Vote for the best HYBRID layer!!!

[R2elk]

White leghorns are considered to be hybrids.
They are sold as hybrids.
It is a real fact that hybrids are crossbred and commercial leghorns are outbred.
They are created from an ABCD system.
See the picture on the following link:

http://www.babolnatetra.com/uploads...mmercial_Hybrid_Management_Guide_2016_ENG.pdf

Just because one company claims that their "Tetra L Superb" is a hybrid, does not make White Leghorns a hybrid.

White Leghorns breed true and therefore are not hybrids. Different companies are making claims that their particular line is different as a marketing tool. They really don't care about telling the truth when it comes to something that they think benefits their sales.

Red Sex Links and Black Sex Links are hybrids because they are created from two different breeds of parents and they will not breed true. White Leghorns are all the same breed even though there are different lines of them. The slight differences in the lines do not make them a separate breed just as outbreeding or crossbreeding those lines does not make a hybrid.

 

[chickens really]

Always a debate eh?...White Leghorns are hybrid layers. Great layers with early burn out.

 

[R2elk]

Always a debate eh?...White Leghorns are hybrid layers. Great layers with early burn out.

White Leghorns have been selectively bred to produce what they are now. They are great layers with early burn out. The selective breeding is from within different lines of the breed and not from separate breeds like the RSL & BSL. If you are breeding from within the breed, they are not hybrids irregardless of what the different companies want you to believe.

 

[Mitsos Lamprogiorgos]

Just because one company claims that their "Tetra L Superb" is a hybrid, does not make White Leghorns a hybrid.

White Leghorns breed true and therefore are not hybrids. Different companies are making claims that their particular line is different as a marketing tool. They really don't care about telling the truth when it comes to something that they think benefits their sales.

Red Sex Links and Black Sex Links are hybrids because they are created from two different breeds of parents and they will not breed true. White Leghorns are all the same breed even though there are different lines of them. The slight differences in the lines do not make them a separate breed just as outbreeding or crossbreeding those lines does not make a hybrid.

You can have the maximum production of a white leghorn only if you keep terminal crosses coming from this system. Hatching from the terminal crosses has not any sense.
White leghorn is a hybridized breed for more than 200 years, it breeds true only in the appearence and if you hatch from the terminal crosses, you will not have the same laying abilities. It doesn't even have the name of its breed, it receives the brand name of the company that makes it a money maker.
They are outbred in a specific way, so to the heterosis level that guide to the maximum vigor and production of the terminal cross we buy can be shown ONLY by the terminal crosses coming extracted from this system.
And Tetra is not the only company who applies this system.
All big companies do so.
The lines of the leghorns the last 200 years are not just a breed, but sth you can't even imagine.
They have N U M B E R S, not names, there are many strains in every company to choose for (for bigger eggs, for bigger egg mass, for a more robust size, for minimum appetites, for indoors systems, for free range systems).
The terminal crosses of white leghorns a hobby farmer buys don't breed true in production.
That's why they are called "terminal" crosses.

 

[Mitsos Lamprogiorgos]

Always a debate eh?...White Leghorns are hybrid layers. Great layers with early burn out.

Mine never had early burn out. They just slow a bit in the molt.

 

[chickens really]

Mine never had early burn out. They just slow a bit in the molt.

I mean by two years old they don't lay as well. By 3 they need to be replaced.

 

[Mitsos Lamprogiorgos]

Mine for seven!!!!!!!

 

[R2elk]

You can have the maximum production of a white leghorn only if you keep terminal crosses coming from this system. Hatching from the terminal crosses has not any sense.
White leghorn is a hybridized breed for more than 200 years, it breeds true only in the appearence and if you hatch from the terminal crosses, you will not have the same laying abilities. It doesn't even have the name of its breed, it receives the brand name of the company that makes it a money maker.
They are outbred in a specific way, so to the heterosis level that guide to the maximum vigor and production of the terminal cross we buy can be shown ONLY by the terminal crosses coming extracted from this system.
And Tetra is not the only company who applies this system.
All big companies do so.
The lines of the leghorns the last 200 years are not just a breed, but sth you can't even imagine.
They have N U M B E R S, not names, there are many strains in every company to choose for (for bigger eggs, for bigger egg mass, for a more robust size, for minimum appetites, for indoors systems, for free range systems).
The terminal crosses of white leghorns a hobby farmer buys don't breed true in production.
That's why they are called "terminal" crosses.

The "Tetra L Superb" could be a hybrid. There is no way to know whether or not it is a hybrid because at no point do they claim it to be a White Leghorn. Since they are not claiming it to be a White Leghorn, it cannot be used as an example to claim that White Leghorns are a hybrid. It is possible that one of their A, B, C, or D is something other than a White Leghorn line but we will never know because they are not going to release that proprietary information.

 

[JedJackson]

A hybrid means crossing 2 or more separate breeds together when it comes to chickens. Crossing different strains of the same breed does not create a hybrid. When different strains of Leghorns are bred together for the purpose of increasing production, and some other breed characteristics are ignored, then those birds are production Leghorns, not hybrid Leghorns. Red sex links, California grays, California whites, Austrawhites, etc. are examples of hybrids with Leghorns as one parents.

As far the best producers among the hybrid layers goes, it really depends on what you want. Here, brown eggs fetch a better price than white eggs. If I was interested in shear quantity, as well as feed to lay ratio, then red sex links would be the best choice. And they are all similar, in my opinion-- the hatcheries do a good job of maintaining productivity in their red sex links, regardless of the brand name used.

Personally, I prefer black sex links to red. They are calmer, prettier, and lay larger eggs even if they don't lay quite so many. And they seem to have less problems with blowout and other reproductive disorders that are prevalent in the layer hybrids.

Sapphire Gems look like a good option, too.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

The words red sex link & red shaver are trade marked names that are only used by the hatchery that produces them.

If you are in full blown "Homestead" mode the thing to consider is whether the increased foraging ability of Leghorn chickens, their ability to evade predators, and the extra eggs are worth your hens not hatching off their own chicks. Every time a hen turns to setting you will lose up to 2 months or 60 days worth of egg production.

FYI, a Leghorn hen (regardless of color) will outperform almost every hen on Earth in the nest box department. 300 to 350 eggs per year is not uncommon and is in fact quite normal. This a hen needs a rest business is hokum. Leghorns lay eggs in direct proportion to the care that you give them. You treat your hens like crap they will treat you like crap when it comes time to gather the eggs.