Whats the best chickens for eggs?

[BruceAZ]

i saw roaches and various type of insects under my run recently.. so i put six 4"x8" bricks under it instead

i do not want the coop/run close to my house after seeing the bugs and insects like to use the coop/run as their new home

the spiders also moving in...

 

[Birdinhand]

i saw roaches and various type of insects under my run recently.. so i put six 4"x8" bricks under it instead

i do not want the coop/run close to my house after seeing the bugs and insects like to use the coop/run as their new home

the spiders also moving in...

the worst story i've hears was from a friend in Portland. she built her run right up against the house and didn't cover the food, didn't use hardware cloth and before long, she started noticing a rancid urine smell in her house. by the time she figured out what was going on it was too late, the rats had begun an upward spiral population bloom. she called in an exterminator who pulled over 100 rats from the basement walls. they did thousands in damage. How I built my coop had a lot to do with this story!

 

[Sylvester017]

i saw roaches and various type of insects under my run recently.. so i put six 4"x8" bricks under it instead

i do not want the coop/run close to my house after seeing the bugs and insects like to use the coop/run as their new home

the spiders also moving in...

My chickens are open-ranged in the backyard and if there's a bug crawling it's not long for this world! They caught a baby mouse last week and this week they've been chasing crickets. In about a month the June bugs will be buzzing my garden and I have a Silkie that does a Whirling Dirvish to chase those crazy circling beetles! Spiders are a delicacy! We might see webs in the yard but the spiders are gone. Here's my little bug catcher with cobwebs and debris in her "hair"

 

[lazy gardener]

My chickens are open-ranged in the backyard and if there's a bug crawling it's not long for this world! They caught a baby mouse last week and this week they've been chasing crickets. In about a month the June bugs will be buzzing my garden and I have a Silkie that does a Whirling Dirvish to chase those crazy circling beetles! Spiders are a delicacy! We might see webs in the yard but the spiders are gone. Here's my little bug catcher with cobwebs and debris in her "hair"

Love it. I'd not choose to have a coop or run adjacent to the house... both b/c of the noise and also the possibility of insect infestation... rodents could be an other possibility. I've heard of the red roost mites infesting houses, and they are beastly to get rid of. I keep a deep mulch in my run. It attracts all kinds of beneficial insects for the girl's dining pleasure. However, one thing the flock keeper can do to decrease the likelihood of having rodent or roach infestations is to keep feed supplies in a covered metal can. (rats can and will eventually chew through plastic) And not keep feed out overnight. I can see how roaches in southern climates could be an issue, cause they come out at night while the flock is roosting. I use fermented feed, feed 2x/day. So, there is NEVER any feed spilled. If there is left over feed in the evening, I cover it. And even if a rodent does come to the feed, in it's wet form, it can't be "carried" back to the nest.

 

[waddles99]

You're going to get a lot of different answers for this question from people chiming in with their own experiences on what has been the best layer for them. Everyone has a different opinion on what is the best laying breed. They have varying experiences in keeping their birds that may not necessarily be your experience. What you have to keep in mind is that just because someone says a bird is a good layer for them, doesn't mean it is the best layer out of all existent breeds. For all you know, that could be the only breed they've ever kept, so they have nothing to compare it to. Because of this, there is no universal answer for what is the best laying breed. Another thing to keep in mind is that different "lines" of a certain breed will produce eggs at varying rates. If a certain line has been bred for 50 years without any new blood, it will probably be different than another line bred for 50 years, in terms of egg laying. That being said, there are some general breeds that are noted to be good for their egg laying:

-Rhode Island Red
-Sex Links
-Leghorns
-Wyandottes
-Rocks
-Leghorns
-Orpingtons

 

[azjustin]

Our RIRs and few production reds lay eggs like they were trying to get rid of them. Typically 20-26 eggs a day from 27 hens, and it's consistent even with 100+ degree heat.

The SLWs are every other day'ers. The Javas are every other day(ish), and shut down during the heat or winter.

From what I understand (which isn't much sometimes) the big guys use leghorns and that would probably be a good start if they will work with your climate.

The best chicken for laying is the one that will be best for your part of the world. Ask people who are already doing it in your area and that will guide you in the best direction.

Good luck.

 

[Sylvester017]

Love it. I'd not choose to have a coop or run adjacent to the house... both b/c of the noise and also the possibility of insect infestation... rodents could be an other possibility. I've heard of the red roost mites infesting houses, and they are beastly to get rid of. I keep a deep mulch in my run. It attracts all kinds of beneficial insects for the girl's dining pleasure. However, one thing the flock keeper can do to decrease the likelihood of having rodent or roach infestations is to keep feed supplies in a covered metal can. (rats can and will eventually chew through plastic) And not keep feed out overnight. I can see how roaches in southern climates could be an issue, cause they come out at night while the flock is roosting. I use fermented feed, feed 2x/day. So, there is NEVER any feed spilled. If there is left over feed in the evening, I cover it. And even if a rodent does come to the feed, in it's wet form, it can't be "carried" back to the nest.

Thanks for sharing! Our coop is raised off the ground and is close to the back sliding door, about 10 paces, but there is no feed or water ever kept in the coop or run. The feed and water for our 4 free-range hens is kept in the far corner of the yard under a pop-up canopy for protection from sun or rain.

COOP IS FAR LEFT IN PHOTO NEXT TO GARAGE DOOR WITH KITCHEN SLIDING BACK DOOR TO THE FAR RIGHT - A PATIO ROOF IS BEING CONSTRUCTED OVER THE COOP.


NO FEED OR WATER IS KEPT IN THE COOP - HENS ONLY USE THE COOP TO LAY EGGS OR ROOST FOR THE NIGHT.


