Leghorn chicken

For the city in Tuscany, see Livorno.

Italian breed of chicken

Leghorn

Cock and hen

Conservation status| FAO 2007: not at risk[1]: 151
Other names|

* Livorno
* Livornese

Use| eggs
Traits
Weight|

* Male:

2.4–3.4 kg

* Female:

2.0–2.5 kg

Skin colour| yellow[2]: 114
Egg colour| white
Comb type| single or rose
Classification
APA| Mediterranean[3]
EE| yes[4]
PCGB| soft feather: light[5]

* Chicken
* Gallus gallus domesticus

The Leghorn (US: /ˈlɛɡhɔːrn/ LEG-horn, UK: /lɛˈɡɔːrn/ leg-ORN; Italian: livorno or livornese) is an Italian breed of chicken originating in Tuscany, in central Italy. Birds were exported to North America in about 1828 from the Tuscan port city of Livorno,[6] on the Tuscan coast. They were initially called "Italians", but by 1865 the breed was known as "Leghorn", the traditional English name of the city. The breed was introduced to Britain from the United States in 1870.[7] White Leghorns are commonly used as layer chickens in many countries of the world. Other colour varieties are less common.

## History

[edit]

The origins of the Leghorn are not clear; it appears to derive from light breeds originating in rural Tuscany. The name comes from Leghorn, the traditional anglicisation of Livorno, the Tuscan port from which the first birds were exported to North America. The date of the earliest exports is variously reported as 1828,[6] "about 1830"[8]: 46 and 1852.[9] The birds were initially known as "Italians"; they were first referred to as "Leghorns" in 1865, in Worcester, Massachusetts.[10]

The Leghorn was included in the The Standard of Excellence as adopted by the American Poultry Society of A.M. Halsted in 1867 in two colours: white (both single- and rose-combed) and Dominique.[11]: 13 Three colours – black, white and brown (light and dark) – were included in the American Standard of Perfection in 1874. Rose-combed light and dark brown were added in 1883, and rose-combed white in 1886. Single-combed buff and silver followed in 1894, and red, black-tailed red, and Columbian in 1929. In 1981 rose-combed black, buff, silver, and golden duckwing were added.[9]

Some white Leghorns that had won first prize at the 1868 New York Show were imported to Britain in 1870, and brown birds from 1872;[12]: 161 some were later re-exported to Italy.[6] These birds were small, not exceeding 1.6 kg in weight; weight was increased by cross-breeding with Minorca and Malay stock.[12]: 161 Pyle Leghorns were bred in Britain in the 1880s; gold and silver duckwings originated there a few years later, from crosses with Phoenix or Japanese Yokohama birds. Buff Leghorns were seen in Denmark in 1885, and in England in 1888.[13]: 411

## Characteristics

[edit]

A brown hen

In Italy, where the Livorno breed standard is recent, ten colour varieties are recognised;[6] there is a separate Italian standard for the German Leghorn variety, the Italiana (German: Italiener).[6] The Fédération Française des Volailles (the French poultry federation) divides the breed into three types: the Leghorn américaine or American Leghorn, in white only; the Leghorn anglaise or English Leghorn, in six colours; and the Livourne or Italian type, for which twenty-one colour variants are listed for full-size birds, and nineteen for bantams.[14] In the United States ten colours – white, red, black-tailed red, light brown, dark brown, black, buff, Columbian, buff Columbian and silver – are recognised for single-combed large fowl, of which six are also recognised for rose-combed birds; colours for bantams are the same, with the addition only of single-combed barred. In Britain, the Leghorn Club recognises eighteen colours: golden duckwing, silver duckwing, partridge, brown, buff, exchequer, Columbian, pyle, white, black, blue, mottled, cuckoo, blue-red, lavender, red, crele and buff Columbian.[7] The comb is usually single; a rose comb is permitted in some countries, but not in Italy. The legs are bright yellow, and the ear-lobes white.[6]

The Italian standard gives a weight range of 2.4–2.7 kg (5.5–6 lb) for cocks, 2.0–2.3 kg (4.5–5 lb) for hens.[6] According to the British standard, full-grown Leghorn cocks weigh 3.4 kg (7.5 lb) and hens 2.5 kg; for bantams the maximum weight is 1020 g for cocks and 910 g for hens.[7] Ring size for large fowl is 18 mm for cocks and 16 mm for hens; for bantams it is 13 mm and 11 mm respectively.[15]

## Use

[edit]

Leghorns are good layers of white eggs, laying an average of 280 per year and sometimes reaching 300–320, with a weight of at least 55 g.[6] White Leghorns have been much used to create highly productive egg-laying hybrids for commercial and industrial operations.[12]: 161

## References

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Leghorn.

1. ^ Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020.
2. ^ [s.n.] (1998). The American Standard of Perfection. Mendon, Massachusetts: American Poultry Association.
3. ^ APA Recognized Breeds and Varieties: As of 1 January 2012. American Poultry Association. Archived 4 November 2017.
4. ^ Liste des races et variétés homologuée dans les pays EE (28.04.2013). Entente Européenne d’Aviculture et de Cuniculture. Archived 16 June 2013.
5. ^ Breed Classification. Poultry Club of Great Britain. Archived 12 June 2018.
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Atlante delle razze di Polli - Razze italiane: Livorno Accessed December 2011. (in Italian).
7. ^ a b c Standards. The Leghorn Club. Accessed December 2011.
8. ^ R.D. Crawford (1990) Poultry breeding and genetics. Amsterdam; New York: Elsevier. ISBN 9780444885579.
9. ^ a b Leghorn Chicken. American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, 1993–2009. Accessed December 2011.
10. ^ Background On The Brown Leghorn Chicken. American Brown Leghorn Club, 1998–2004. Accessed December 2011.
11. ^ [A.M. Halsted] (1867). The Standard of Excellence as adopted by the American Poultry Society, being a reprint of the same as compiled and adopted by the London Poultry Club, with alterations and additions, adapting it to America. New York: A.M. Halsted.
12. ^ a b c Victoria Roberts (2008). British poultry standards: complete specifications and judging points of all standardized breeds and varieties of poultry as compiled by the specialist breed clubs and recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 9781405156424.
13. ^ Lewis Wright, Sidney Herbert Lewer ([1911]). Wright's Book of Poultry. Revised and edited in accordance with the latest Poultry Club standards. London; New York; Toronto; Melbourne: Cassell & Co.
14. ^ Liste des races et variétés de volailles reconnues en France – Janvier 2025 (in French). Paris: Fédération Française des Volailles. Accessed June 2025.
15. ^ Diamètres bagues poules (in French). Paris: Fédération Française des Volailles. Accessed June 2025.

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Chicken breeds of Italy

* Ancona
* Bianca di Saluzzo
* Bionda Piemontese
* Ciuffine Ghigi
* Collo Nudo Italiano
* Ermellinata di Rovigo
* Italiana
* Livorno
* Mericanel della Brianza
* Millefiori di Lonigo
* Millefiori Piemontese
* Modenese
* Mugellese
* Padovana
* Padovana Riccia
* Pépoi
* Polverara
* Robusta Lionata
* Robusta Maculata
* Romagnola
* Siciliana
* Valdarno
* Valdarnese

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