...because foraging doesn't care about roads. We're just about a week from my fowl release so its time to introduce the Leghorn breed... Leghorns are originally from Italy. You say, you say, what? Yes, quite a ways from WB's Looney Tunes Foghorn depiction it appears the Leghorn breed originated in rural Tuscany, Italy. The date of the first exports is variously reported as 1828 and they were initially known as "Italians". The name "Leghorns" came about in 1865, in Worcester, Massachusetts and was based upon the simplified English language version of the Tuscan port from which the first birds were exported to North America, Livorno. The Leghorn was included in the American Standard of Perfection in 1874, with three colors: black, white and brown (light and dark). Rose comb light and dark brown variants were added in 1883, and rose comb white in 1886. Single comb buff and silver followed in 1894, and red, black-tailed red, and Colombian in 1929. In 1981 rose comb black, buff, silver, and golden duckwing were added. The breed was first introduced to Britain from the United States in 1870, and from there re-exported to Italy. White Leghorns that had won first prize at the 1868 New York Show were imported to Britain in 1870, and brown Leghorns from 1872. These birds were small, not exceeding 1.6 kg in weight; weight was increased by cross-breeding with Minorca and Malay stock. Pyle Leghorns were first bred in Britain in the 1880s; gold and silver duckwings originated there a few years later, from crosses with Phoenix or Japanese Yokohama birds. Buff Leghorns were first seen in Denmark in 1885, and in England in 1888. Leghorns are good layers of white eggs, laying an average of 280 per year and sometimes reaching 300–320. White Leghorns have been much used to create highly productive egg-laying hybrids for commercial and industrial operations. Most Leghorns have single combs; a rose comb is permitted in some countries, but not in Italy. Commonly, they are white in color and the legs are bright yellow, and the ear-lobes white. The Italian standard gives a weight range of 2.4–2.7 kg (5.3–6.0 lb) for cocks and 2.0–2.3 kg (4.4–5.1 lb) for hens. According to the British standard, fully grown Leghorn cocks weigh 3.4 kg (7.5 lb) and hens 2.5 kg (5 lb). In Italy, ten color varieties are recognized. There is a separate Italian standard for the German Leghorn variety called the “Italian”. The Fédération Française des volailles (the French poultry federation) divides the breed into four types: the American white, the English white, the old type (golden-salmon) and the modern type, for which seventeen colour variants are listed for full-size birds, and fourteen for bantams. Both the American Poultry Association and the American Bantam Association recognize a number of Leghorn varieties including white, red, black-tailed red, light brown, dark brown, black, buff, Columbian, buff Columbian, barred, and silver. In Britain, the Leghorn Club recognizes eighteen colors: golden duckwing, silver duckwing, partridge, brown, buff, exchequer, Columbian, pyle, white, black, blue, mottled, cuckoo, blue-red, lavender, red, crele, and buff Columbian