POP-UP CANOPY IN FAR CORNER OF YARD W/ FEED/WATER AND A DUST-BATH BOX THAT STAYS DRY IN RAIN.



I like the idea of fermented feed except that our particular breed (Breda) prefers dry over wet feed and we use two treadle feeders to deter mooching wild birds or rodents.
TWO DIFFERENT MODELS OF OUR TREADLE FEEDERS




Also read that fermented feed degrades the B vitamin content of organic feed so maybe my dry feed chickens know best - who knows? There are so many opinions out there.

We found out the hard way about the plastic bins. Rodents chewed through them in our garage to get to the straw we had in them. We now have the more expensive metal cans to hold oyster shell and straw - as extra precaution against rodents we have glue traps in the garage and once in a while catch a rogue critter. All the regular feed we keep refrigerated and in hard glass containers. Nothing is left in bags in the "open." An added note - we and our surrounding neighbors have chopped down our old or tall trees in our backyards to eliminate night city critters like raccoons, possums, mice, rats, feral cats, etc, jumping easily from yard to yard via the trees. We've eliminated a lot of rodent problems and easily glue trap the occasional field mice. The mice aren't afraid of the daytime and once in a while are caught by ranging chickens - bless them!

As for lice/mite prevention we use Manna Pro Poultry Protector on both hens and coop (per directions) and it has kept us free of the critters for the 5 yrs we've been using it. Once had a broken softshell egg in a nestbox -- I used the Poultry Protector to spray the ants that were on the broken egg and it immobilized them so they didn't crawl up my arm as I cleaned the mess. Poultry Protector works on spiders that try to invade the coop or any other crawling insects and is safe to use around chickens because it's organic. Once had pullets shipped to me with feather lice on them and used the Poultry Protector and got rid of the lice overnight. But just to be sure I used it for 2 more days with a followup a week later for any eggs I might've missed -- great stuff. It's worked great as preventative maintenance for my 4 hens but people with troublesome infestations possibly may need more aggressive products.

As for the best laying hens -- I've had many good laying breeds like Leghorn, Ameraucana, Marans, RIR, NHR, BR, Calif Grey, etc etc. But we've been pleasantly surprised by the regularity of laying by Silkies up to 5 eggs/weekly when they aren't broody or there's no heatwaves - they lay the largest eggs of the bantam breeds. We like the Silkies for their sweet personalities and they can't fly out of the yard like most other bantam breeds like to do. Another smaller breed we've been pleasantly surprised with is the active but gentle personality of Breda. These girls lay mostly medium eggs and are laying dynamos! We prefer smaller gentler breeds of chickens because they're easier on the feed bill.

AMERAUCANA BLUE EGG, BREDA WHITE EGG, AND SILKIE TINTED EGG


BUFF LEGHORN PINK EGGS, AMERAUCANA BLUE EGG


MARANS BROWN EGG, WHITE LEGHORN WHITE EGG, BUFF LEGHORN PINK EGG, AND 3 TINTED SILKIE EGGS. SILKIE EGGS ARE BIG FOR BANTAM EGGS.

 

[Sylvester017]

You're going to get a lot of different answers for this question from people chiming in with their own experiences on what has been the best layer for them. Everyone has a different opinion on what is the best laying breed. They have varying experiences in keeping their birds that may not necessarily be your experience. What you have to keep in mind is that just because someone says a bird is a good layer for them, doesn't mean it is the best layer out of all existent breeds. For all you know, that could be the only breed they've ever kept, so they have nothing to compare it to. Because of this, there is no universal answer for what is the best laying breed. Another thing to keep in mind is that different "lines" of a certain breed will produce eggs at varying rates. If a certain line has been bred for 50 years without any new blood, it will probably be different than another line bred for 50 years, in terms of egg laying. That being said, there are some general breeds that are noted to be good for their egg laying:

-Rhode Island Red
-Sex Links
-Leghorns
-Wyandottes
-Rocks
-Leghorns
-Orpingtons

Those are great layer breeds and good to keep as a mixed flock as they are equally matched in either size or temperament for flock politics. My all-time favourite as a laying dynamo for LG/XL eggs and lighter feed bill are the White Leghorns. I have yet to research a breed that lays 6 to 7 eggs weekly and can lay well into their 7th and 8th year. The one drawback about high production breeds is that by age 4 about 45% of Leghorns succumb to reproductive issues/cancers but if they live past their 4th year should continue being good layers even in their declining years unlike other production breeds. It's no wonder Leghorns are used to cross-breed to other chickens to increase production levels. A drawback to having Leghorns is that at maturity they can become assertive to cannibalistic. Our White Leghorn at 3 yrs old became aggressive while our 1 yr old Buff Leghorn got cannibalistic toward our smaller gentler breeds. Leghorns are fabulous layers but to eliminate bullying I wouldn't trust them in close quarters with gentle breeds -- like Ameraucana, EEs, Polish, Silkies, etc.

OUR BEST WHITE LEGHORN FOR EGGS AND FOR 3 YRS WAS A GENTLE FLOCKMATE.


OUR BUFF LEGHORN WHO WAS NOT AS GOOD A LAYER AS THE WHITE LEG AND TURNED CANNIBALISTIC. I CAN UNDERSTAND WHY THE POULTRY INDUSTRY CUTS THEIR BEAKS NOW TO ELIMINATE CANNIBALISM.

 

[chicken4prez]

Our Black Sex Links, White Sussex and Rhode Island Red lay an incredible amount of eggs.

 

[chickenshiha]

Well me my 4 year old asil hen is my best hen I like her the most she still lays an egg everyday but so do all my baladi hen baladi means unknown crossbreeds that look feral or something lay everyday too