Chicken Breeds: Best Top Picks for
Egg Laying Chickens

Many people have different purposes of keeping chickens. Some might keep them for meat, others might keep them for eggs, and there may be still others who might keep them just as a hobby of keeping pets. Out of the many brands available there are some breeds that are known for their egg-laying capability. Some of them are excellent egg layers. In case you want to keep chickens for the purpose of eggs, then it is very important to have a good idea about the top picks for egg laying chickens.

Looking at egg production in terms of numbers, the smaller chickens are better producers as they hardly focus of body buildup and concentrate solely on producing eggs. Leghorn, Minorca, and Ancona are some of the well-known breeds for egg laying chickens.

White Leghorn chickens produce huge quantities of white eggs. It is a light-weight bird with a good temperament, and produces large eggs. They start laying eggs very early (at about 4 to 5 months of age), and keep on laying eggs for a much longer period compared to other breeds. They have a small body structure and are a bit flighty. They can withstand extreme temperature variations and are very hardy.

Like the While Leghrons, Brown Leghrons are also known as egg laying chickens. Over and above being prolific egg layers, they are also very good looking.

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Another good egg-laying breed of chicken is the Ancona, which also has a small body. Their eggs are small, but as a choice of your pets, they are excellent as they are very nice looking, with white speckles and black feathers. They don’t like to stay confined and works best on the free range. They are not very friendly but are hardy.

Rhode Island Red is a friendly and hardy bird, which is suitable for both cold and hot weather conditions. Being a bit heavier, it is a dual-purpose breed which can produce good number of brown eggs as well as provide meat. It can better withstand varying weather conditions and is highly disease-resistant.

Another dual-purpose chicken breed is the Buff Catalanas. Being sufficiently heavy and capable of producing white eggs, this breed is good to be raised for both eggs as well as meat. They are hardy and very good looking with a red-coloured body, black tails, and grey legs which make them a good choice for egg laying chickens.

Another white egg layer is the California White which is of hybrid type. It lays large and white eggs in sufficient quantity and competes closely with the White Leghorn. Its growth is faster than normal. This hardy breed is highly recommended if you are concentrating solely on egg production.

Apart from these top egg laying chickens, there are other egg-laying breeds as well which produce less number of eggs but are rare and beautiful brands. You may also decide to keep a mix of the prolific as well as the not-so-prolific egg layers to create a flock of extraordinary pet chickens.

If you’re ready to build a chicken coop check out this complete guide and design plans.