5 Chicken breeds you wish you had!

We all know that choosing the right breed is very important if your goal is to have fresh eggs all year long. One of the questions I get at FLYGRUBS headquarters is, “Emily, which breed of chicken should I buy?” I never like to choose for people, so below I made a list of my top 5 breeds that are known for laying lots of eggs!

Golden Comet (Hybrid)

The Golden Comet is one of the most common Hybrids. I put the Golden Comet at number 1 for a couple reasons. It’s been bred to lay loads of eggs and consume small quantities of food… in other words it will save you money for more GOLDEN COMETS :-) They are a very resilient breed that rairley turns broody The eggs are typically medium sized and brown colored and lay between 250 to 280 per year. A solid choice for first time backyard chicken farmers.

Rhode Island Red

Broiler chickens or layer hens, in addition to being a great egg layer and tough, this bird is known for being “dual purpose.” That means it can be raised for meat or eggs.

Like the Golden Comet, they typically lay medium sized brown eggs and lay between 225 to 250 per year. These were my first breed of chickens, when I began farming.

Leghorn

Hailing from Italy in the 1800s, these beauties have been a staple in the backyard chicken scene ever since. Extra points to you if you are old enough to remember the TV show Foghorn Leghorn. Sad to say, I had to google it :-(

These chickens are known for being shy and hard to tame. They typically lay white eggs that are medium in size and lay between 225 to 250 per year.

Sussex

Like the Rhode Island Red, the Sussex is also “Dual Purpose.” They are a very tame breed and if you want your girls to eat from your hand, or hang in your garden all day, I think this would be a good choice. They typically lay small to medium size eggs that vary between creamy white and brown and lay between 225 to 250 per year. Special thanks to chickenpic.blogspot.com for the photo.

Buff Orpington

“The Buff,” as I like to call them, are a dream. They are by far the most social birds I have been around. If you’re looking for a pet chicken, this is the breed I suggest. As layers, they aren’t the best because they sometimes get seasonally broody, but they still lay between 180 to 200 eggs per year.

Special thanks to mcmurrayhatchery.com for the great Buff, photo.