White layers

[havi]

I want to add a few white layers to my flock and what yalls(yep Im from Tx

) opinion on it. I want a breed that isnt too flightly, lays well and does well in confinment. I would love to be able to free range my birds, but for now I just cant do it. What would you recommend?

 

[Mahonri]

I have two leghorns and one leghorn/porcelain d'uccle mix. They all lay regularly.

The Brown leghorn is flighty and scared to death of me. The white leghorn is tiny and lays HUGE white eggs. The d'uccle/leghorn cross is beautiful and lays a whitish/cream colored egg, she and the white are very friendly and will almost eat out of my hand..

 

[silkiechicken]

From all my birds, my white leghorns are probably like 3 lbs and lay jumbo and larger eggs. Consistant even into their 3rd years too! However, they are a bit flighty.

They will be the first at your hand for treats, but if you make a fast movement, they will jump up like something is about to bite them. Silly things also seem to like running behind you, and if you stop arubtly, they will literally run into the back of your legs.

 

[havi]

I know this will sound silly, but for some reason I just cannot stand the look of their combs. All the Leghorns Ive seen always have these huge combs that fall over to one side. Just doesnt sit right with me for some reason. But these are the only breed Ive heard that lay really well, plus them being white(eggs.) I guess if I cant find anything else then I'll have to go with them.

 

[silkiechicken]

Well, for prime efficiency cost and production wise, you've got the leghorn.

You also have things like california whites and california greys. I've had those and they also lay big jumbo white eggs like leghorns. The whites are pretty much the same conformation as the leghorn, with a few black speckled feathers, while the greys have the same conformation but are barred in color.

They all have the big floppy comb thing going on.

If you want to go for white eggs and no big comb, you can look into rosecomb varieties of leghorns, although I think those are harder to find.

With lower production and slightly greater feed costs, you could try other breeds such as buttercups or hamburgs.

Most proficient white egg layers are of the mediterranean class... and come with those big floppy combs.

Here are some white egg layers to pick from:
https://secuservices.com/ideal/newideal/Products.aspx?Category=White Egg Layers

http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/category/white_egg_layers.html

 

[Guinea Goonie]

We really like the White Plymouth Rocks. The roos are HUGE and the hens are very freindly, robust and effective layers.

We have a few that came from a very long line of WPRs from an old farmer that had to give them up. I would love to get some new blood into this group.

 

[silkiechicken]

I thought rocks all laid brown or tinted eggs?

 

[Guinea Goonie]

Just tinted, at least these ones do. Really i can tell the difference.

 

[Mahonri]

My white rock lays a light BROWN egg. And not very large and she eats like a pig.

My leghorns give me the most egg for the buck.

But I can't wait unti my Cinammon Queen starts laying.

 

[jossanne]

LOVE my white leghorns. You just may get used to the combs, if you give them a try. My girls are friendly, curious, beautiful, and my best layers. My oldest white leghorn was the first out of my 5 oldest girls to lay, and started at 16w3d. She laid every day for the next 17 days, and then she got an impacted crop from eating weeds that my kids were giving them, so we did surgery to fix that, and she started laying 3 days after surgery, and has been very reliable ever since.

There are rosecomb brown leghorns available from hatcheries. I've had one from McMurray and she was beautiful, but not nearly as friendly as my whites. I have no idea how well she laid, but she was beautiful.