Leghorn Chickens

Why Leghorn's?

We purchased our first chickens four years ago from Murray McMurray Hatchery. We decided to purchase a variety of chickens and see which ones we liked in the end. We had bantam cochins, barred rocks, sultans, light Brahma bantams, Sumatra bantams, and one leghorn. Out of all the breeds, the Leghorn stood out from the rest as being more intelligent, friendly, and a great forager. In the end we sold most of the other chickens and purchased 15 more leghorns. They all exhibit the wonderful characteristics we were hoping for. They are all highly intelligent, very active and forage throughout the property. They love the garden and the forested areas and we often find them in trees. They always come back to the barn at night to roost. We keep fresh water and food out for them, but we think they prefer the insects and vegetation instead. They are never locked up and come and go as they please with the ducks, however they do enjoy being in the goat and pig pastures.

Eggs

Leghorns are excellent egg layers and we collect their eggs daily. We do not keep a rooster (too noisy!) so we don't have fertile eggs and don't raise any young. These eggs are strictly for the kitchen. We do sell eggs when we have an extra abundance and we keep a waiting list of people interested in purchasing eggs. People receive higher importance on the list when they are more consistent in purchasing eggs. If you would like to be added to the list please contact us.

Please also see our "For Sale" page for pricing and availability.

Breed Description

Originally known as the "Italian," from its country of origin, this breeds name was changed to "Leghorn" when they were shipped from the Ligurian Sea. The world "Ligurian" sounded, to non-native ears, like "Leghorn," so that became the chicken's name. The first importation of Leghorns to America occurred in 1835. They were later shipped to England, after which they became the most commonly utilized breed of chicken in the world. Today, it is uncommon to find another breed used in egg production establishments.
A small bird, Leghorn cocks rarely weigh over six pounds. The hens are smaller, averaging around 4.5 pounds. The hen's comb flops to the side, a unique characteristic of the breed. These flopping combs can be of either the single or the rose varieties. Leghorns appear in a variety of shades. Most Leghorns are white, but they can also be varying shades of brown and tan, black, red, silver, or of the Columbian, Golden Duckwing or Black-Tailed Red varieties.

Leghorn hens are non-broody, meaning that they do not tend to sit on their eggs to hatch them. Leghorns are excellent layers of white eggs (around 280 per year) and are very highly valued for their egg-laying capabilities. Leghorns are very active, energetic birds. The Leghorn is an excellent forager. They often subsist primarily on food found in farm or barnyards and rarely require extra feed. They are very efficient at converting feed to energy and egg laying, producing large numbers of large, white eggs. Unlike many other breeds of chicken, the Leghorn can fly and enjoys roosting in trees if given the opportunity. (centralpets.com)