i would like to get 8 hens, 2 hens to every 1 breed so i will have 4 different breeds if my math is correct can any1 give me there opinion on a top ten for layers because thats what i want them for. thanks in advance.
i think black australorps hold the world record for egg laying.so that would be @1.brahmas lay good as do buff orpingtons,then i'd go with 2 EE's just for color
My Barred Rock and Rhode Island Red lay consistantly and they both have great pesonalities. Our EE lays beautiful green blue eggs that are large, but she does not lay as often. The Leghorn lays almost every day, stops when she molts and she has moltted twice for a very long time. The other girls have had much shorter molts. We just picked up a black and a red sex link because I've heard that they are great layers. I'd like to add an Australorps and a buff Orpington as mentioned above. I'd also like a couple of true blue egg layers.
I couldn't imagine having a flock without Leghorns and Red Sexlinks I get 28 eggs out of 30 days from each of them and they started laying at 18 and 19 weeks.
Golden Comets are the best layers I have ever had. Big beautiful eggs, pretty chickens with a nice personality. I've had Australorps and love them but would not rate them as excellent layer but good to very good. You can get an idea of rating from Henderson's chicken breeds chart on line. I like to include some that lay good thru the winter in my flock.
golden comets, white leghorn, rhode island red, silver laced wyandottes, barred rocks, marans x lav orpington cross, buff orpington. I have a ton of different breeds and these are my best layers in that order. The golden comets and leg horns are tied for first place with the golden comets laying a large dark egg and the leghorns lay a large white egg.
My Silver Spangled Hamburgs are almost as relentless at laying eggs as any of the commercial breeds, and are not being raised in their thousands and millions by people who don't really care about chickens as individual animals. My feeling about egg layers is much like my feelings about Douglas Fir: with many big businesses raising them, I can do better by growing something which might go extinct without my help. So: How about Hamburgs, Heritage Leghorns instead of commercial ones, real RIRs, Buckeyes... the list goes on and on. They have the additional advantage of longevity and ability to free range.
Go for hatchery stock, that's the number one key. Nearly ANY breed from a hatchery lays very well because that's what hatcheries breed for. But remember, hatchery stock lasts shorter than heritage/show stock. But in detail, these are the most reliable - Sex Links Australorps Leghorns Production Reds (what you call Rhode Island Reds) New Hampshires Barred Rocks Buff Orpingtons
