We all enjoy having chicken eggs as part of our meals. These eggs being rich in essential nutrients that could improve your health. And the best way of obtaining fresh eggs is none other than keeping several layers in your backyard. So, what are the 5 best egg-laying chicken breeds? On our list of the best egg-laying chicken, breeds are the White Leghorns, Australorps, Lohmann Brown, Sussex, and Rhode Island Red. Since all these are different breeds, their eggs don’t look the same. Some are brown, green, tinted while others are double dark brown eggs and so on. As a chicken keeper, you must identify the best layers among dozens of breeds out there. This way you will help maximize your egg production for your benefits.
Top Egg Laying Chicken Breeds
If you are looking forward to raising chickens for eggs then you should consider choosing the best breeds that will meet your needs. Doing so will help you save a lot of cash by producing a lot of eggs for your consumption or commercial purposes. That’s exactly what we are going to look into by discussing a few breeds of egg layers in the following sections.
1) White Leghorn Chicken Breed
White Leghorn Hen
The first of the 5 Best Egg Laying Chicken Breeds is the White Leghorn is a hardy breed of chicken layers with a reputation of producing an average of 180 eggs per year. To achieve this level of egg production, this breed needs good care, proper diet, and a conducive environment. Therefore, you should always consider these factors when keeping White Leghorns for egg production. And don’t forget to provide them with enough fresh, clean water and adequate heat.
This breed is reputed for making a good penned or coop chicken than a free-range one, especially during the summer season. At this time of the year, the temperatures are usually high and there’s plenty of forage for every chicken. These birds can weigh as high as 5lbs for females and can start laying at 16 or 17 weeks old.
When it comes to their eggs, these beautiful flighty birds lay white eggs that range from medium to large if subjected to their proper diet. For the behavior, White Leghorns are said to be slightly nervous and that is the reason you will see them displaying their flighty nature whenever they feel uncomfortable. The roosters, on the other hand, can be a little more active and hyper. Otherwise, White Leghorns are excellent egg layers that you should include in your flock of birds.
2) Australorp Chicken Breed
Black Australorps
This one qualifies second in the 5 Best Egg Laying Chicken Breeds? The Australorp chicken breed is a very unique type of egg layers. This is because it is a crossbreed between Orpington chicken and Rhode Island Red. These chickens were developed in the 1920s in Australia. This breed is well adapted to the Australian climate although it can still survive in other places across the world.
Australorp chickens are reputed for laying large and very beautiful light brown eggs. On the record, these egg layers take the top slot for laying a staggering 364 eggs in a year. This translates to one egg per day, making Australorp the champion of egg-laying. But keep in mind that a typical Australorp chicken is capable of laying between 250 and 300 eggs in one year.
When it comes to their temperament, Australorps are gentle and calm unlike other breeds of layers. So, you can as well use them as pets besides keeping them for their outstanding egg-laying ability. Australorps are quite productive breeds of egg-laying chickens that you shouldn’t miss out among your flock of good egg layers.
3) Lohman Brown Chicken Breed
The third to make the 5 Best Egg Laying Chicken Breeds? If you are looking for the best hybrid chickens to add to your flock of egg layers, then your search should take you to Lohman Brown. These chickens trace their origin to Germany where they were created from cross-breeding New Hampshire chickens with a selected group of brown egg laying breeds. Even though this description sounds somehow freaky, Lohman Brown chicken breed is considered one of the best egg layers that you can find today in several coops.
As the name suggests, Lohman Brown hens are known the world over for their ability to lay brown eggs. These beautiful chickens start laying large-sized eggs as early as 4 to 5 months after hatching. In addition, they can lay as high as 300 eggs in one year, making them second to Australorps on the list of the most prolific egg-laying chicken breeds.
Just like other breeds of chickens, Lohman Brown is friendly and docile in nature. This means that anyone can handle them making them one of the best chickens for children. Apart from that, this breed is considered to be the most widespread egg layers that you can find anywhere on the planet today. That’s why most farmers prefer having this breed among their layers because they know their productivity in terms of egg-laying as well as their exceptionally cool temperament.
4) Sussex Chicken Breed
Although a dual-purpose chicken breed, Sussex is one of the most productive egg layers you can think of. This British chicken breed has a reputation for laying high quality and large eggs in addition to being a good source of meat. One interesting thing about this breed is that it comes in 8 different colors with white being the most common of all. The white Sussex chicken is easily identified. Its black tail and black neck feathers with the rest of the body bearing white feathers. A good example of the most popular Sussex breed of chicken layers is the Fern Meadow. This breed has marvelous spotted feather patterns and is well known for quality eggs and delicious white meat.
Sussex Chicken breed lays white, brown or tinted eggs depending on which specific breed you are raising. Each chicken can lay between 180 and 200 eggs in one year alone. Even though this number is not anything close to what Austrlorps and Lohman Brown breed produce, many chicken owners still prefer Sussex breed to be part of their egg-laying hens. Some strains of this breed have recorded higher numbers of egg production which averages 125 eggs annually if conditions are favorable for them. This should tell you that this breed has the potential to be among the top-three egg layers known so far.
Sussex Chicken breed is a good addition to your mixed flock although each breed has its behavior or personality. So, ensure that you keep them where they can fit perfectly well to avoid conflicts or injuries. This is because some breeds of chickens are too territorial and aggressive that they can cause a lot of trouble to the docile ones.
5) Rhode Island Red Chicken Breed
Rhode Island Red Hen
Here comes the Rhode Island Red Chicken Breed that every other chicken keeper is talking about. The Rhode Island Red is a crossbreed of oriental chickens such as the Malay breeds and Leghorn breeds from Italy. In addition to laying an abundance of eggs, this breed is a good source of chicken meat (dual purpose).
Rhode Island Red hens lay light brown, medium or large eggs. These hens start laying at about 4 to 5 months of age, which is earlier than what has been observed in other breeds. In one year Rhode Island Red layers can produce 150 to 250 eggs.
Even though most of the egg-laying chicken breeds are docile, this one is the opposite one. The Rhode Island Red is a highly spirited breed of chickens. The hens becoming loud and flighty most of the time. Their roosters are even more hyper and very active especially when free-ranging.
Related Questions
What do you look for when choosing your favorite egg-laying chicken breeds? The first thing you will consider when selecting your ideal breed of layers is the number of eggs it can produce in a year and the quality of the eggs. Other factors that follow egg production include the size of the breed, color of feathers, and behavior among others.
Do the characteristics of egg-laying chickens play an important role in raising egg layers? Yes. Besides the number of eggs each breed lays in a year, its characteristics are also important. And by saying characteristics, we simply mean broodiness, ability to forage well and hardiness of individual breeds.
In Conclusion:
Keeping chickens is a great investment as well as an interesting hobby. While some chickens are raised for meat, others are kept for egg production and some for both. When it comes to egg production, the choice of your breed will determine the number of eggs laid by each chicken in a year. With that in mind, you may consider keeping chicken breeds such as those mentioned above if you want to enjoy an endless supply of fresh eggs
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