Pin Down Age and Sex Before Anything Else
A Leghorn chicken is bought for eggs, so your first questions fix the bird's age and sex. Ask whether the birds are sexed pullets, straight run, or started pullets close to laying, and get a hatch date rather than a rough guess in weeks. A seller who hatches in batches should know which hatch a bird came from. That date decides when you can expect the first egg, because Leghorns mature early and a pullet sold without an age can leave you waiting and wondering whether something is wrong.
Ask how the seller sexes the birds and what happens if a supposed pullet starts crowing. Many sellers offer some remedy for a mis-sexed bird, and asking before purchase is far easier than arguing after a young cockerel announces himself at dawn. If you are buying adult hens, ask how many laying seasons they have completed, since a Leghorn's most productive period is her first years and an older hen should be priced and expected accordingly.
Ask About the Laying Line Behind the Birds
A Leghorn's production is inherited, so ask what the parent flock lays like. Ask how the seller's hens perform through winter, whether laying holds up in hot weather, and whether the line leans toward the calm, businesslike bird most backyard keepers want or a wilder, flightier type. Leghorns have a reputation for being active and independent; a seller who knows the flock can tell you whether these birds will range happily or test every fence you own.
Ask what size and colour of egg the flock produces and whether shell quality stays strong late in the season. Ask, too, whether the seller selects breeders for temperament and hardiness or simply hatches from the whole pen, because that choice shows up in the birds you take home. If the seller cannot describe the parent flock's laying at all, you are buying an unknown in a breed whose whole point is predictable production.
Ask About Vaccination and Flock Health
A Leghorn seller should answer flock-health questions directly. Ask whether the chicks were vaccinated at hatch and for what, whether the flock has had respiratory illness or parasite problems, and how the seller separates new or returning birds from the main flock. Ask whether you can see the parent birds and the pens the young stock are raised in; clean water, dry litter, and bright, active birds tell you more than any promise.
Ask what the birds are eating now, including whether pullets are still on a grower ration, so you can match it at home and change over gradually. A feed switch, a new coop, and transport all landing in the same week is a common reason a near-lay Leghorn pullet delays her first egg. A bird that arrives droopy, sneezing, or with discharge around the eyes should be seen by a veterinarian rather than added straight to your flock.
Ask How the Birds Are Raised and Handled
A Leghorn raised with regular human contact is a different bird from one that has only ever been chased into a crate. Ask how often the young birds are handled, whether they are used to being shut in at night, and how the seller catches them, since calm routines transfer to your coop. Ask what housing the birds know — low roosts, high roosts, or open range — because a Leghorn that has always flown up to high perches will look for height in your setup too.
Ask finally about returns and replacements, and get the hatch date, vaccination notes, and feed details written down at purchase. Those few facts are the bird's early biography, and KinsLe Transferrable Profiles is built to hold exactly that biography against the Leghorn's profile if the bird ever moves to a new keeper.