Are you looking to add chickens to your homestead but want to make sure you’re getting the most you can from the money you put into them? Then this post is for you! These are the best chicken breeds for egg production.
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Does it make anyone else’s heart sing as they drive through the countryside and they see a flock of chickens happily pecking around in yards? Raising chickens is beginning to become more and more popular, with more families raising chickens now than in the past.
Chickens were the first animal we started raising on our homestead. We really enjoyed that they were low-maintenance and gave us a great product: eggs! There really is something special about using the eggs that come from your own chickens. It’s a great feeling!
But, some chicken breeds do lay better than others, and that’s important to consider when deciding which chickens are best for your family’s needs. If you’re like our family, you’re probably hoping to get as many eggs as possible from the amount of money you’re spending on feed for the chickens. These chicken breeds are going to be the highest egg producers for you, giving you more eggs for your buck.
Table of Contents
- What kinds of chickens are the best breeds for eggs?
- Egg production in aging hens
- Why add chickens to a homestead?
- Don’t forget to save this for later!
- Interested in raising chickens?
What kinds of chickens are the best breeds for eggs?
There are a LOT of chicken varieties, and looking at all of the potential opportunities can be overwhelming. This guide will give you a quick list of chicken breeds best for egg production so you can add them to your homestead confident you will get more egg days than not.
Sex-Links (Red Star, Isa Brown)
This breed of chicken is the one we have the most of on our homestead, and their egg production numbers was the driving factor in us purchasing them. In my opinion, Isa Browns (also known as sex-links or red star) are the best chicken breed for egg production. In just one year, this breed of hen can lay on average 300 eggs! Not to mention that this variety of chicken is a great one to buy if you’re only looking for hens, as they are easily sexed because of the differing colors between hens and rooster. You won’t have to worry about accidentally bringing home a rooster chick when you wanted a hen chick. Lots of eggs plus certainty in gender is a win-win in my book!
White Leghorns
Another one of the best chicken breeds for egg production is the traditional white leghorns. The large white chickens can produce up to 280 white eggs for your homestead each year. Leghorns are typically nervous birds who aren’t interested in being friends with their owners, so this should be taken into consideration when deciding if a white leghorn is going to be a good breed for your homestead. Their nervous nature can sometimes cause them to even fly over fences! If you’re looking for a free-range bird that will forage well, keep to themselves, and provide lots of eggs, this chicken breed might be a good choice for your homestead.
Rhode Island Red
Rhode Island Reds are a beautiful dual-purpose chicken breed to add to a homestead. The roosters are a great source of meat, while the hens can produce up to 260 eggs per year, both adding value to a homestead. Rhode Island Reds are also great foragers and are relatively friendly birds who will accept some pets once and a while. Additionally, because of their dense feathers and short combs, Rhode island reds are cold weather hardy which makes them a great choice if you live in a climate that has cold winters like we do in Wisconsin.
Australorp
Another one of the best chicken breeds to add for egg production is the Australorp. Laying an average of 260 large brown eggs per year, this large and heavy chicken is a docile dual-purpose variety that is great for a homestead looking to maximize egg production. The Australorp has a new record for egg production by laying 364 eggs in one year- that means only one day off! Because of their easy-going and friendly personalities, they make great pet chickens that enjoy foraging and performing duties beyond just laying eggs.
Sussex
Another heritage and dual-purpose variety, the Sussex has proven to be a great homestead chicken. The Sussex variety of chickens can lay up to 250 brown eggs annually. Like the Rhode Island Reds, they are also cold-weather hardy, and often continue laying eggs even into the coldest winter months. Sussex chickens do enjoy free-ranging, and their active and alert nature helps keep them safe and protected from potential predators. Although they are an alert chicken, they are also very friendly and docile birds that enjoy the company of people.
Egg production in aging hens
The best chicken breeds will produce the most eggs in their first year, then slowly begin to decline in the amount of eggs per week they provide as the years press on. By around ages 6 or 7, most hens generally stop laying eggs. At this point you’ll want to evaluate what to do with them, either allowing them to retire and enjoy the rest of their days on your homestead or instead serve your family in another way as a meat product. For more on this topic, check out this post from Almanac.com.
Why add chickens to a homestead?
Chickens are a great addition to a homestead because they’re generally pretty easy to care for and provide generously for a homestead, both with eggs and meat. They were the first animals we added to our homestead when we were just getting started, and the benefits far outweigh the cons. The process of taking care of chickens is quite simple: make sure they have food and water and clean out the coop. That’s it! Granted, these are adult laying hens that we’re talking about right now. The chick phase can prove to be a little more challenging as you deal with heat lights, monitoring temperature, transferring them in and outside as they get bigger, and finding a spot to keep them while they grow, but really, it’s not very hard.
Chickens give eggs!
The little work that we do put into these chickens gives us a nice output too- eggs. We’ve had an extremely generous supply of eggs that we use often as a meal, in baking, or as a snack. Even throughout winter, our chickens have continued to provide us with this staple household food that we are always thankful to have! Plus, it’s something that comes from our own homestead, which makes it all that much better.
Chickens provide a good quality food for less money.
Where we live, chicken feed costs about $12 per bag and we go through about 2 bags per month with our 13 chickens. When chickens free range, you will go through even less food. In return, we get about 5-7 eggs per day, which equals out to about 150-210 eggs per month! Right now the brown eggs in our local grocery store are selling for $3.29/dozen. To purchase the amount of eggs we get, we’d be spending between $45-$50 each month. We spend $24 per month to get 13-18 dozen brown eggs, coming out to about $1.33-$1.85/dozen. And when we can sell them, we’re coming out even further ahead.
Chickens keep bugs away
When the chickens are out and free-ranging, they are looking for bugs to eat. They are happy to dine on the pesky mosquitoes, wood ticks, ants, and spiders that are covering your lawn, helping to keep them away from you! They also love fly larvae, so if you have manure piles where flies tend to hang out a lot, you can bet your chickens will want to hang out there too, thus reducing the amount of flies around the homestead.
Chickens are a great source of entertainment and enjoyment
There’s just something nostalgic about hearing the roosters crow in the morning and watching the flock roam around the yard. It really does bring me a lot of joy, which I know, maybe makes me a bit weird. But I’m not the only one- our children LOVE chasing around the chickens. They love to hold them and carry them around the yard and it really can provide entertainment for quite some time. Just yesterday, I walked outside to find that B had placed a chicken on C’s bike and had just began pushing the bike down the hill as she gleefully shouted “Chicken ride!”. I’m not sure the chicken enjoyed the ride as much as she did, but nevertheless, entertainment and enjoyment were had by both the children and me (and maybe the rest of the flock as they watched).
Don’t forget to save this for later!
Interested in raising chickens?
Check out these other posts, too!
CAN I MAKE A PROFIT OWNING CHICKENS?
NUMBER OF CHICKENS YOU’LL NEED FOR YOUR FAMILY HOMESTEAD
SHOULD YOU FREE RANGE CHICKENS ON YOUR HOMESTEAD?
RAISING CORNISH CROSS CHICKENS FOR MEAT: THE ULTIMATE MEAT BIRD
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