Where do *most of the brown grocery eggs come from?

[GracePoultry]

Hello I’m making a school project on chickens, and I’m doing a section on egg laying.

Do you know what breed is most widely used for the brown eggs? I’m seeing different info.

 

[FunnyBunny89]

Vital Farms doesn't say outright on their website, but it looks like their brown egg layers are Isa Browns. And I've seen Isa Browns recommended as good layers by many articles.
Rhode Island Reds are also pretty common in more industrial sized spaces, I think.

 

[Bsmac]

X2 on ISA browns. There are a lot of large egg production facilities around here that free range their birds on numerous acres for egg production. All I have ever seen here In N. E. Indiana are ISA browns.

 

[FunClucks]

ISA Browns are also sometimes known as or similar to Hy-Line Brown. They are a commercial strain of red sexlink used in large egg operations. Generally purchased in large quantities, so not generally sold to the backyard egg market. Hy-Line makes a lot of commercial breeds/strains that you won't see in backyard environments, with high egg quality, shell durability and strength, and good repeatability in size and shape. I suspect most of the brown eggs you see in the store come from such chickens.

 

[Bsmac]

ISA Browns are also sometimes known as or similar to Hy-Line Brown. They are a commercial strain of red sexlink used in large egg operations. Generally purchased in large quantities, so not generally sold to the backyard egg market. Hy-Line makes a lot of commercial breeds/strains that you won't see in backyard environments, with high egg quality, shell durability and strength, and good repeatability in size and shape. I suspect most of the brown eggs you see in the store come from such chickens.

It is easy to find Isa pullets for sale around here! I have an Amish friend who hatches out numerous breeds. He sometimes has Isa`s too. We had 5 of them I had to euthanize one a couple of weeks ago due to what I think was likely reproductive cancer. Great layers but not generally very long lived.

 

[FunClucks]

It is easy to find Isa pullets for sale around here! I have an Amish friend who hatches out numerous breeds. He sometimes has Isa`s too. We had 5 of them I had to euthanize one a couple of weeks ago due to what I think was likely reproductive cancer. Great layers but not generally very long lived.

Agreed.

ISA Browns are pretty to easy to find where I live also, but they are actually a proprietary hybrid whose genetics are owned by Hendrix Genetics. Hy-Line International produces several competing hybrids, one of which is known as Hy-Line Brown, and owns their genetics.

ISA Brown and Hy-Line Brown are not the same thing. But from a backyard flock perspective, they may appear interchangeable, unless you are really tracking things like feed consumption, number of eggs, etc. The differences may be subtle, but enough to matter for commercial operations.

 

[SourRoses]

with high egg quality, shell durability and strength, and good repeatability in size and shape.

I wonder which breed(s) they used for those sorts of traits?

In all my time on BYC, I have never read of positive shell quality being genetic (unless regarding a defective producer).
Interesting.

 

[GracePoultry]

ISA Browns are also sometimes known as or similar to Hy-Line Brown. They are a commercial strain of red sexlink used in large egg operations. Generally purchased in large quantities, so not generally sold to the backyard egg market. Hy-Line makes a lot of commercial breeds/strains that you won't see in backyard environments, with high egg quality, shell durability and strength, and good repeatability in size and shape. I suspect most of the brown eggs you see in the store come from such chickens.

I had 2 in the past (rip), but yes they do seem to be a pretty popular commercial breed, the chicken rescue here in Indiana has mainly ex-commercial hens that appear to be ISAs but I could be wrong

 

[Rangergord]

Definitely ISA Browns and related hybrids. I like these birds a lot. So do my customers. I raised 25 ready to lay pullets this year and sold 16 of them to four other backyard chicken keepers. They lay so well during their relatively short lives, and eat less. Right now my 8 ISA brown hens are laying 8 eggs a day like clockwork before 11:00 AM, so eggs can be easily gathered before they freeze in the temperatures of -20C and below. I have kept other breeds and hybrids but I keep coming back to ISA browns.