What color eggs do Leghorns lay?

**White** eggs — large to extra-large, and lots of them. Leghorns are the classic white-egg layer, and a productive hen lays 250 or more large white eggs a year.

Are Leghorns good for showing?

Yes. They're exhibited in the APA's **Mediterranean** class in about 16 varieties across single-comb and rose-comb types, judged on comb shape, clean white earlobes, yellow legs, and their bold upright carriage. Note that exhibition strains and high-production laying strains have diverged, so show birds are bred to a different standard than hatchery layers.

How hard are Leghorns to hatch?

No harder than any chicken — **99.5–100°F, lockdown day 18, 21-day hatch**. There are no breed-specific incubation quirks. Because the hens rarely go broody, though, you'll usually need an incubator or a broody hen of another breed to hatch the eggs.

Rarely. Generations of selection for continuous laying have largely bred the broody instinct out of Leghorns, so they seldom sit on eggs — plan to incubate if you want chicks. Individual hens occasionally go broody, but you can't count on it.

How many eggs do Leghorns lay?

A great many. Good Leghorn hens average around five large white eggs a week and can lay well past 250 a year, which is why the breed founded the commercial white-egg industry.

Where do Leghorns come from?

Italy. The breed developed from landrace fowl in the Tuscany region and takes its name from **Livorno** (anglicized to 'Leghorn'), the port from which the birds were first exported to America around 1828.

Leghorn: The Premier White-Egg Breed

Verified September 2026White eggs

The short version

The Leghorn is the world's premier white-egg layer — a lightweight, active Mediterranean-class breed originally from Livorno, Italy, that a good hen can pay her way on 250-plus large white eggs a year. First admitted to the APA Standard in 1874, it now comes in about 16 recognized varieties across two comb types (single comb and rose comb), including White, Light and Dark Brown, Buff, Black, Silver, Red, Black-Tailed Red, and Columbian. It is a hard-working layer, rarely broody, and the white commercial layer strains descend from it.

APA class: Mediterranean

Egg color: White

Broodiness: Rarely broody

Varieties: 17

Egg-color genetics

Leghorns lay a chalk-white egg because they deposit no brown pigment (protoporphyrin) on the shell as it forms — the shell stays the color of the calcium carbonate underneath. White shell is the default in the absence of the pigment genes that make brown or blue eggs, and Leghorn strains have been selected to keep that shell clean and bright, which is why they set the commercial standard for the white-egg carton.

Why Leghorns dominate the white-egg market

The Leghorn's combination of small body size, early maturity, and heavy laying makes it extraordinarily feed-efficient: it converts a modest ration into a large white egg with very little wasted on maintaining body mass, which is exactly what a commercial layer operation optimizes for. That efficiency is why virtually every white egg in a supermarket carton comes from a White Leghorn-derived hybrid.

For a home flock the trade-off is temperament. Leghorns are active, alert foragers that can be flighty and are not lap chickens by default, though regular handling settles them. If you want a quiet dual-purpose bird you will look elsewhere; if you want the most white eggs per pound of feed, nothing beats a Leghorn.

Single comb vs rose comb

Both comb types are fully recognized. The single comb is the classic Leghorn look — tall and serrated, standing erect on cocks and folding gracefully over on hens. The rose comb is a solid, low comb that ends in a spike and sits close to the head; it is far less prone to frostbite, which makes rose-comb Leghorns a sensible pick for cold-winter keepers. Comb type is heritable and the varieties are shown separately, so choose one and breed it consistently rather than mixing the two.

Breeding notes

The Leghorn is the foundation of the white-egg industry: the modern commercial white layer descends from selected White Leghorn strains, so if egg count is your goal, start from production-bred White stock rather than exhibition lines.
Decide early between the two comb types and keep them separate. Single comb is by far the most common and is what most people picture; rose comb is a distinct, APA-recognized alternative that lays combs flat and shrugs off frostbite better in cold climates. Crossing the two muddies comb type for both, so pen single-comb and rose-comb birds apart.
Show type and production type have diverged. Exhibition Leghorns are bred for a bold upright carriage, a large well-serrated single comb, and a big folded-over lobe on the hen, while hatchery production strains are bred purely for feed-efficient egg output. Pick your line to match your goal — you rarely get top show type and record laying in the same bird.
White is the easiest color to breed clean, which is one reason it dominates; the parti-colored varieties (Light Brown, Dark Brown, Duckwing, Silver) demand careful pen selection to hold pattern and avoid smut, brassiness, or mismatched hackle and saddle.
Select for the breed's signature white earlobe. Clean, chalk-white lobes with no red intrusion are a hallmark of the Mediterranean layers, and judges and serious breeders both cull hard against red or blistered lobes.

