Well, I don't like the looks of the Naked Neck birds. Don't like Barred Rock or RIR roosters (all the roosters I've had of those two breeds were mean). Was pretty disappointed in the Salmon Faverolles I got last year -- I still love the way they look, but they don't seem to be very practical here. Over half of them died of heat stroke in one day, in temperatures that didn't bother my other birds in the same pens. Of the survivors, only one managed to escape the raccoons later on, and she doesn't lay well enough to justify feeding her; I just haven't gotten around to butchering her yet. (She's my only white egg layer at the moment, so I know how many eggs she's laying.)
I actually like the Leghorns I've had. Maybe it was just the strain they were from, but they've never been any flightier than the other birds once they were grown (they are easily panicked as chicks, though). In fact, a couple of white Leghorns I had were usually the first to come running when I went outside, and would follow me closely as I went to the barn. Right now I have one Mille Fleur Leghorn rooster, and he's never even looked cross-ways at a human (after years of having nasty roosters, I'm very pleased to currently have three that have never been aggressive towards humans). I'm not sure the Mille Fleur Leghorns should rightly be called Leghorns, as they all seem to have white skin and small single combs rather than those big floppy things (I'm all in favor of small combs, though), and they are bigger than most breeds of Leghorn. So maybe they really ought to be a new breed?
Kathleen
