Prolific Egg Layers Wanted

[SoJoChickens]

Disclaimer: I am new to breeding so my knowledge is limited and my experience is non-existent.

I have had chickens for 10 years but have never done any chicken breeding. I want to start breeding chickens and selecting on egg production. My idea was to breed white leghorns because they are very good layers and have great feed to egg conversion ratios. However (and it is a big however), my wife would like to keep up our tradition of having many egg colors in the basket. She thinks white eggs are boring. She would prefer that I didn't just raise white leghorns. I'm trying to figure out a plan to keep us both happy.

I was thinking that I could get white leghorn roosters and breed them with a variety of hen breeds that lay well but have different egg colors. I was thinking that the hens could be white leghorns, rhode island reds, araucanas, and/or sex links but I'm very open to suggestions.

Has anyone tried to do something similar (try to breed for egg laying and egg color)? What breeds work best? How many roosters should I start with? What would happen in the 2nd and 3rd generations?

Much thanks!

 

[Naser]

Any combination of the above "except leghorn rooster and hen" will give you cream or light brown eggs, I have white leghorn roosters and bred them with RIR and sex linked, even with Ancona I got cream colored egg layers.
The only way I know to get different color eggs is to have pure breeds and separate them during breeding

 

[SoJoChickens]

Any combination of the above "except leghorn rooster and hen" will give you cream or light brown eggs, I have white leghorn roosters and bred them with RIR and sex linked, even with Ancona I got cream colored egg layers.
The only way I know to get different color eggs is to have pure breeds and separate them during breeding

Thank you! I guess I would have to use a different rooster to get other colors. When you bred the leghorn roosters with RIR hens did the hens lay pretty well?

 

[Naser]

Thank you! I guess I would have to use a different rooster to get other colors. When you bred the leghorn roosters with RIR hens did the hens lay pretty well?

I am not sure I think she did, there were more than 20 hens so I wasn't watching who is laying best but generally egg production was "and still" very good.

 

[LittleRedCoopLady]

My Golden Comets lay a big brown egg EVERYDAY! It's crazy just how prolific they are! I use no heat and no light in the coop and yet they lay everyday. They are not a true breed, as they are a hybrid chicken, but if I were getting into the egg business I would want some of them in my flock

 

[Egghead_Jr]

If you source your birds from a hatchery all of them will be prolific layers. With that you wont get the deep color of blue or chocolate eggs. Cockerels are hit or miss for temperament.

In going for deep colors you'll forfeit production, have birds that brood more often and so forth. The plus side of standard bred birds is you'll never have a poor behaved cock to deal with.

It's important to note there are only two egg shell colors- white or blue. From there coatings are added to make cream, brown, chocolate and those are on white shells. If a white shell bird is crossed with blue shell you'll get pale blue. That crossed with brown egg layer begets mostly pale green. For Olive colored eggs you need a blue egg layer crossed with chocolate (Penedesenca or Marans).

So it's about intensity of colors. You'll not get it with hatchery birds. Prolific layers are hatchery birds or white egg laying standard bred like Leghorn. There were prolific standard bred brown egg layers but utility was not maintained- Australorp comes to mind. Standard bred Rhode Islands produce well too but 240 eggs per year does not compare to 300+ eggs per year from hatchery stock. In general standard bred birds lay 200 pullet year.

 

[RoosterML]

I am very impressed on how well my Cream Legbar produces eggs. (Blue Eggs) she gives my leghorn a run for her money and on top of that she was a great mom.

 

[LittleRedCoopLady]

I am very impressed on how well my Cream Legbar produces eggs. (Blue Eggs) she gives my leghorn a run for her money and on top of that she was a great mom.
View attachment 2054450

That’s awesome! And I love the sweet picture How many do you get each week from her?

 

[SoJoChickens]

My Golden Comets lay a big brown egg EVERYDAY! It's crazy just how prolific they are! I use no heat and no light in the coop and yet they lay everyday. They are not a true breed, as they are a hybrid chicken, but if I were getting into the egg business I would want some of them in my flock

I have had Golden Comets, ISA Browns, and other sex-link hybrids in my flock for many years. They are amazing. I just wish the egg laying continued in the 2nd and 3rd generations after breeding.