KINTALINE FARM PLANT AND POULTRY CENTRE Benderloch by OBAN Argyll PA37 1QS Scotland
2010 is a year for re-evaluating all our values and working to improve our personal sustainability, there has never been a better time to get our gardens working harder for ourselves, growing our own food: meat and eggs, recycling more, breeding more useful types of birds, and helping each other.
Our websites are full of experienced advice, from decades of breeding and rearing and eating, and well researched, reliable, state of the art products for the domestic environment.
We look forward to helping you get more out of your garden or smallholding, and your birds, for a fulfilling 2010.
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We are very busy outside these days so, sometimes, the office is not manned.
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ardchattan parish benderloch, barcaldine, north connel, bonawe


Ardchattan parish : Benderloch, Barcaldine, North connel, Bonawe - Past and Present
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Kintaline : Chickens : Utility breeds : LEGHORN
What are we breeding in 2010? ~ ~ Contact Us ~ ~ About Us

UTILITY LEGHORN CHICKENS
young white leghorn henLeghorns are one of the best known breeds of chicken. They produce the majority of the world's crop of large white eggs and is possibly the most important commercial egg producing breed in the world (certainly in America).

The utility White Leghorns we have are good producers. The White Leghorns were the colour variety which received most attention in the stock improvement era (20's - 50's), and we have got birds from some of the old lines.

Few of these lines now exist in the UK - most strains have been either bred without selection for egg numbers and quality or have been bred for the show ring. This concentration on feather and form frequently is associated with a drop in egg numbers.

Leghorns, especially the White ones, can be prodigious egg-layers and broodiness (the desire to hatch eggs) has almost completely been bred out of them. Leghorns are usually hatched out in incubators. A good utility White hen can lay in the vicinity of 250 eggs a year, however the light weight of this breed (males reach 6 pounds and females 4 1/2) makes it a poor choice if you are seeking a bird to provide meat for the table.

brown leghorn cockerel

a young brown leghorn cockerel

The breed originated in Italy, but most of the colour varieties were developed in Great Britain, America and Denmark. It was formerly called the 'Italiana', but later renamed to 'Leghorn' after the city in Italy on the Ligurian Sea from where it was first shipped.
The Leghorn was first imported into America around 1835 and then later into England.
It has an excellent feed to egg conversion ratio and is one of the smaller standard breed chickens. They are alert, and lively. Their large flopped over combs and wattles, and upward stance give them a characteristic appearance. Leghorns are becoming much more popular for small scale poultry keeping, and are a worthwhile breed for this purpose.
betty black leghorn hen
The Black variety tends not to lay quite as well as the White, but is a striking bird.
For some reason the strain we have are particularly friendly - chosing to find people and share their space and time with them.
They are good layers of medium/large eggs, white in colour. It is sometimes suggested that the best utility strains in the 30's were produced with the help of Black Minorcas to improve the egg size. A cross with Rhode Island Reds was also popular. This produces mostly jet black birds.

Although they are not as productive as they were in the past - I have started finding old laying trials records - in 1934 there were Black Leghorns laying around 230 - 250 eggs a year; 200 is a more accurate expectation these days. The Brown seemed more varied from the little info I have got so far from 200 - 250 and the White, in 1934, seemed to average around 275.

One of the aims and responsibilities of all utility poultry owners nowadays is to ensure we concentrate more on the number of eggs our birds are laying - and improving it always.
KINTALINE POULTRY BOOK SHOP posters, cards for sale
black leghorn picture from posterwhite leghorn hen from poster
These pictures of show winners are from a selection of posters we now sell [click on any to see more]

It is interesting the difference in the old cigarette reproductions below - they look more like our birds than the show winners do :~))

Tim and Jill Bowis
Kintaline Mill Farm, Benderloch, OBAN Argyll PA37 1QS Scotland
all text and images are copyright, do not use without express permission and links back to this site. Website online : 1999-2010.
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information about our hardy plant nursery


Our hardy PLANT NURSERY where we grow interesting and unusual perennials, herbs and lots of rhododendrons

poultry waterfowl livestock books videos and gifts mail order


Full range of BOOKS and DVDS's on poultry keeping, other smallholding topics and related gift ideas.

let the white campbell drake take you into the world of ducks at Kintaline


Let the white campbell drake lead you into the world of DUCKS

poultry waterfowl button leading to traditional breeds of hens, ducks and geese and poultry park


Click on Louis to find out about traditional utility breeds of CHICKENS

garden railway G scale


Around the garden we have a G scale Garden Railway track. Tim is delighted to meet fellow enthusiasts

Here at Kintaline Plant and Poultry Centre we have very full days with our birds and plants outside, guests and customers visiting the farm, as well as email and phone customers.
Please email with your daytime and evening telephone numbers if you are having difficulties getting hold of us by phone. We will return your call as soon as we can.

Local Origins Rural Network Oban farmers market Argyll

Local Farmers and Crafters Market - every first and third Thursday of the month, March to Decemberfor producers from Dalmally to Oban, Glencoe to Kilmelford, Lismore and Kerrera.

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