Will California SEFS laws affect the selection of egg laying breeds?

[stumpknocker]

From the limited reading I have done concerning egg laying breeds, it appears that some of the heritage breeds such as the Brown Leghorn, California White and Grey were replaced in modern times with smaller breeds that would fit in more compact cages. With the California SEFS lay enacted where chickens must be allowed to perch and move about, I was wondering if there have been any new trends on favoring the old breeds (vs White Leghorns and sex linked hybrids)

 

[Ridgerunner]

The compact cages really doesn’t have anything to do with it. Chickens have been selectively bred by geneticists (no GMO involved) to be extremely efficient in converting feed to eggs. The chickens being smaller means they can be more efficient in that because they don’t have to use as much feed to support the smaller bodies. They’ve come up with hybrid crosses that outperform the older heritage breeds regardless of how much room they have.

 

[stumpknocker]

I see. The reason I ask is tha I've heard that the California grey "breed" has become scarce despite producing 300 eggs/year, and one possible reason was it didn't fit well in the small cages. But that might have been a misleading internet article

 

[Sydney Acres]

From the limited reading I have done concerning egg laying breeds, it appears that some of the heritage breeds such as the Brown Leghorn, California White and Grey were replaced in modern times with smaller breeds that would fit in more compact cages. With the California SEFS lay enacted where chickens must be allowed to perch and move about, I was wondering if there have been any new trends on favoring the old breeds (vs White Leghorns and sex linked hybrids)

The CA Grey and the CA White are both sex linked hybrids, not a heritage pure breed. The Brown Leghorn and the White Leghorn are both a heritage Standard bred "purebred" bird.