View source for Leghorn chicken

{{for|the city in Tuscany|Livorno}}
{{use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{use list-defined references|date=June 2013}}
{{use British English|date=June 2013}}
{{short description|Italian breed of chicken}}
{{infobox poultry breed
| name          = Leghorn
| image         = Leghorn cockerel and hen.jpg
| image_size    =
| alt           = 
| image_caption  = Cock and hen
| status        = [[FAO]] 2007: not at risk{{r|barb|page=151}}
| altname       = {{ubl|Livorno|Livornese}}
| country       = 
| distribution  =
| standard      =
| use           = eggs
| nickname      =
| apa           = Mediterranean{{r|apa2}}
| aba           = 
| ee            = yes{{r|ee}}
| pcgb          = soft feather: light{{r|pcgb}}
| maleweight    = 2.4–3.4 kg
| femaleweight  = 2.0–2.5 kg
| skincolour    = yellow{{r|apa|p=114}}
| eggcolour     = white
| comb          = single or rose
| note          = 
| type          = [[Chicken]]
| latin         = Gallus gallus domesticus
}}

The '''Leghorn''' ({{IPAc-en|US|ˈ|l|ɛ|ɡ|h|ɔr|n}} {{respell|LEG|horn}}, {{IPAc-en|UK|l|ɛ|ˈ|ɡ|ɔr|n}} {{respell|leg|ORN}}; {{langx|it|livorno}} or {{lang|it|livornese}}) is an Italian [[list of chicken breeds|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]],{{r|agraria}} 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.{{r|club}} White Leghorns are commonly used as layer chickens in many countries of the world. Other [[list of chicken colours|colour varieties]] are less common.

== History ==

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,{{r|agraria}} "about 1830"{{r|crawford|p=46}} and 1852.{{r|albc}} The birds were initially known as "Italians"; they were first referred to as "Leghorns" in 1865, in [[Worcester, Massachusetts]].{{r|brown}}

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.{{r|halsted|p=13}} Three [[list of chicken colours|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.{{r|albc}}

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;{{r|roberts|page=161}} some were later re-exported to Italy.{{r|agraria}} These birds were small, not exceeding {{val|1.6|u=kg}} in weight; weight was increased by [[cross-breeding]] with [[Minorca (chicken)|Minorca]] and [[Malay (chicken)|Malay]] stock.{{r|roberts|page=161}} Pyle Leghorns were bred in Britain in the 1880s; gold and silver duckwings originated there a few years later, from crosses with [[Phoenix (chicken)|Phoenix]] or Japanese [[Yokohama (chicken)|Yokohama]] birds. Buff Leghorns were seen in Denmark in 1885, and in England in 1888.{{r|wright|p=411}}

== Characteristics ==

[[File:Brown Leghorn hen, Ohio.jpg|thumb|A brown hen]]
In Italy, where the Livorno breed standard is recent, ten [[list of chicken colours|colour varieties]] are recognised;{{r|agraria}} there is a separate Italian standard for the German Leghorn variety, the Italiana ({{langx|de|i=no|Italiener}}).{{r|agraria}} The Fédération Française des Volailles (the French poultry federation) divides the breed into three types: the {{lang|fr|i=no|Leghorn américaine}} or American Leghorn, in white only; the {{lang|fr|i=no|Leghorn anglaise}} or English Leghorn, in six colours; and the {{lang|fr|i=no|Livourne}} or Italian type, for which twenty-one colour variants are listed for full-size birds, and nineteen for bantams.{{r|ffv}} 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.{{r|club}} The [[comb (anatomy)|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.{{r|agraria}}

The Italian standard gives a weight range of {{cvt|2.4|–|2.7|kg|round=0.5}} for cocks, {{cvt|2.0|–|2.3|kg||round=0.5}} for hens.{{r|agraria}} According to the British standard, full-grown Leghorn cocks weigh {{cvt|3.4|kg||round=0.5}} and hens {{val|2.5|u=kg}}; for bantams the maximum weight is {{val|1020|u=g}} for cocks and {{val|910|u=g}} for hens.{{r|club}} Ring size for large fowl is {{val|18|u=mm}} for cocks and {{val|16|u=mm}} for hens; for bantams it is {{val|13|u=mm}} and {{val|11|u=mm}} respectively.{{r|ffv2}}

