Best Laying Chicken Breed

[MrsCheekinLady]

Hello everyone !!
Since my zoning ordinance only gives me the option of keeping 4 chickens (crappy I know) I really would like some info on the best laying hens since my family's main resource from them will be eggs. I also would like as much of a beautiful color array with my little 4 chickens

 

[Mountain Peeps]

For the four best chicken breeds I recommend, buff orps (great layers, hardy, affectionate, quiet, lap hogs) leghorns (excellent layers, skittish, not broody) black australorps (wonderful layers, hardy, friendly, affectionate) and wyandottes (beautiful birds, great layers, docile but sometimes aggressive.)

Good luck and welcome to BYC!

 

[MrsCheekinLady]

May I ask what hardy means

 

[Mountain Peeps]

May I ask what hardy means

It means they can withstand harsh temps. So cold hardy means they can endure through like 0 degree temps. Heat hardy is in the 80s and such.

 

[MrsCheekinLady]

Ok I live in the pacific north west/Washigton so our hottest is in the 90s and coldest in the high 20s low 30s

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Do you want a friendly/pet breed? Do you want a variety of egg color? How many people are in your family/how many eggs do you use in an average week?

 

[MrsCheekinLady]

Yes friendly for my kiddos sake lol and yes I'd love lots of colors especially blue and green 5 people in my family and approx 1-2 dozen a week usually 1 because my girls don't like eggs

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

For color - toss in an Easter Egger - maybe an Olive Egger -- both of which come in a wide variety of colors as far as their plumage. For friendliness you just can't go wrong with a Buff Orpington or Austrolorp and both are great for laying. I would try to stay with hens that produce 5+ eggs per week when looking at the breed information as that will give you the best chance that your four will produce enough eggs for your family.

 

[ilovehorses]

I love my Rhode Island Reds. They are very hardy and lay an egg every day! They are also very friendly. My 2 year old cousin picks them up and we have never had a problem. They also blend well with my other hens. I live in Western New York so the winter gets pretty chilly and my Rhode Island reds always survive! Good Luck!

 

[Michael OShay]

If your looking for sheer egg production, the best laying breed under ideal conditions (warm temperatures and good lighting) are White Leghorns. A caged White Leghorn set the world's laying record in 1979 with 371 eggs in 365 days. However Leghorns are very high strung and flighty birds (not good with kids), and Sex Link hens will outlay them where winters are very cold. I have raised both Black Sex Links and Red Sex Links, and while they are both egg laying machines, my Blacks have been friendlier, and have laid slightly better in really cold weather than my Reds. If you want a standard breed (Sex Links are hybrids and will not breed true), the best, brown egg laying, standard breed is the Black Australorp. Before it was broken by the White Leghorn in 1979, a Black Australorp held the world's laying record with 364 eggs in 365 days, and while none of my BAs have ever reached that kind of production (and likely never will), I have still have had a few of them lay over 300 eggs in a year. In addition, Black Australorps are very calm and gentle birds (great with kids). My children, and now my granddaughter, made lap pets our of ours. Whatever breed you decide to go with, good luck.