Statistically, What is the Best Brown Egg Layer, excluding sexlinks.

[jmc]

Fred's Hens :

There are production strains of RIR that compete with the sex links of Warren/I.S.A. genetics groups.
Production Reds are hardly traditional RIRs, but nice birds that will lay 320 each of their peak two years.
There are also production version of the Barred Rocks, lighter bodied and bred to lay, but I haven't seen claims for numbers, but to call them production, they'd have to produce over 250, or I would avoid the label of "production".

Whether it sex linked or not, anything that is production level is going to be highly selected genetically for egg laying.

The sex link is merely crossing two production strains for parent stock. I personally don't see the difference in buying either the individual parent stock or buying the sex linked offspring. From what i hear, if you breed an rir roo with a br hen, you get black sex links. Fred, so you think one could perhaps do ALMOST or SORT OF as well if one got 'prod. rir', some br and crossed them? is that what you are saying? i want real breeds that i can breed like rir and br, that is what turns me off about the various hybrid machines...........​

 

[Fred's Hens]

Here's what I think, FWIW.

If you want the world's leaders in brown egg production, you're going to buy a chick out of the genetics companies, like Hendrix, Hy-Line, etc or from a reputable breeder or hatchery that KNOWS that its chicks are 320+ egg layers.

You can't just settle for merely a sex link. A sex link does NOT guarantee top egg production. It merely allows you to color sex the chicks into male and female batches. By itself, that is all it tells you. Sometimes people are a wee bit confused on this issue. There are a lot of ways, different combinations to produce a "sex link" chick.

The problem is that Hendrick, Hy-line and other producers of tip top layers sell their products to the hatcheries, but the hatcheries are not always up front about their birds. They don't necessarily distinguish what it is they are selling. Home brewed "sex link" chicks? That's fine, but it doesn't tell the customer whether they are Hendrix or Hy-Line or whether they are merely a sex-able chick. See the issue? Without identifying the genetics company's brand name, you'll have to take the hatcheries promise of laying capabilities or the word of previous buyers.

Or, you can buy good, solid, dependable egg laying strains that produce at 250+ and call it a day. Word of mouth is important as well. Getting reports of production from previous buyers is often helpful. But, not all people genuinely chart or report their production accurately.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Fred's Hens :

There are production strains of RIR that compete with the sex links of Warren/I.S.A. genetics groups.
Production Reds are hardly traditional RIRs, but nice birds that will lay 320 each of their peak two years.
There are also production version of the Barred Rocks, lighter bodied and bred to lay, but I haven't seen claims for numbers, but to call them production, they'd have to produce over 250, or I would avoid the label of "production".

Fred's Hens :

Or, you can buy good, solid, dependable egg laying strains that produce at 250+ and call it a day. Word of mouth is important as well. Getting reports of production from previous buyers is often helpful. But, not all people genuinely chart or report their production accurately.

Do you have a source for these production Rhode Island Reds or Barred Rocks that lay 250+ eggs in their first year? I presume you're not speaking of some sort of hybrids, but actual Rhode Island Reds and Barred Rocks that will breed true. Even strain crosses within the breed would be OK.

You make a good point about all sex-links are not the same. If the parent stock are not pretty good layers themselves their descendants aren't going to be either.​

 

[jmc]

A.T. Hagan :

Fred's Hens :

There are production strains of RIR that compete with the sex links of Warren/I.S.A. genetics groups.
Production Reds are hardly traditional RIRs, but nice birds that will lay 320 each of their peak two years.
There are also production version of the Barred Rocks, lighter bodied and bred to lay, but I haven't seen claims for numbers, but to call them production, they'd have to produce over 250, or I would avoid the label of "production".

Fred's Hens :

Or, you can buy good, solid, dependable egg laying strains that produce at 250+ and call it a day. Word of mouth is important as well. Getting reports of production from previous buyers is often helpful. But, not all people genuinely chart or report their production accurately.

Do you have a source for these production Rhode Island Reds or Barred Rocks that lay 250+ eggs in their first year? I presume you're not speaking of some sort of hybrids, but actual Rhode Island Reds and Barred Rocks that will breed true. Even strain crosses within the breed would be OK.

