# White Leghorn X Rhode Island Red



## Green Mountain Farm

Can y’all give me your opinions on crossing a White Leghorn rooster with a Rhode Island Red Hen? It seems like the result would be a laying machine with huge eggs but because there isn’t a lot of information on the cross, its making me think twice before incubating.


----------



## ksalvagno

Both breeds lay lots of eggs. I guess it would just be temperament.


----------



## MellonFriend

From a study done at Kansas State University:
_The results from the Single Comb White Leghorn-Single Comb Rhode Island Red cross showed the hybrids to be generally superior to the pure breeds, but in a few comparisons the hybrids only equaled the better of the two breeds involved. 

The crosses of Single Comb White Leghorns by Barred Plymouth Rocks and of Single Comb Rhode Island Reds by Barred Plymouth Rocks produced hybrids that in each case were superior to the pure breeds involved, for chick mortality and rate of growth, these being the only criteria of vigor considered.

The cross of White Leghorn male by Rhode Island Red female had an average pullet-year production of three eggs more than the White Leghorns, which were the better producers of the two pure breeds. The reciprocal cross did not lay so well as the White Leghorns, but considerably better than the Rhode Island Reds._

Here's the full paper: https://www.ksre.k-state.edu/historicpublications/pubs/SB252.pdf


----------

