Egg meat breed of Leghorn chickens
The Leghorn breed of chickens appeared in Russia in the last century. Luxurious appearance is not the main advantage of such chickens. The Leghorn hen has many other qualities, which makes this laying hen one of the most common in the CIS countries. These qualities include their high resilience and adaptability, which is especially important in a harsh climate practically throughout Russia.
Chickens Leghorn
Also, the strong points include high egg production and fertility. Together, these factors make the Leghorn breed effective both at home and on the poultry farm. Before purchasing birds, you can go to the video forum and study the description of Leghorn chickens, read the reviews of the owners of such individuals.
The origin of the breed
The history of the Leghorn began in Italy, therefore sometimes this breed is also called the Italian Leghorn rooster. The breed can be attributed to egg and at the same time to meat orientation... Note that at that time, they did not have any particular attractiveness for breeding, since the egg production indicator was at a very low level, deleting the breed from the TOP list. Chickens were also common in the United States, where local farmers conducted experiments on them crossing Leghorns with other breeds.
Further breeding work was carried out in Europe. It should be noted that local breeders did just a huge amount of work before they got it. increase egg production breed. Another significant success of the Europeans was the increase in the growth of young animals. Thus, the attractiveness of the Leghorn breed began to grow at a fairly significant rate. A laying hen saw the Soviet Union in 1925. With the development of poultry farming, the country's leadership also relied on the Leghorn breed, it was then that the White Leghorn chicken was bred. It happened in 1960. Nowadays, the breed has proved to be quite popular in the matter of breeding new highly egg-bearing breeds of chickens.
Description of Leghorn chickens
In Russia, the most widespread breed is the White Leghorn. This popularity is due to the record high egg production. A distinctive feature of this breed is its low weight, only 2.5 kg is an almost dwarf Leghorn. The chicken begins to rush from the 4th month. Kura is characterized by the following external qualities:
- Long and thin neck.
- Comb in the form of a leaf.
- Wedge-shaped physique.
- Neat head.
- Quite bulky belly.
- Wide chest.
- The plumage is dense.
- The legs of the young are yellow, the adult chickens have white paws.
- Wide tail.
- The iris of the eyes: in young animals its color is brown or dark orange, in adults it is pale yellow.
- Ears - blue or white with red earrings.
The breed of chickens is white Leghorn, its color has a fairly wide palette of colors, in particular, Leghorn chickens have: spotted color (variegated), brown, silver, speckled Dalmatians, also with golden color (yellow), striped variegated, cuckoo-partridge, black or brown colors ... Brown Leghorn and Leghorn brown in roosters, looks very aesthetically pleasing, where gold and scarlet color clearly prevails over black as you can see Leghorn photo. Layers of the White Leghorn breed of chickens have a slightly similar, but different color of plumage. Leghorn laying hens are extremely friendly. The benefit of keeping birds is its simplicity. Leghorn chicks are quite easy to care for, have a high level of vitality. You can see this breed of Leghorn in the photo.
Dwarf variety
Leghorn is also a dwarf variety, it is the same breed only in a reduced copy. The dwarf breed is considered super egg. Despite the small size of individuals, the eggs that the Leghorn hen bring in are not inferior in weight and dimensions to other similar breeds. In terms of productivity, the Leghorn dwarf has very good performance. Dwarf Leghorn B33 is famous for its egg production up to 280 pieces per year.
An adult female of the dwarf white leghorn variety weighs 1.2-1.4 kg. Male 1.4-1.7 kg. Their feather color is white, but brown is also often found. The characteristic of mini leghorns is such that they begin to rush from 4 months, regardless of whether it is a poultry farm or a private backyard. Dwarf Leghorn and its characteristics indicate the unusual temperament of these individuals. Chickens can travel decent distances in search of food. It is very important for such individuals to go for a daily walk in search of pasture, and late in the evening to return to their roost so that the breed of mini dwarf Leghorn chickens does not stagnate in the cages.
The mini Leghorn chickens in the photo show that they love to fly and can fly to the level of trees, so give them that opportunity. It's just that if you think that chickens and chickens can fly off your site, then you can install a high mesh fence or fence. Dwarf birds are wary and apprehensive about humans. In the presence of a person, they can become nervous. You can study the dwarf species in more detail in photos or video resources.
