Leghorns. 
313 
As egg-producers, various prominent Poultry authorities in America speak highly of the Brown variety, 
one breeder stating that he possessed one hen which laid over 300 eggs in a year, Mr. I. K. Felch also 
stating " that he knew of one hen of the original importation which laid one hundred and fifty-nine days in 
succession, and had the assertion of a friend that one hen laid two hundred and seventy-five eggs in a year ; 
but the largest number of which I know personally, and which I deem very extraordinary, was two hundred 
and fifty. An average, in my experience, has been from 175 to 200 eggs in a year." 
That Leghorns have been very much improved by the art of the breeder is without doubt. The birds 
now exhibited have lost many of the marked original characteristics, though a certain and decided general 
improvement in type. Fancy points, and plumage has taken place. The whole race of Leghorns is 
extraordinarily hardy, active, and vigorous, and will exist under conditions and surroundings that would prove 
fatal to many breeds. A warm or hot climate suits them infinitely better than a wet or cold one. Their 
main characteristic— that of egg-producing — is beyond doubt, and they are aptly named the Queen of Layers, 
producing eggs of a delicate flavour, and with a white and smooth shell. A Leghorn egg alongside of a 
Cochin or Langshan egg is slightly insipid, but to some palates this is an advantage. The hens belong to 
the non-sitting varieties, and where quantity of eggs is a desideratum this is a further advantage. A great 
mistake, and one generally recognised, is that the cockerels are of little or no use for table purposes. This 
is not altogether true, as a cockerel five or six months old is a fair bird for home consumption, though not to 
be compared in quality and quantity of meat with any of the Game races or Dorking. Though the hens 
generally are non-sitters, there is an occasional instance or two on record in which pure Leghorn hens have 
taken to the nest, hatched the eggs, and proved excellent mothers ; but these cases are very rare indeed, and 
the breed may with comparative safety be placed amongst the non-sitting varieties. As a Farmer's Fowl 
there are few, if any, to surpass them, costing, where good range can be allowed, but a trifle to keep in the 
way of bought food ; though, again, if kept in confinement they will do almost as well, if liberally supplied 
with good food, pure water, and an abundance of green food. The chickens are very precocious. Cockerels 
often begin crowing at the age of nine or ten weeks, and pullets starting to lay at from eighteen to twenty-two 
weeks old. Leghorns are bred in quite a variety of colours, viz.. White, Brown, Pile, Cuckoo, Duckwing, 
Buff, and Black, also minor varieties such as the Mottled, Rose-combs, Dappled Greys, and Partridge. Chief 
of the whole race stands the White variety, though they have suffered much by the craze for size, and it will 
not be wide of the mark to state that the White Minorca blood is much in evidence in some specimens. As 
a rule, the Whites are somewhat larger than the other colours. In mating White Leghorns for breeding, 
little difficulty is likely to arise on the question of feather properties ; it is the Fancy points, such as combs, 
wattles, ear-lobes, legs, and feet, that will give the most trouble. 
The following notes on the Leghorn Fowl are kindly supplied by Mr. J. B. Crawford, " Broomward," 
Alphington, Victoria. Mr. Crawford writes : — 
" This variety seems to be specially adapted to the Australian climate, its natural home being Italy, 
the climate of which is very similar to this country. I have noticed in parts of Italy that most of the Fowls 
there have many of the characteristics of our Show Leghorn, but a pure specimen is rarely if ever met with ; 
all are small, weedy, and mixed in colour. The Americans first took them in hand, and it is about forty 
years since they first arrived in England as a pure variety. The Whites were the first imported, followed 
shortly afterwards by the Brown. In later years the enterprising English Fancier has produced the Pile, 
Buff, Duckwing, and Black Leghorn. The Leghorn thrives well in almost any climate, but is easier reared 
and comes to greatest perfection under sunny skies, although no finer specimens are to be seen than at some 
of the leading English Shows. These are not produced without a considerable amount of care in housing, 
feeding, and artificial heat in cold weather. In Australia the best months to hatch Leghorns, especially for 
Show purposes, are August and September ; these ought to " spring their combs " in January or February, 
and, as the weather is generally warm and settled at that period of the year, no extra care is required to 
develop all the points requisite in Show specimens, but, as most of the leading Shows take place during the 
winter months, it is wise to have a good supply of later hatched chickens, as a Leghorn pullet never looks 
