Low-feed breed with high egg production?

[Aunt_Penelope_Winslow]

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?

 

[nuthatched]

Rose comb brown leg horn.

With your climate you want small combs, leg horns have historically proven feed conversion rates.

"Friendliness" is up to the individual bird, it's not breed specific.

 

[gullinkambe]

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!

 

[Amer]

Rose-comb Ancona: Anconas have curious, active personalities without being too flighty in my experience. And they don't eat much. They also lay a lot of eggs.
Ameraucanas: they don't eat as little as a Mediterranean breed but they are medium-sized so they don't eat too much, and they are more hardy. The personality is okay. They are independent and unflustered, but I don't know about friendly. They lay a lot of eggs through the winter. I think most breeds that aren't strictly ornamental lay a lot of eggs, but some eat a lot more than others. And some don't lay through the winter.
These are just some breeds I've had experience with in Wisconsin (but my Anconas were single-combed and experienced frostbite). A warning, even with the rose combs, frost bite is still possible with large wattles. If you use a nipple waterer or a shallow waterer, you will avoid this problem. (The roosters tend to dunk their wattles when they drink.)

 

[Amer]

I don't have experience with this breed, but my friend raised Dominiques and they might be worth giving a try. He really enjoyed them.