== Use ==

Leghorns are good layers of white [[Chicken eggs|eggs]], laying an average of 280 per year and sometimes reaching 300–320, with a weight of at least {{val|55|u=g}}.{{r|agraria}} White Leghorns have been much used to create highly productive egg-laying hybrids for [[Intensive animal farming|commercial and industrial operations]].{{r|roberts|page=161}}

== References ==
{{commonscat}}
{{reflist|45em|refs=

<ref name=agraria>[http://www.agraria.org/polli/livorno.htm Atlante delle razze di Polli - Razze italiane: Livorno] Accessed December 2011. (in Italian).</ref>

<ref name=albc>[http://www.albc-usa.org/cpl/leghorn.html Leghorn Chicken]. American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, 1993–2009. Accessed December 2011.</ref>

<ref name=apa>[s.n.] (1998). ''The American Standard of Perfection''. Mendon, Massachusetts: American Poultry Association.</ref>

<ref name=apa2>[https://web.archive.org/web/20171104135004/http://www.amerpoultryassn.com/PDF%20Forms/APA%20Recognized%20Breeds%20and%20Varieties%20Sept2012.pdf APA Recognized Breeds and Varieties: As of 1 January 2012]. American Poultry Association. Archived 4 November 2017.</ref>

<ref name=barb>Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). [https://web.archive.org/web/20200623201209/http://www.fao.org/3/a1250e/annexes/List%20of%20breeds%20documented%20in%20the%20Global%20Databank%20for%20Animal%20Genetic%20Resources/List_breeds.pdf List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources], annex to [https://web.archive.org/web/20170110125634/http://www.fao.org/3/a-a1250e.pdf ''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.</ref>

<ref name=brown>[http://www.the-coop.org/leghorn/history.html Background On The Brown Leghorn Chicken]. American Brown Leghorn Club, 1998–2004. Accessed December 2011.</ref>

<ref name=club>[http://www.theleghornclub.com/standards.htm Standards]. The Leghorn Club. Accessed December 2011.</ref>

<ref name=crawford>R.D. Crawford (1990) [https://books.google.it/books?id=VMSF7m2CFTEC&hl=en ''Poultry breeding and genetics'']. Amsterdam; New York: Elsevier. {{isbn|9780444885579}}.</ref>

<ref name=ee>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130616062803/http://www.entente-ee.com/deutsch/sparten/gefluegel/dateien/2013/Verzeichnis%20R%20F%2028042013.xls Liste des races et variétés homologuée dans les pays EE (28.04.2013)]. Entente Européenne d’Aviculture et de Cuniculture. Archived 16 June 2013.</ref>

<ref name=ffv>[https://ffv-volaille.fr/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Varietes-volailles-janvier-2025.pdf Liste des races et variétés de volailles reconnues en France – Janvier 2025] (in French). Paris: Fédération Française des Volailles. Accessed June 2025.</ref>

<ref name=ffv2>[https://ffv-volaille.fr/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Diametres-bagues-poules.pdf Diamètres bagues poules] (in French). Paris: Fédération Française des Volailles. Accessed June 2025.</ref>

<ref name=halsted>[A.M. Halsted] (1867). [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/82501 ''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.</ref>

<ref name=pcgb>[https://web.archive.org/web/20180612143235/http://www.poultryclub.org/img/Breed%20Classification.pdf Breed Classification]. Poultry Club of Great Britain. Archived 12 June 2018.</ref>

<ref name=roberts>Victoria Roberts (2008). [https://books.google.it/books?id=nAfyUHY42u0C&hl=en ''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}}.</ref>

<ref name=wright>Lewis Wright, Sidney Herbert Lewer ([1911]). [https://archive.org/details/wrightsbookofpou00lewe/page/411/mode/1up ''Wright's Book of Poultry. Revised and edited in accordance with the latest Poultry Club standards'']. London; New York; Toronto; Melbourne: Cassell & Co.</ref>
}}

{{Chicken breeds of Italy}}

[[Category:Chicken breeds]]
[[Category:Chicken breeds originating in Italy]]
[[Category:Animal breeds on the RBST Watchlist]]

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