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Best Chicken Breeds for Backyard Flocks
Best Chicken Breeds for Backyard Flocks
Author: Troy Griepentrog Source
(Mother Earth News) Chickens are the perfect starter livestock for your homestead —
whether you have a small backyard in an urban area or 20 acres in the boondocks.
Chickens provide eggs, meat and fertilizer, plus they’re small and easy to manage.
Several chicken breed charts are available online and in books, but their information is
often based on old data. So, to get current information on the best chicken breeds, we
developed a survey of our readers who have lots of experience with various breeds.
(Many thanks to more than 1,000 readers who participated in the survey.) The summaries
below include only results from people who have more than three years’ experience
raising chickens. And we only included breeds or hybrids if at least three people
responded to questions about them.
Our survey didn’t ask which chicken breeds are prettiest. That’s important, too, but it’s
subjective. If you’d like to see what each breed looks like, check out Feathersite.com or
get a copy of Storey’s Illustrated Guide to Poultry Breeds by Carol Ekarius. It’s an
excellent book with outstanding photos.
Pick Your Chicks
Before you decide which chicken breeds to raise, you’ll want to decide which attributes are
most important to you: egg production, meat production, temperament or other qualities. If
you try a breed for a year or two and decide it isn’t quite what you were looking for, try
another — or try two or three breeds each year to find out which one best suits your
needs.
After you’ve selected a breed, use our Hatchery Finder to find mail-order sources near
you, or our Directory of Hatcheries and Poultry Breeders to find a chicken hatchery or
poultry breeders. Then, ask a few questions before you place your order. Breeders and
hatcheries select for different traits. For example, some breeders may select Orpingtons
for egg production; others, to meet a certain “type” described in a standard for shows. All
birds of a certain breed won’t have identical characteristics. Some people who took our
survey said Javas lay dark brown eggs; others said Javas lay tinted eggs. That doesn’t
necessarily mean someone is wrong — certain flocks may have been bred to produce
darker eggs than others.
Most people who keep chickens want eggs. Based on our survey results, the most
productive egg layers are hybrids, including the Hy-line Brown, California White, Golden
Comet, Cherry Egger and Indian River. If you prefer heritage breeds, Leghorns, White-
faced Black Spanish, Rhode Island Reds, Australorps, Rhode Island Whites and Plymouth
Rocks are good choices for producing lots of eggs.
Hy-line Browns, Golden Comets, ISA Browns, Cinnamon Queens and Brown Sex Links (all
hybrids) lay mostly extra-large eggs. From heritage breeds, you can expect the largest
eggs from Jersey Giants, Australorps, Plymouth Rocks, Orpingtons and Rhode Island
Reds.
Quickest Eggs
Some hybrid pullets (young hens) start laying eggs when they’re only 17 weeks old, but
pullets of some breeds take more than 26 weeks to mature and start laying. If you’re in a
hurry to get fresh eggs on your table, consider Cherry Eggers, Indian Rivers, ISA Browns,
Pearl Leghorns and Golden Comets. Almost all Leghorns and Leghorn hybrids are quick
to mature, but if you’re looking for other heritage breeds, check out Red Caps,
Whitefaced Black Spanish, Anconas and Minorcas. Hens of these breeds can start laying
at as early as 21 weeks.
Egg Color Spectrum
If one of your selection criteria is eggshell color, Marans, Barnevelders and Welsummers
lay the darkest brown eggs. (We didn’t include Penedesenca in our survey because they’
re rare, but they usually lay even darker eggs.) Ameraucanas and Araucanas (rumpless)
lay greenish or bluish eggs.
Pest Control and Free-Range
If you want low-maintenance chickens to clean up ticks and insect pests, most breeds are
good choices. (See Poultry Pest Patrol.) Cubalayas and Jungle Fowl rated best for
hustling much of their own food, but they’re not especially productive layers or meat birds.
Free-range chickens (chickens allowed to range on pasture) produce the most nutritious
and flavorful eggs. Other breeds suited to this environment are the Catalana, Old English
Game, Hamburg, Minorca and Malay. But if you have limited space, you might consider
Houdans, Pearl Leghorns, Langshans, Cornish and Polish — all of which ranked highly as
living equally well in confinement or on free range
Read the Rest of the Article
Author: Troy Griepentrog Source
(Mother Earth News) Chickens are the perfect starter livestock for your homestead —
whether you have a small backyard in an urban area or 20 acres in the boondocks.