Cost of Leghorn chickens
The price of such a bird varies greatly depending on where you plan to purchase individuals. The sale of high-quality individuals mainly takes place through breeders, their price is certainly higher, but there are guarantees that you buy a healthy and purebred breed of real species of Leghorn chickens. In hand-held ads, the price of undocumented Leghorns can be from 400 rubles per individual. Before buying chickens, you should familiarize yourself with the seller, if possible, study customer reviews. Chickens are more expensive than adult birds. It is best to start a couple at once, in order to reproduce later. The Leghorn roosters in the photo are real beauties and have excellent reviews. When buying, consider factors such as:
- purity and color of feathers
- having a clear view
- chicken activity
- lack of visible manifestations of various diseases
- availability of documents, certificates and vaccinations
Productivity of chickens
Lebanese individuals have good productivity and excellent rush, which contributed to its significant distribution. The laying hen begins to lay when it reaches puberty - at 4 months. On average, a chicken produces 160 to 230 eggs annually. The average egg weight is 60 grams. The shell is hard and white in color. The weight of the males is slightly more than that of the females. Respectively. If the female did not hatch the egg, then incubation will help preserve it.
The acclimatization of chickens is going just fine.In conditions of frequent frosts, the plumage warms the body well, the bare parts lend themselves to frostbite extremely rarely, therefore the Leghorn breed of chickens is easy to maintain.
If you feed such a variety of birds with high quality and satisfying, then you can achieve good performance. If you are planning to start your own business for the supply of meat or eggs, then such a productive breed of Leghorn would be a great start to a small business.
Maintenance and care
White Leghorn is suitable for a variety of conditions. So they can be kept both in cage batteries and on the floor of the chicken coop. In terms of walking, they are also unpretentious. In industrial breeding, most often they have to huddle in cages, but this practically does not affect their main advantages. Although it is worth making a reservation here, in such conditions there are frequent bird diseases... For the purpose of preventive measures, hormones are added to the hens' feed and antibiotics... The conditions in the factory are specifically geared towards the benefit of keeping chickens in the form of egg production. Usually, leghorn hens of laying hens in such conditions live no more than a year, as they are completely depleted.
At the level of egg-laying, a noisy environment can also negatively affect, the chickens begin to behave as if in hysterics, rushing around the cage and the Leghorn loses its egg production. Such careless actions can lead to extremely negative consequences. In the conditions of home care for Leghorn, it is enough to carry out simple manipulations in the chicken coop: you need to regularly clean the room so that the white feathers do not get dirty, set a sufficient amount drinkers and feeder... It is thanks to this simple care of the breed that it is so popular not only on farms, but also on home grounds.
How to feed the chickens?
Leghorns are not demanding in terms of food, they eat little, and they have no particular preferences. The single most important requirement is the quality of the feed. For the sake of increasing egg production, it is recommended to maintain a balance between proteins and minerals. Watch for a variety of feeding. Feed should always be in the trough. Leghorns are given for use:
- Corn
- Bone meal
- a piece of chalk
- Slaked lime and other mineral-rich substances
Use wet mixes in feeding, with the presence of vitamins and proteins in their composition. Keep the water clean. Such feeding will lead to significant success, and the return will not be long in coming. It is recommended to store feed in a closed room with good ventilation. If the food becomes damp, then it will no longer be suitable for food for birds. Also, take care to close all the holes in the room, otherwise the food will immediately attract the attention of rodents, which are carriers of many diseases.
Breeding Leghorns
Particular attention should be paid to this feature of the breed: Leghorns cannot boast of developed maternal instincts, this is expressed in the chicken's inability to incubate an egg. Thus, it is possible to obtain an addition only with the use of incubation technologies or to make a lining of eggs for a hen of a different breed. It is best to purchase an incubator automatic, it will maintain the required temperature and humidity for growing eggs, and some incubators have the ability to turn the testicles on their own. When you place immature eggs in it, then all chicks hatch at about the same time with a difference of up to 5 hours.
Before laying eggs in the incubator, it is absolutely impossible to wash them. The fact is that on each egg there is a special protective film, it is invisible, transparent, but protects the future chick from the penetration of viruses and bacteria. The film is located on top of the shell, so it cannot be washed or squeezed. If there is chicken droppings on the eggs, then it must be carefully removed.