Showing notes

Leghorns are exhibited in the APA's Mediterranean class; enter by comb type and variety (for example, 'Single Comb White Leghorn, large fowl' or 'Rose Comb Light Brown Leghorn').
The single comb should be large, evenly serrated, upright on the male and folding neatly to one side on the female without obscuring the eye; smooth white earlobes and clean yellow legs are what conditioning should show off. Rose-comb entries are judged to the rose-comb ideal instead — a low, clean comb ending in a well-developed spike.
Keep white varieties free of brassiness (yellow tinge) in the plumage — sun and rich feed can bring it up — and guard the white earlobes against red flecking, which is the most common fault that costs points.
Because the breed is lightweight and active, condition birds so they show off their station and bold, alert carriage; a bird that sulks in the coop shows poorly against the Leghorn's naturally upright, energetic type.

Hatching & incubation

No breed-specific incubation requirements — treat Leghorn eggs like any standard chicken egg: 99.5–100°F forced-air, lockdown day 18, 21-day hatch.
Because Leghorns rarely go broody, plan on an incubator or a broody hen of another breed if you want to hatch their eggs; you generally cannot count on the hens to sit.
Leghorn chicks are quick, vigorous hatchers and notoriously active brooder occupants — secure the brooder lid early, as they flutter and perch far sooner than heavier breeds.

Recognized varieties

Single Comb WhiteSingle Comb Light BrownSingle Comb Dark BrownSingle Comb BuffSingle Comb BlackSingle Comb SilverSingle Comb RedSingle Comb Black-Tailed RedSingle Comb ColumbianSingle Comb Golden DuckwingSingle Comb BarredRose Comb WhiteRose Comb Light BrownRose Comb Dark BrownRose Comb BuffRose Comb BlackRose Comb Silver

Frequently asked questions

What color eggs do Leghorns lay?: White eggs — large to extra-large, and lots of them. Leghorns are the classic white-egg layer, and a productive hen lays 250 or more large white eggs a year.
Are Leghorns good for showing?: Yes. They're exhibited in the APA's Mediterranean class in about 16 varieties across single-comb and rose-comb types, judged on comb shape, clean white earlobes, yellow legs, and their bold upright carriage. Note that exhibition strains and high-production laying strains have diverged, so show birds are bred to a different standard than hatchery layers.
How hard are Leghorns to hatch?: No harder than any chicken — 99.5–100°F, lockdown day 18, 21-day hatch. There are no breed-specific incubation quirks. Because the hens rarely go broody, though, you'll usually need an incubator or a broody hen of another breed to hatch the eggs.
Are Leghorns broody?: Rarely. Generations of selection for continuous laying have largely bred the broody instinct out of Leghorns, so they seldom sit on eggs — plan to incubate if you want chicks. Individual hens occasionally go broody, but you can't count on it.
How many eggs do Leghorns lay?: A great many. Good Leghorn hens average around five large white eggs a week and can lay well past 250 a year, which is why the breed founded the commercial white-egg industry.
Where do Leghorns come from?: Italy. The breed developed from landrace fowl in the Tuscany region and takes its name from Livorno (anglicized to 'Leghorn'), the port from which the birds were first exported to America around 1828.

Sources

Leghorn Chicken (breed history, varieties, egg color, status) — The Livestock Conservancy (Reference)
Leghorn Chickens (breed encyclopedia: origin, varieties, production) — Oklahoma State University, Department of Animal Science (Reference)
Breed Spotlight: Leghorns (egg laying, broodiness, comb, varieties) — Murray McMurray Hatchery (Hatchery)

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