What's your favorite large breed for Egg Production?

[sarahandbray]

I am making my spring wish list of chicks I want from breeders (more Orps, SLW, etc) but I also want to make an order from a hatchery for an all-girl lot of egg layers. I had great luck with McMurray with my first order, so I'll probably go with them again.

For this order, I would like to get chicks for egg production, solely. Egg color doesn't matter, but probably brown. Also, winter hardy for the Northeast. And chickens that lay reliably for a long time...

I'm thinking Red Star, Black Star, and maybe more Leghorns?

What do you think? What are your most reliable hatchery-grade egg layers? I just don't want to spend a fortune on production chicks and I love that they can be sexed and vaccinated.

Sarah

 

[Michael OShay]

You are thinking the right direction for egg production as Black and Red Sex Links (Black and Red Star is one of many labels under which some hatcheries market BSLs and RSLs), and White Leghorns are the egg producers among chickens. They are the kind of hens normally used by laying houses as they are egg laying machines. Under ideal conditions (warm temperatures and good lighting), White Leghorns are the very best layers. A caged White Leghorn holds the laying record set in 1979 with 371 eggs in 365 days. However in cold winter weather, the sex links will outlay them. Also, Leghorns are high strung and flighty. My White Leghorns screamed bloody murder whenever I handled them, and my children hated them (which is why I don't raise WLs anymore). I've raised sex links for years and they have been my best layers, consistently churning out more than 300 eggs per hen per year. I actually prefer the Black Sex Links to the Reds as my Blacks have been somewhat friendlier, and have been slightly better layers in really cold winter weather than my Reds, but you can't go wrong either way.

 

[Michael OShay]

You are thinking the right direction for egg production as Black and Red Sex Links (Black and Red Star is one of many labels under which some hatcheries market BSLs and RSLs), and White Leghorns are the egg producers among chickens. They are the kind of hens normally used by laying houses as they are egg laying machines. Under ideal conditions (warm temperatures and good lighting), White Leghorns are the very best layers. A caged White Leghorn holds the laying record set in 1979 with 371 eggs in 365 days. However in cold winter weather, the sex links will outlay them. Also, Leghorns are high strung and flighty. My White Leghorns screamed bloody murder whenever I handled them, and my children hated them (which is why I don't raise WLs anymore). I've raised sex links for years and they have been my best layers, consistently churning out more than 300 eggs per hen per year. I actually prefer the Black Sex Links to the Reds as my Blacks have been somewhat friendlier, and have been slightly better layers in really cold winter weather than my Reds, but you can't go wrong either way.

P.S. Black and Red Sex Links and White Leghorns are all readily available at low prices from hatcheries. All of my stock has come from hatcheries (four different ones).