BUT, she did go through a molt and quit for a little over a month. She's back to her old self now and eats like a pig.... guess she'd have to cuz she's so tiny and lays such huge white eggs.

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

BigDaddy'sGurl :

You're probably right but I have had them nearly a month! And they were laying to start with? I just don't like these birds at this point...thanks for your input, though...if they were at least marginally friendlier I would be much more patient, but after almost a month of constant effort on my part (treats, just sitting nearby so they will see I am no threat and they have gotten to where they will let me get within 10 feet of the outside of the run without panic) to non-intrusively tame them, they are still as wild as all "get out". Ugghhh.

Most Leghorns are like that. My chickens stopped laying for over 6 weeks when I moved them​

 

[Tala]

Quote:
Yep, mine were also my first chicks so they were babied to death as well. They aren't "come and pet me" type friendly, but they do come up to the gate and get under my feet. Definitely not throwing themselves at the fence trying to escape (though my new rooster is avoiding me thesedays, with good reason LOL)

It took mine dang near 2 weeks to get into laying again after a dog attack that didn't even breech their fence. I dunno how long they might go on strike after a move.

 

[Thousand Oaks Family]

The move has them not laying. I bought some hens over the summer and they laid the first two days. I thought great! Well then nothing for months. I almost got rid of them. I thing the initial eggs we got were because they were already in the works. They will come around. In fact one hen took 6 months to get going again.

 

[pattypenny]

My spring chicks are not laying well, I read on here others having the same problems.
In febuary things should improve. My golden comets have just gone thro' molt and they are laying better than the easter eggs that were hatched march 17,2010. maybe the leghorns will settle down and be calmer after a time. they realy are egg laying machines.
It is true that leghorns are flighty but they should adjust some as they get used to you and their pen mates. never give up keep on trying. T think the golden comets are as good layer as leghorns and they are a calm bird.