Pure Breed Leghorn Chickens

Leghorns are very versatile and are happy in most situations. They would prefer a set up with lots of foraging as they do like to be out and about, they would also be suited to a back garden set up provided their run had plenty of enrichment or they had plenty of free garden time with you around. Suited in mixed flocks with most other breeds they are very chilled out and kind to other breeds, we have even reared ours with Polish who are notoriously delicate. They can fly so will need a secure enclosure when you are not around, they can also manage a house with a ladder or a ramp, they like to perch and be up high so roosting bars would be ideal for this breed. It is advised to make sure prolific laying hens are well cared for with extra supplements such as multi vitamins, and calcium tonic and a very good quality layer’s feed.

Originating in Tuscany, central Italy, Leghorns were first exported to North America in 1828 from the Tuscan port city of Livorno, on the western coast of Italy. In 1870 this chicken breed was first introduced to Britain from the United States of America and from there re-exported to Italy. Nowadays, white Leghorn chickens are very popular and commercially used layer birds in many countries of the world, known for being a prolific pure breed layer, they can lay up to 300 large white shelled eggs a year. Due to their high yielding egg production Leghorns tend to have a shorter overall life expectancy of about 6 years.