White Leghorn, the forgotten breed

[Daniale]

Yes! Cheers to the leghorns! My girls are still laying like maniacs!

 

[kglazier]

i bought 4 white leghorns and 4 RIRS this past spring form a local feeds store. I lost 2 of the reds and two of the leghorns at 8 weeks. Don't know why.
On of the remaining leghorns turned out to be a roo that has never crowed. The hen only lays 2 eggs a week. I am glad to here your stories. I was having doubts about getting any more leghorns. The two RIRs lay 10 eggs a week. I also have some lavenvelder /RIR mixed and 7 Buff Os. They should start laying in about 2 more months. I think I am gong to get some more white and some Brown leghorn pullets from a different t supplier this months. I was only going to get few hens as a hobby but i have coworkers and friends begging to buy free range eggs.

 

[Michael Apple]

i bought 4 white leghorns and 4 RIRS this past spring form a local feeds store. I lost 2 of the reds and two of the leghorns at 8 weeks. Don't know why.
On of the remaining leghorns turned out to be a roo that has never crowed. The hen only lays 2 eggs a week. I am glad to here your stories. I was having doubts about getting any more leghorns. The two RIRs lay 10 eggs a week. I also have some lavenvelder /RIR mixed and 7 Buff Os. They should start laying in about 2 more months. I think I am gong to get some more white and some Brown leghorn pullets from a different t supplier this months. I was only going to get few hens as a hobby but i have coworkers and friends begging to buy free range eggs.

Have you had them on medicated feed or used Corid in water as a preventative starting at about 2-3 weeks of age?

 

[7th D Chicks]

My Leghorns lay daily,They all have different personalitys,They will be one this Easter.
I dont know if I want another type of chicken.

 

[kglazier]

I thought corid is for cattle. I use medicated start n grow crumbles for first four weeks, than non medicated till 12 weeks than mix start n grow and layer pellets for a few weeks and switch to all layer pellets around 18 weeks. I provide access to grit, oyster shell, grass, clover, and fruit also.

 

[Michael Apple]

I thought corid is for cattle. I use medicated start n grow crumbles for first four weeks, than non medicated till 12 weeks than mix start n grow and layer pellets for a few weeks and switch to all layer pellets around 18 weeks. I provide access to grit, oyster shell, grass, clover, and fruit also.

Corid is amprolium, the same medicine found in medicated starter feed. For at least the first 6 months of a chicken's life, it is susceptible to Coccidiosis. I don't use medicated feed since I've raised chicks on it and still saw symptoms of coccidiosis. Instead, I use a preventative dose of Corid in waterers every 3 weeks from the age of about 3 weeks up to at least 7 months. I then follow up with vitamins-minerals-probiotics in the water for 3 days. I saw a big difference since following that method some years ago. If you try that on one group of chicks and not the other, you will see the difference.

 

[kglazier]

Corid is amprolium, the same medicine found in medicated starter feed. For at least the first 6 months of a chicken's life, it is susceptible to Coccidiosis. I don't use medicated feed since I've raised chicks on it and still saw symptoms of coccidiosis. Instead, I use a preventative dose of Corid in waterers every 3 weeks from the age of about 3 weeks up to at least 7 months. I then follow up with vitamins-minerals-probiotics in the water for 3 days. I saw a big difference since following that method some years ago. If you try that on one group of chicks and not the other, you will see the difference.

Thanks for the info. My fock is mixed ages. Any reason not to add corid to water if 9 mth old chickens have access to the water. Do you de-worm your chickens? I've got 10 that will start laying in about 6 weeks. I would need to do it now.

 

[Michael Apple]

Thanks for the info. My fock is mixed ages. Any reason not to add corid to water if 9 mth old chickens have access to the water. Do you de-worm your chickens? I've got 10 that will start laying in about 6 weeks. I would need to do it now.

You'll notice I mentioned a "preventative" dose every 3rd week from 2-3 weeks of age up until at least 7 months of age. Some people do treat this way up to 9 months because a chicken is developed at that point. That is for immunity. For example, Corid comes in two forms, a 20% powder in a plastic/foil pack or 9.6% liquid in a plastic bottle. A preventative dose would be 1/2 tsp of 20% powder per gallon of water, and the 9.6% liquid would be 1 tsp per gallon of water, with a fresh solution given each day for 5 days. Actual treatment of Coccidiosis symptoms would be 1 tsp of 20% powder, or 2 tsp of 9.6% liquid for 5-7 days. Whenever medicine or antibiotics are used, it is always recommended to supplement water with vitamins,minerals and probiotics. Avian Super Pack + Probios dispersible powder, or other poultry vitamins containing probiotics can be used to do that.

Coccidiosis exists in the environment and oocysts can sporulate and become airborne. It is when a bird ingests too much of the protozoa that it can damage the intestinal tract. Older birds are less prone to this since they build resistance to it.

In regard to intestinal worms, much depends on environment too. Worms and worm eggs exist in soil, invertebrates, lizards, rodents, so people often worm to a schedule they find effective. I witnessed cecal worms in a dropping last year after my flock was about 8 months of age. I treated them each with an oral dose of Safe-Guard liquid at 1/2 cc, and then another 1/2 cc ten days later. The ingredient in Safe-Guard is Fenbendazole which kills all worms that effect chickens with the exception of tapeworms. Valbazen suspension is another liquid wormer which contains Albendazole. Albendazole kills all species of worms. The dosage is the same for Valbazen as for Safe-Guard. Younger birds are more prone to worms just like coccidiosis, and older birds develop resistance with a proper diet and good yard/coop management.

 

[McCaskill]

I am hopefully getting two WL started pullets friday and if they are anything like the ones in this post i will be VERY happy

 

[Michael Apple]

I am hopefully getting two WL started pullets friday and if they are anything like the ones in this post i will be VERY happy

Congratulations. I'm very fond of Leghorns. I hope you get some healthy pullets.