pure breed

[worms7]

Which pure breed of chickens is best for egglaying
Cheers

 

[ChickenCanoe]

It has always been the Leghorn.

 

[Michael OShay]

It has always been the Leghorn.

X2 on CC; especially the White Leghorn strains used by laying houses. A White Leghorn holds the laying record with 371 eggs in 364 days (https://cafnr.missouri.edu/about/chicken.php). Leghorns lay white eggs. If you want brown eggs, the best laying pure breed is the Black Australorp which holds the brown egg laying record with 364 eggs in 365 days (http://www.livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/australorp). However, White Leghorns consistently churn out more than 300 eggs per hen per year whereas Black Australorps only occasionally exceed 300 eggs per hen per year.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

That's true but the Australorp records are from the 1920s and haven't been selected for that lay rate since so have lost ground.
Now, for brown eggs, RIRs usually are the most reliable production birds.

There are many hybrid white and brown layers that hit very high numbers but they're only intended to be kept for about 18 months of production.

 

[Michael OShay]

That's true but the Australorp records are from the 1920s and haven't been selected for that lay rate since so have lost ground.
Now, for brown eggs, RIRs usually are the most reliable production birds.

There are many hybrid white and brown layers that hit very high numbers but they're only intended to be kept for about 18 months of production.

The RIRs and Australorps that I've had have been pretty close but my very best Aussies have outlayed my very best RIRs. However, my Black and Red Sex Links have out layed either of them (but then again they are hybrids and not pure breeds).

 

[ChickenCanoe]

How's the weather up there Michael? Looks like you'll be getting cold for Christmas.
We're cold now but warming up next week.

 

[Michael OShay]

How's the weather up there Michael? Looks like you'll be getting cold for Christmas.
We're cold now but warming up next week.

It's been running low 30s during the day, mid 20s at night. Not too bad.