You make a good point about all sex-links are not the same. If the parent stock are not pretty good layers themselves their descendants aren't going to be either.​

x2

fred. thoughts?

personally, i am not at all interested in SQ or proper type, etc. I am a monk in a monastery, and monks don't do poultry shows!!!

But I DO want real breeds. These WalMart hybrid egg machines concern me. Here we go again, supporting massive international businesses to save money, i.e. WalMart all over again, no?

It seems to me that Prod. Reds. and Barred Rocks may be the ticket/a reasonable compromise. would anyone agree with this​

 

[Mervin]

You can read historical information about what breed won an egg laying contest long ago. It doesn't mean that the breed will necessarily perform that way now. For instance, there are reports that a Black Australorp once laid 364 egg in one year. You'd be hard pressed to find one that could do that now because there is little commercial value in an Australorp (or any heirloom breed). The bird that laid 364 in a year was specially bred to do so, probably through several generations of trap nesting to select for very high production. Without trap nesting and verbose record-keeping it is probably not possible to provide statistics of any real value. The statistics that would be available would be about sexlinks and commercial laying strains. I doubt if very much current, valid data exists to answer the question statistically.

I think if someone was really to try for a high-production, non-commercial bird they'd do well to start with a breed that is reputed to be a better layer. Rhode Island, Australorp, Delaware, or a Rock or for instance. Then breed them up to high-production, essentially creating you own strain with high-production in mind. That's what existed before poultry was heavily commercialized. A lot of the historical information is still out there. We just need to rediscover it.

Do you want an interesting read? Go to http://books.google.com. In the box beside the "Search Books" button, type in "High egg production". The first result should be a book, "High Egg Production by Individual Hens, Pens, and Flocks", by Jackson and Curtis. You can download it for free. It talks, in pretty good depth, about how early commercial breeders built their high-yield strains.

High Egg Production by Individual Hens, Pens, and Flocks

 

[blueskylen]

Hi,

when i first got my chickens 4 years ago, i bought 5 black australorps and 5 buff orpingtons, after doing a lot of research. i wanted good brown egg layers, tolerant to heat and cold, and a calm breed. my grandchildren picked up a dominique and easter egger at TSC for me also. last year i purchased 4 2 year old production reds off of a neighbor.

They are all good chooks, but i am so impressed with the production reds! while my other hens lay an egg every other day or 3 - those "orange doodles" as i call them lay an egg every day summer or winter. they are also very friendly and calm - surprising because they were raised on a farm and not as pets. my others have been pampered all their lives, but are not nearly as friendly as these little girls. they also seem to eat a bit less feed and are great foragers. one of them even chases our big yellow lab away if he gets too close, while our big rooster just hides from him- so funny to watch.

I was really surprised at how much i like the mixed breed reds, and hope you find a breed that your are happy with, no matter which one you choose.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Quote:
Thanks for posting that. I came across it months ago, but could not get it to download then and since forgot about it. It worked today!

 

[Happy Chooks]

Barred rocks, RIR or Australorps would be good choices. I don't have the Australorps, but I understand they are outstanding layers.

Here's my egg numbers for 2010 on my original hatchery girls. They will be 2 years old in a week.

Breed Total eggs laid in 2010

Light Brahma 198
Easter Egger 197
Barred Rock 182 (She went through a molt at 9 months so her numbers are lower because the others did not molt)
RIR (production red) 198
Buttercup 158 (She went through a very hard molt at 9 months, but they are also not great layers)


Hope that helps. They will slow down some this year as they will be 2.

 

[pascopol]

Summing up lot of confusion here and no straight answers.

There was never a single "best breed" among heavy breeds (brown eggs) layers leading, as far as egglying capability is concerned, and likely it will never be.

Whith white egg light breeds it is much simpler.

White leghorns and their trademark strains are universally accepted as the best layers, and used exclusively for white eggs commercial production.

The particular breeder,s "strain" is more important than a breed.

In this case by "strain" I mean a breeders line selectively bred for a period of time for the best egglying capability.

Could be most breeds sexlinked or not.

 

[jmc]

thanks much, in various ways, to you folks.

I will probably go with br and prod rir; aussies may go broody too much.