5 laying Chickens to Have
A few laying
chickens in
the backyard are great for insect control, grass fertilizer and cheap
entertainment -- not to mention fresh, nutritious eggs. Once you have a
secure pen (check out our chicken
coop plans page for ideas) and a bag of grain, you're ready
to get started with a flock. Here are the top five laying
chickens I recommend:
Rhode Island Reds:
These classic hens are a dual-purpose breed; they are both proficient
egg layers and the males are large enough to eat (meat birds). This is
especially good if you decide to incubate and hatch your eggs; the
males can be raised for meat and the females kept for egg laying
purposes. This breed tends to produce hens with easygoing
personalities; docile and friendly, they make good pets for children.
They lay brown eggs, almost one per day. If they are allowed to free
range, their eggs will often be jumbo in size.
Barred
Rock is the name of a particular color
pattern in the Plymouth Rock breed. These black and white birds are
another dual-purpose breed, very hardy and a steady egg layer. They are
a little less friendly than the Rhode Island Reds, but make up for it
with their docility and ability to go broody; that is, to incubate and
hatch eggs. They are also consistent, reliable egg layers and
protective of young chicks. Their roosters get tall and handsome and
make great flock guardians.
Americaunas
have been dubbed “Easter
Egg Chickens” because of their lovely eggs,
which have shells colored various shades of blue and green. These birds
are prized in backyard flocks for adding variety to the egg basket as
well as to the flock. Their personality varies; some are a bit
standoffish while others respond well to attention from humans. They
have facial features, such as beard and muff, which give them more
character and make them fun to look at.
Leghorn
hens, a breed originating from Italy, are
possibly the
best chicken to
have for overall egg production and efficiency. As a lighter hen, they
require less feed and lay more eggs annually than practically all other
breeds. They are basically egg-producing machines. Their eggs are
white, not brown, but with a good flock of brown egg layers the white
will add a different color that sets off the brown and makes for a nice
varied basket of eggs. Most newer laying chicken breeds, such as sex
link hens, have some Leghorn in them.
Orpington chickens
hail from England, and are another
dual-purpose bird as they get large enough for meat purposes but also
produce friendly hens that lay brown eggs in abundance. The ruddy
colored variety pictured here is known as Buff Orpingtons; other
recognized colors for this breed include black, white, and blue. The
birds have a wide, low stature and a broad chest. They are great to add
to your flock of laying chickens and produce lovely brown eggs.
With a variety of different laying chickens in your flock,
backyard hens can be a fun adventure, and quite
satisfying
and
profitable as well.
Go back to Laying Hens or home to Egg Laying Chickens or check out other chicken-related resources online:
Best Coop Plans:
How to Build a Chicken Coop - detailed plans and construction guide for making backyard coops.
These chicken coop plans and building guide are the best I've found, and purchased them myself to build our first coops. There are five different chicken coops included, beginning with the most basic double-story ark and culminating with the largest design, the Chicken Barn with attached screened-in chicken yard. I want to use their plans again for their largest chicken coop, the chicken barn, when we are ready to upsize our chicken flock's habitat. The coop pictured here is a medium-sized all-in-one design.
Recommended Chicken Books:
- Homemade Living - Keeping Chickens: All You Need to Know to Care for a Happy, Healthy Flock by Ashley English
- Storey's Guide - Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow
- Barnyard in Your Backyard - A Beginner's Guide to Raising Chickens, Ducks, Geese, Rabbits, Goats, Sheep, and Cattle
Favorite Chicken Quotes
“ A chicken you eat only once — eggs a hundred times." ~ Tajikistani Proverb
“ You cannot cook one half of the chicken and leave the other to lay eggs." ~ Sanskrit Proverb
“ You don’t have to kill the chicken to get eggs." ~ French Proverb
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From The Blog
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Brooding Araucana Chicks
We bought six day-old chicks to add to our egg laying chickens flock, brooding them in May and June and introducing them to the flock in July. Here we've shared a couple pictures of them during the brooding phase, which we did in a large plastic tote in our garage.
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Caring for Pullets in Winter
In taking care of our not-yet-laying hens, I’ve learned a few things about winter care for a small backyard poultry flock. These tips are for adult birds; any very young birds will likely need to be moved indoors to a heat-lamp-warmed cage in a barn stall or basement, during the coldest months.
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