Brown Eggs vs. White Eggs

[alisuyguanco]

Hi everyone! I wanted to find out from people who have experience with both brown and white egg layers. Do the brown layers eat that much more feed? And if so, which should I steer clear of if looking for the highest output to feed ratio. But also the friendliness is a factor too. I've been leaning towards Black Australorps.

 

[enola]

You are not going to beat white leghorns for feed conversion to egg out put. However, when she is done laying, there is almost nothing to eat when you cull her.

Brown egg layers are generally more meaty, producing meatier cockerels if you hatch your own chicks. They may be more cold hardy than leghorns.

 

[junebuggena]

Brown laying breeds are typically larger than white laying breeds, therefore they do eat a bit more. Nothing beats sexlinks in terms of production, not even Leghorns. But they do tend to burn out after their second or third summer.

 

[FarmerMac]

Hi everyone! I wanted to find out from people who have experience with both brown and white egg layers. Do the brown layers eat that much more feed? And if so, which should I steer clear of if looking for the highest output to feed ratio. But also the friendliness is a factor too. I've been leaning towards Black Australorps.

Will you able to free range your chickens? If you can, it will save you feed in the long run as you don't have to feed them as much as if they are locked in the pen/coop.

 

[DanEP]

You might try a mixture of both white and brown layers so you take advantage of both ends of the spectrum. I've had australorps with leghorn and they do fine. I always keep at least some leghorns in my flock just for the production, but mainly have brown and green layers.
Leghorns are more flighty than austalorps but aren't bad if you raise them. they just don't like to be touched. But will be quite curious and funny if they know you won't try to pick them up. Australorps are more friendly and good solid duel purpose birds that will be great layers

 

[FarmerMac]

You might try a mixture of both white and brown layers so you take advantage of both ends of the spectrum. I've had australorps with leghorn and they do fine. I always keep at least some leghorns in my flock just for the production, but mainly have brown and green layers.
Leghorns are more flighty than austalorps but aren't bad if you raise them. they just don't like to be touched. But will be quite curious and funny if they know you won't try to pick them up. Australorps are more friendly and good solid duel purpose birds that will be great layers

No kidding about the leghorns being flighty. Mine run away if I try to pick them up, if I offer treats they run to the treats but keep their distance. My other chicken (EE, Australorps, BR, RIR, Brahma, Doms) let me pick them up when they are close to me. Not these white leghorns.

 

[DanEP]

Ya the leghorns are flighty but lay like crazy on very little feed. I really don't care that they don't like to be touched as long as they lay, besides I don't care what kind of chickens you have some will be lap chickens some won't. And when you get right down to it if you have 10 chickens they won't all fit on your lap anyway. I've never had a flock where some of the girls wanted to hang out with you but most wander off after the treats are gone.

 

[yellowchicks]

My 4 Leghorns have been giving us almost 4 white eggs daily since they were 5+ months old. Three out of four girls will come to us, stay put and let us pet them like puppies for a minute or two. They will also fly onto our arms to eat out of our hands. If we walk up to them gently, they will squat and wait for us to pet them. The 4th girl, "Orange", thinks she should be a rooster, constantly on defense. She will come to us, eat out of our hands, but don't like to be pet much. i know Leghorns are supposed to be flighty, but these ones we have are conditioned to daily spoiling and human touch. They are also very consistent in producing eggs.