Dirty eggs should not be placed in the incubator.
From the very first days, the chicks are fed with an egg, having previously rolled it in flour.When the babies get a little older, they carefully begin to add greens, ground grain, bone meal to the food. From the age of one month, the chickens are transferred to adult feeding. In the warm season, all birds should be taken out for a walk, and it is better to build a transition from the house to the street, so that, if desired, individuals can graze on the grass all day. Chickens that spend more time in the fresh air fight less and do not go into conflicts. Fresh air and healthy grass have a calming effect on birds.
Possible difficulties with the Leghorn breed
Cage and cramped conditions are the main enemy of egg-laying. Due to uncleared cells, a variety of diseases can develop. As already mentioned, for the purpose of prevention, hormones and antibiotics can be used, but such substances very quickly deplete the chicken, and it becomes completely unusable. These hens are processed and marketed as carcasses. Leghorns can also be kept with breeds of other chickens. Such a decision will be very positive, especially in view of the inability to incubate eggs in layers.
Perhaps due to the fact that hens leave eggs, which is why Leghorn chickens have developed a high vitality, which cannot but please the business executives. Of course, this does not mean that caring for them can be neglected. They also need human attention.
Twin breeds
Leghorn also has very similar relatives. One of these breeds is the Russian white Leghorn chicken. We will consider the description of its breed. Outwardly, they are almost identical. The color of the feathers of the Russian chicken is snow-white. The indicators of early maturity, color of eggs and their properties are also similar. The Russian white, however, has one very important superiority over her "sister", they have a much more developed instinct for hatching eggs. The main advantages of the Russian chicken are the mass of the laying hen, the parameters of the eggs, the quality of viability and ease of care.
Farmers most often start this type of chickens in farmsteads in the central and western part of Russia, since the bird is resistant to temperature changes and is not afraid of slight cold weather. The immunity of the white Russian breed of chickens is quite stable and the bird rarely suffers from common diseases. It is recommended to breed and keep such breeds together, just for the normal incubation of chicks. Russian white chicken is very popular in our farmsteads and this variety is brought up both on small farms and on entire agricultural farms.
Popular questions and answers about Leghorn chickens
- Is it possible to determine by the appearance of the chicken whether it is ready for laying? In young chickens that have reached the required age, the color of the comb changes. Birds not yet ready have a smaller comb.
- Can a Leghorn hen lay eggs without a rooster? Of course, chickens run perfectly well without a rooster. A sexually mature hen can easily do without the participation of a rooster, he does not participate in the egg production process. But, one feature should be noted here - the laid eggs are not fertilized, which makes it impossible for them to hatch chicks. This means that in breeding chickens, the rooster occupies an important niche. However, the main paradox is that if you only need Leghorn laying hens for eggs, then keeping a rooster with it is not recommended.
- Eggs laid on a farm or on a private property differ in the color of the yolk. Which ones are more useful? As for the color of the yolk, it depends entirely on what the hen is fed with. A bird that has access to free range, a more balanced diet, the presence of greens in food, will lay an egg with a yolk more saturated than a chicken raised at the enterprise. However, the researchers argue that there is no actual difference in the nutritional properties of these eggs.
- How is Leghorn chickens vaccinated? When should you get the vaccine? And is it necessary at all? Vaccinations are a very important part of raising chickens and must be followed.Vaccination is done against salmonella, infectious bronchitis, bursitis, mycoplasmosis, coccidiosis, diseases of Marek, Newcastle, Rhino tracheitis.
Useful Tips
It is very profitable to breed Leghorn chickens both for their own purposes and on an industrial scale. Content is kept to a minimum. They are quite unpretentious in care and food. They eat a little, which also creates economic benefits. They are well suited for egg production. To make the egg shell stronger, you need to feed the birds with special calcium-based additives, only in this case the shell will not have defects and dents. Before the first laying, the chickens should be prepared and, first of all, the diet should be changed in advance. The feed is changed to one that contains a little more protein, which helps to form the reproductive system.
To save food, which all individuals love to scatter in different directions during a meal, you can not completely fill the feeder. Adult birds should be given all the necessary vitamins and minerals before laying eggs. To prevent bacteria from growing in drinkers and feeders, they should be washed and disinfected after each meal. It is necessary to show birds to the veterinarian 1-2 times a year.