Best breeds for egg production?

[dfhgjlod]

I already have my fun breeds to show to friends and am just looking for some breeds to produce more of and better quality eggs.

So, two question:
1. What chicken breeds are best for egg production?
2. What breeds make the coolest eggs?
(please state which one your answering)

 

[Shadowfire]

1. I think White Leghorns are among the best; up to 300 large eggs a year
2. Easter-eggers (pink to blue), olive-eggers (olive-green), ameracaunas (green-blue), black copper marans (very dark brown), blue isbar (green). Ayam cemini's are all black and lay black eggs, but, well, they are super expensive and the rarest chicken breed in the world.

Best of luck!

 

[Parront]

I already have my fun breeds to show to friends and am just looking for some breeds to produce more of and better quality eggs.

So, two question:
1. What chicken breeds are best for egg production?
2. What breeds make the coolest eggs?
(please state which one your answering)

Leghorns lay the most eggs. Most hatcheries sell a cross-bred layer. If you want brown eggs, a sex-link will lay the most, and you are most likely to get pullets.

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

A Rhode Island Red will lay prolifically with brown eggs.

 

[Acre4Me]

Leghorns lay the most eggs. Most hatcheries sell a cross-bred layer. If you want brown eggs, a sex-link will lay the most, and you are most likely to get pullets.

As @Parront states, you want production birds. Lots of eggs, but often they slow up around year 2, so if quantity is your goal, then you'll need a plan to replace on a schedule.

Depending on what color eggs you want a lot of, will depend on breed. So, Leghorns are considered a top choice for white eggs, but a hatchery will indicate which are the production breeds and how many per year to expect.

 

[dfhgjlod]

@Acre4Me Is the 2 year mark particularly special with Leghorns or is this a general chicken thing? I understand that most chickens slow down production but in the past mine have continued to lay eggs well over 3+ years after birth.

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

@Acre4Me Is the 2 year mark particularly special with Leghorns or is this a general chicken thing? I understand that most chickens slow down production but in the past mine have continued to lay eggs even 3+ years after birth.

Most chicken will meat eggs 5+ years but the production slows down at 2 years usually. I butcher all my birds after two years of laying. (Rhode Island reds)

 

[Parront]

I had brown leghorns, not the production hybrid, and they laid plenty of eggs for my purpose. Far more than my Orpingtons, Easter eggers and Australorps. They did not get along in the same flock with the other calmer breeds, though. I had to separate them, they pecked the calmer birds. They were not pets.

 

[Brahmachicken240]

Here’s Some that come to my mind.
1)hybrid layers
(Not my photo)

2)leghorns
(My photo)

3) Sussex
(Not my photo)

4) Rhode Island reds
(My photo)

5)Plymouth rocks
(Not my photo)

6) barnevelders
(Not my photo)

7)hamburgs
(Not my photo)

8) marans
(Not my photo)

9)buff Orpingtons
(My photo)

10) Ancona
(Not my photo)

Good luck expanding your flock!

 

[Acre4Me]

@Acre4Me Is the 2 year mark particularly special with Leghorns or is this a general chicken thing? I understand that most chickens slow down production but in the past mine have continued to lay eggs even 3+ years after birth.

Just common for production birds. You could have a strain that keeps going longer, etc. And some people are fine with the reduction in production as they age.

As for coolest eggs: well, does your market want colored eggs (Blue, green, pink, cream, brown, olive)? or a mix of colors in a carton? All white? XLarge size? Any size Med-XLarge? so, this will vary. Personally I like colored eggs.

Last fall, I saw these in my local market. The eggs are exactly the shade on the label. They were crazy expensive (for our area anyway), but visually very attractive - dark brown and medium pastel blue. For the record, they didn't sell very well I don't think, but not at all uncommon for the regular white eggs to be between $0.59 - $1.19/ dozen so a hard sell when these were $8/dzn.

Here are some eggs from my flock - some colors and various shades. The bottom left one is actually green. The tiny white one was a first egg from a Dark Brown Leghorn we had....that took FOREVER to lay at age 38 weeks, followed by sister that finally laid at age 44 weeks, and third leghorn sister hadn't laid yet by the time we sold them at 45 weeks. However the Dark Brown Leghorns are not known to be as good of layers as white leghorns.