Low-feed breed with high egg production?

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We're in Vermont and looking for a winter hardy heritage breed of chicken. Hoping for a breed that does well with feed amounts on the lower side, yet still produces eggs well. No breeds that are unfriendly. Points for beauty! What are your ideas?
 
Icelandic chickens fit your bill, if you can get them. As I understand it, they're relatively rare in the US. My experience with them might differ from the ones bred in the US too.

The ones I have are fairly slim and don't eat an awful lot, and they're good foragers. They're extremely winter-hardy, prefer sleeping outside (in the covered run) down to 0F. They also lay very well so far, even in winter.

SOME of them are very friendly and people-seeking, and some are more skittish. It's clear that there's a genetic component, since the friendly ones are closely related, and the skittish ones are closely related.

They come in a variety of combs, some very large single combs. I find this unfortunate in terms of winter, and will be breeding for small rosecombs. They should come in peacomb too.

And as a bonus if you, like me, want a colorful and diverse flock: They're a landrace that doesn't have any standard when it comes to colors and patterns. They can come in basically any naturally occurring color/pattern!
 

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