Chickens provide eggs, meat and fertilizer, plus they’re small and easy to manage.
Several chicken breed charts are available online and in books, but their information is
often based on old data. So, to get current information on the best chicken breeds, we
developed a survey of our readers who have lots of experience with various breeds.
(Many thanks to more than 1,000 readers who participated in the survey.) The summaries
below include only results from people who have more than three years’ experience
raising chickens. And we only included breeds or hybrids if at least three people
responded to questions about them.
Our survey didn’t ask which chicken breeds are prettiest. That’s important, too, but it’s
subjective. If you’d like to see what each breed looks like, check out Feathersite.com or
get a copy of Storey’s Illustrated Guide to Poultry Breeds by Carol Ekarius. It’s an
excellent book with outstanding photos.
Pick Your Chicks
Before you decide which chicken breeds to raise, you’ll want to decide which attributes are
most important to you: egg production, meat production, temperament or other qualities. If
you try a breed for a year or two and decide it isn’t quite what you were looking for, try
another — or try two or three breeds each year to find out which one best suits your
needs.
After you’ve selected a breed, use our Hatchery Finder to find mail-order sources near
you, or our Directory of Hatcheries and Poultry Breeders to find a chicken hatchery or
poultry breeders. Then, ask a few questions before you place your order. Breeders and
hatcheries select for different traits. For example, some breeders may select Orpingtons
for egg production; others, to meet a certain “type” described in a standard for shows. All
birds of a certain breed won’t have identical characteristics. Some people who took our
survey said Javas lay dark brown eggs; others said Javas lay tinted eggs. That doesn’t
necessarily mean someone is wrong — certain flocks may have been bred to produce
darker eggs than others.
Most people who keep chickens want eggs. Based on our survey results, the most
productive egg layers are hybrids, including the Hy-line Brown, California White, Golden
Comet, Cherry Egger and Indian River. If you prefer heritage breeds, Leghorns, White-
faced Black Spanish, Rhode Island Reds, Australorps, Rhode Island Whites and Plymouth
Rocks are good choices for producing lots of eggs.
Hy-line Browns, Golden Comets, ISA Browns, Cinnamon Queens and Brown Sex Links (all
hybrids) lay mostly extra-large eggs. From heritage breeds, you can expect the largest
eggs from Jersey Giants, Australorps, Plymouth Rocks, Orpingtons and Rhode Island
Reds.
Quickest Eggs
Some hybrid pullets (young hens) start laying eggs when they’re only 17 weeks old, but
pullets of some breeds take more than 26 weeks to mature and start laying. If you’re in a
hurry to get fresh eggs on your table, consider Cherry Eggers, Indian Rivers, ISA Browns,
Pearl Leghorns and Golden Comets. Almost all Leghorns and Leghorn hybrids are quick
to mature, but if you’re looking for other heritage breeds, check out Red Caps,
Whitefaced Black Spanish, Anconas and Minorcas. Hens of these breeds can start laying
at as early as 21 weeks.
Egg Color Spectrum
If one of your selection criteria is eggshell color, Marans, Barnevelders and Welsummers
lay the darkest brown eggs. (We didn’t include Penedesenca in our survey because they’
re rare, but they usually lay even darker eggs.) Ameraucanas and Araucanas (rumpless)
lay greenish or bluish eggs.
Pest Control and Free-Range
If you want low-maintenance chickens to clean up ticks and insect pests, most breeds are
good choices. (See Poultry Pest Patrol.) Cubalayas and Jungle Fowl rated best for
hustling much of their own food, but they’re not especially productive layers or meat birds.
Free-range chickens (chickens allowed to range on pasture) produce the most nutritious
and flavorful eggs. Other breeds suited to this environment are the Catalana, Old English
Game, Hamburg, Minorca and Malay. But if you have limited space, you might consider
Houdans, Pearl Leghorns, Langshans, Cornish and Polish — all of which ranked highly as
living equally well in confinement or on free range
Read the Rest of the Article