Are Leghorn Chickens Friendly? 

    White Leghorn chickens are known for being some of the most productive egg laying chickens in the world, powering the commercial egg production industry. 

    While they're the perfect laying breed for commercial production, they've got a lot of cons for backyard egg production for the average family- especially when it comes to their temperament and flightiness. 

    So just how friendly (or unfriendly) are White Leghorn chickens, on average?

Are leghorns friendly chickens?

How Friendly Are White Leghorn Chickens?

    I've kept white leghorns for many years, greatly enjoying the number of eggs they lay, the wonderful egg quality, and the size of the eggs. 

    However, I don't exactly keep them for their temperaments. Before I get ahead of myself, I want to say that I currently have leghorns on both ends of the scale: friendly & docile, and wild & flighty. You have to carefully weigh the pros and cons of White Leghorns before adding them; you'll be glad you did. 

The leghorns will come right up to me for food; however, their much flightier nature is very obvious when hens of other breeds are within the same flock.

    My friendly leghorn is only friendly due to extensive handling. She follows me everywhere, and climbs into (and onto) everything I touch. If I'm in the garden digging, she's getting under my hands to take the bugs. She largely allows you to pick her up, and seems to greatly enjoy being carried around. This was not intentional; this transpired over the course of several years. She is now carted around by our children, and seems to be perfectly fine with it, as she can quickly outrun them when desired. 

The large, white eggs of leghorns are absolutely wonderful! This drowns out their flighty nature for me; they're the most feed efficient livestock that we own. 

    I do believe that extensive handling combined with a more docile hen (as compared to the majority) can produce a friendly white Leghorn. It will require extensive handling, lots of time, and lots of cardio, though. These birds are lightning fast! 

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White Leghorns: Flighty, Timid, Anxious (and  Aggressive Roosters!)

    Overall, these birds are not known for being friendly. They're very flighty, fearful birds that will avoid you at all costs (aside from feeding.) They are very wild-like. If you don't plan to handle your chickens much, this isn't an issue. We typically don't handle our hens unless necessary, they're less of pets and more livestock here. We greatly enjoy our chickens, but we don't carry them around & hold them (except for the one, overly-friendly Leghorn hen.) I will say that the hens are not mildly aggressive like hens of some other breeds can be; they're simply flighty and anxious.

This guy was the docile rooster when he wasn't the leader of the flock. Once he became the leader, he became incredibly aggressive. This is the nature of the leghorn rooster, it's very important to keep this in mind if you are planning for a breeding flock. 

    In addition, the White Leghorn roosters have a reputation for being very aggressive across the board. In my experience, this is true. All of the leghorn roosters I've owned have been human aggressive, and heavily so. Not just an annual, one-off, springtime, hormone-induced spurring like most breeds, but a steady, consistent, daily desire to show aggression. I'm not afraid of roosters, and I walk into my flocks' runs daily; most roosters don't test me every day, but the leghorns will. I highly recommend avoiding leghorn roosters if you have children or are just starting with chickens due to this behavior. 

Leghorn chicks are incredibly cute, though!

    The only seemingly docile leghorn rooster that I owned became aggressive as well. He was only docile because he wasn't the dominant rooster. When I removed the dominant rooster, he quickly assumed the role and became aggressive.

Should You Have a Leghorn Flock?

    The birds you choose for your flock should closely align with the purpose of your flock.

    If you're looking for birds that are going to be laying machines, maximizing the eggs you harvest while minimizing feed costs due to incredible feed efficiency, while admiring them from afar, this might be the breed of chicken for you.

    If you're looking for a pet flock that you can carry around and hold, a lap chicken if you will, and you're not looking for maximum production, I would skip this breed. One of the best chickens for building a pet flock is the Silkie. They're incredibly docile overall, and very soft. 

White Leghorn hen approaching me at the fence.