Question on Breeds!

[rek123456]

I am looking for about two brown egg layers. I am going to be having a small backyard coop in southern California so temperature doesnt matter. Im looking for an easy going breed that produces the best quality brown eggs

 

[sourland]

Any of the sexlinks are prolific layers of brown eggs. Why not go with three birds. Eventually birds die, and if one dies in a flock of three, the remaining birds provide company for one another.

 

[nurse_turtle]

I love my Speckled Sussex. They are very pretty and lay nice brown eggs. My Dominique and Jersey giant also lay really nice brown eggs. Many folks use the production red/gold comet/cinnamon queen/red or black sex-link, all of which have been specifically bred to produce brown eggs on a near daily basis.

 

[AinaWGSD]

The quality of the eggs has nothing to do with the breed that lays them and everything to do with what you feed your birds. Feed your birds the best quality food and greens you can afford, and you will get the best quality eggs.

There are lots of brown egg layers out there that will fit your bill. I have to say that I adore my speckled sussex. They're gorgeous birds and always the first to come running from wherever they are in the yard when they hear the backdoor open. However, they are probably my worst layers (still not bad, they lay about 4-5 eggs a week each, just not as good as the 5-6 most of my other hens give me) and they lay the smallest eggs in my current flock (usually a medium (1 3/4oz) but with an occasional/fairly often large (2oz) vs the large-extra large (2-2 1/4oz) most of my other hens are laying). My silver wyandotte lays lots of large round brown eggs and is sweet enough to us, although a bit of a bully with the other hens. My Orpington hen lays a fair number of eggs and while they aren't always large, she is still in her first year of laying and the egg size will only get larger as she gets older. She did go broody on me this spring though, and after almost 2 months off raising chicks she just started laying again. The barred rock eggs I received for hatching were also very large brown eggs. And everyone raves about australorps and their egg laying ability paired with good temperament. There are tons more breeds out there that lay brown eggs, these are just the ones I've had personal experience with and have heard particularly good things about.