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The Leghorn, or Livornese, is an Italian
breed A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist seve ...
of chicken originating in
Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...
, in central Italy. Birds were exported to North America in about 1828 from the Tuscan port city of
Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...
, on the western coast of Italy. They were initially called "Italians", but by 1865 the breed was known as "Leghorn", the traditional
anglicisation Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...
of "Livorno". The breed was introduced to Britain from the United States in 1870. White Leghorns are commonly used as layer chickens in many countries of the world. Other 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, "about 1830" and 1852. The birds were initially known as "Italians"; they were first referred to as "Leghorns" in 1865, in
Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...
. 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. Three
colours Color (or colour in Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though color is not an inherent property of matter, color perception is related to an object's light absorpt ...
– 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. 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; some were later re-exported to Italy. These birds were small, not exceeding in weight; weight was increased by cross-breeding with Minorca and Malay stock. 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 is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...
birds. Buff Leghorns were seen in Denmark in 1885, and in England in 1888.


Characteristics

In Italy, where the Livorno breed standard is recent, ten colour varieties are recognised; there is a separate Italian standard for the German Leghorn variety, the Italiana (). The Fédération Française des Volailles (the French poultry federation) divides the breed into three types: the or American Leghorn, in white only; the or English Leghorn, in six colours; and the or Italian type, for which twenty-one colour variants are listed for full-size birds, and nineteen for bantams. 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. The
comb A comb is a tool consisting of a shaft that holds a row of teeth for pulling through the hair to clean, untangle, or style it. Combs have been used since prehistoric times, having been discovered in very refined forms from settlements dating ba ...
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. The Italian standard gives a weight range of for cocks, for hens. According to the British standard, full-grown Leghorn cocks weigh and hens ; for bantams the maximum weight is for cocks and for hens. Ring size for large fowl is for cocks and for hens; for bantams it is and respectively.


Use

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 . White Leghorns have been much used to create highly productive egg-laying hybrids for commercial and industrial operations.


Notes


References

Chicken breeds Chicken breeds originating in Italy Animal breeds on the RBST Watchlist {{bots, deny=Citation bot