Best All-Around Chicken Breed?

[TheChiggens]

Orpington!

 

[Meyer_Hatchery]

Aside from being broody, my favorite is Golden Buff (also known as cinnamon queens, Isa Brown etc) They do not, unfortunately, tend to go broody, but they are otherwise an overall amazing breed otherwise.

 

[Bullitt]

My Swedish Flowers lay nearly every day even in winter. Even my 5-6 year old hens lay very well. I'd say 150 eggs would be on the very low end in my experience.

I was just going by what I can find online. The numbers are also for a chicken's first year of laying eggs. There is something to be said for a hen that can lay more consistently year after year as opposed to a hen that lays well the first year and then production of eggs drop off sharply each year after that.

What is the average weight of a SFH rooster and for the hen?

 

[Bullitt]

Orpington!

A person of few words, I see.

Don't make me do all the work. Why is the Orpington the best all-around chicken breed? How many eggs a year on average do they lay?

I know the Orpington, a British breed, is not a good choice for hot weather. They have a lot of feathers. They would be good in colder areas. They do go broody sometimes. The Buff Orpington is very popular variety, and the Orpington has a gentle personality.

 

[Perris]

There is something to be said for a hen that can lay more consistently year after year as opposed to a hen that lays well the first year and then production of eggs drop off sharply each year after that.

absolutely!
I can't help with average weights (I don't weigh them), but my SFHs are bigger than my araucanas, the same size as my Norfolk Greys, and slightly smaller than my RIR and SDWs - but there is not a lot in it; the SF roo is a bit bigger than all my hens.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I don't think there is a best all around chicken breed or everyone would probably be raising them.
Sussex, Delaware, Australorp, Plymouth Rock, Dorking, Dominique and Java fit your criteria quite closely.
Sussex - medium growth rate to 6-7.5 lbs. 200 large eggs per year, setters, famous for flavor.
Delaware - fast growth rate to 5.5-7.5 lbs., 200 jumbo eggs per year, setters, listed by RAFT.
Australorp - medium growth rate to 5.5-7.5 lbs., 250 large eggs per year, setters.
Plymouth Rock - fast growth to 6-8 lbs., 200 large eggs per year, setters, listed by RAFT.
Java - medium growth rate to 6.5-8 lbs., 150+ large eggs per year, setters, considered the finest table fowl in the 1800s.
Dorking - medium growth rate to 6-8 lbs., 150+ medium to large eggs per year, setters, famous for flavor.
Dominique - smaller but medium growth rate to 4-6 lbs. 250-275 eggs per year, broodiness is variable, RAFT listed.

If you have enough hens of any breed, you will eventually get broody girls. We used to raise a new batch of 100 white leghorns every year and there were always a couple in broody jail.
I don't think I would be looking for a real cold hardy bird in Texas, even in the panhandle. Most breeds handle cold much better than heat.
The thing is that most chicken owners seem to handle heat much better than cold and they think that if they are cold, their chickens must be cold too - they're not.
In Texas I would be looking for Mediterranean breeds.
Breeds like Chanteclers and Orloffs would suffer there.

 

[Ribh]

I'll 2nd barred rocks. Mine do well in a sub tropical climate, laid through winter & their molt & I have one that goes broody every time the temperature goes up! They will tolerate confinement well but love to forage! They grow big enough to make a respectable table bird ~ can't give you size or weights as we don't eat our birds. They can be mean in a mixed flock but are easily handled by their keeper.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

If I were to go for Plymouth Rocks as a table bird, I'd go for White Rocks rather than Barred, Partridge or other variety as they should clean up easier.

 

[Gray Farms]

I was just going by what I can find online. The numbers are also for a chicken's first year of laying eggs. There is something to be said for a hen that can lay more consistently year after year as opposed to a hen that lays well the first year and then production of eggs drop off sharply each year after that.

What is the average weight of a SFH rooster and for the hen?

They get fairly good sized. Mature roosters would easily weigh 6-7 lbs.

 

[Bullitt]

I don't think there is a best all around chicken breed or everyone would probably be raising them.
Sussex, Delaware, Australorp, Plymouth Rock, Dorking, Dominique and Java fit your criteria quite closely.
Sussex - medium growth rate to 6-7.5 lbs. 200 large eggs per year, setters, famous for flavor.
Delaware - fast growth rate to 5.5-7.5 lbs., 200 jumbo eggs per year, setters, listed by RAFT.
Australorp - medium growth rate to 5.5-7.5 lbs., 250 large eggs per year, setters.
Plymouth Rock - fast growth to 6-8 lbs., 200 large eggs per year, setters, listed by RAFT.
Java - medium growth rate to 6.5-8 lbs., 150+ large eggs per year, setters, considered the finest table fowl in the 1800s.
Dorking - medium growth rate to 6-8 lbs., 150+ medium to large eggs per year, setters, famous for flavor.
Dominique - smaller but medium growth rate to 4-6 lbs. 250-275 eggs per year, broodiness is variable, RAFT listed.

If you have enough hens of any breed, you will eventually get broody girls. We used to raise a new batch of 100 white leghorns every year and there were always a couple in broody jail.
I don't think I would be looking for a real cold hardy bird in Texas, even in the panhandle. Most breeds handle cold much better than heat.
The thing is that most chicken owners seem to handle heat much better than cold and they think that if they are cold, their chickens must be cold too - they're not.
In Texas I would be looking for Mediterranean breeds.
Breeds like Chanteclers and Orloffs would suffer there.

There is a best all-around chicken breed based on my criteria. I know a little about chickens. We are having a discussion here for information for people and for fun.

Some of the breeds you mentioned have been mentioned by others in this thread.

Dominique is an excellent all-around chicken breed. The first American chicken breed, Pilgrim Fowl. They may be a little on the small side. If they were a little bigger, they would probably win for all-around chicken breed based on my criteria.

The Sussex is another very good breed. The Speckled Sussex is the most common. From what I could find, I think they would probably lay less than 200 eggs a year. I know different strains will have different characteristics. That is why a strain can be very important also.

I think the Australorp could be a contender for best all-around chicken breed. It lays well, is heavy enough to be a good meat bird, forages well, is hardy in heat or cold, and goes broody sometimes.

That is a good point you made when discussing Leghorns. A person probably only needs to have a couple of broody hens to do the work of raising chicks. A person might be able to breed Leghorns up in size some to have a very good all-around chicken, but that would take a long time.