The best egg-laying breeds of chickens: description, characteristics and reviews

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Choosing egg-laying chickens for home breeding is a rather difficult task. However, having certain knowledge in this direction, it is, of course, possible to cope with it. In this article, we will look at the most popular breeds of laying hens and their characteristics.

Common signs of egg hens

There are many different breeds of egg hens, but all have many common features:

• Egg-bearing breeds of chickens are relatively light in weight, which does not exceed 2.8 kg. However, representatives of the meat and egg direction are on top of both meat indicators and egg production.
• The wings are long, with a wide span.
• The comb is straight, bright red, large.
• Egg-laying breeds of chickens - active and mobile.
• Birds have a good metabolism, so they need food all the time.
• Egg hens mature quickly and are ready to lay at five months of age.
• Hatching instinct is absent or reduced to a minimum.

Egg-laying breeds of chickens do not require any special care and do not need any special conditions. But at the same time, in order for eggshells to be strong and hard enough, they constantly need various vitamin and mineral supplements.

Benefits

Breeds of egg-laying chickens (a description of the best representatives will be provided below) have the following undeniable advantages:

• High egg production.
• Big egg weight.
• Eggshell hardness.
• Disease resistance.
• Good offspring survival.
• Unpretentious diet.
• No aggression.

Thanks to the efforts of poultry farmers, modern representatives of the egg direction have all these qualities developed to the maximum.

Let's consider which egg-laying breeds of chickens are the best.

Leggorn

The white leghorn is a classic of the egg farming. This is perhaps the most egg-laying breed of chickens, which was bred in Italy in the 19th century.

The birds are relatively small in size: the live weight of an adult laying hen is 1.6 kg, a rooster is approximately 2.5 kg. The body is quite proportional, the chest is rounded, the back is wide, slightly elongated. Representatives of the Leghorn breed have a medium-sized head with a bright red beautiful comb. In roosters, it is erect, in hens it hangs slightly to one side. Eye color changes with age. In young birds they are orange, in adult birds they are pale yellow. The color of the legs also changes with age. In young hens they are bright yellow, inolder individuals are pale, bluish-white. By these signs, you can determine the age of the birds. There are more than 20 varieties of colors of chickens of this breed, but in Russia it is white representatives that are most common. There are birds with golden, black, brown, blue and variegated plumage.

Legghorns begin to rush at the age of five months (at about 18-20 weeks), especially the birds are productive in the first year of life. Under comfortable conditions, one laying hen is capable of producing 250 and sometimes even 300 eggs per year. The eggs are quite large (average weight 60 g). The breed of white egg-laying hens Leggorn lays white eggs, in motley birds the eggs are brown.

According to the owners, Leggorn chickens are quite active and are almost always on the move. It is desirable to keep birds in a barn with the possibility of walking. In the place of detention for the full development should be enough light and fresh air. It is also important to ensure cleanliness. The barn should be equipped with perches, feeders and nests.

A small area fenced with a net is quite enough for walking the bird.

White Russian

This is a hybrid of leghorns and Russian outbred birds. The White Russian is considered one of the best egg-bearing breeds. Productivity is 230-250 eggs per year (in some cases it can reach 300 eggs), which is slightly lower than that of leggorns. The average weight of one egg is approximately 55 g. In size, this breed of chickens is slightly larger than leghorns. The birds have a large, leaf-shaped bright red crest.

According to the owners,The undoubted advantage of this breed of chickens is their resistance to stress, cold and many diseases. Birds mature quickly, are balanced and not aggressive.

Loman Brown

This is a very productive breed. The bird is excellent for growing in regions with a cold climate. Loman brown perfectly tolerates severe frosts, chickens rush even in winter. This hybrid breed was bred in Germany.

Since these are chickens of the egg and meat direction, they are large and massive. The body is wide, the back is rounded, slightly arched. The tail is large, the beak of both chickens and roosters is quite powerful. Color - brown. The live weight of an adult laying hen is from 2 to 2.5 kg, the rooster weighs an average of 2.5-3 kg. They begin to rush at about 5 months. In a year, one bird can produce about 320 eggs weighing 63-64 g. The shell is light brown. According to reviews, representatives of this breed are distinguished by a calm temperament, resistance to stress, and friendliness. Birds tolerate keeping in cages.

Tetra

This is a universal breed of egg and meat, bred by one of the Hungarian companies.

Chickens are practically no different from birds of similar breeds. The body is well developed, rectangular, the head is not very large with a solid light yellow beak. The neck of the chickens is quite long, the tail is of medium size. Legs white-yellow, medium length.

Wings of medium size, close to the body tightly, the plumage of birds is silky. Hens are red or brown, roosters are white.

Birds begin to rushas early as four or five months. Up to 300 eggs can be produced per year. Like all egg-laying breeds of chickens, the tetra is especially productive in the first year of its activity, after which egg production gradually decreases. The eggs are large (up to 65 g), the shell is brown.

Like all universal breeds, the tetra is also famous for its dietary tasty meat, and it gains commercial weight quite quickly - in just four to five months. Reviews about these layers are only good.

Dominant

Considering the egg-laying breeds of chickens (the names of the best representatives are given in the article), one cannot fail to mention such a bird as a dominant, bred in the Czech Republic. According to the owners, the breed is distinguished by its beautiful appearance, feed quality, resistance to diseases. She is also unpretentious to the conditions of detention, but the best quality of chickens is, of course, their good productivity and tasty he althy meat.

The breed has several subspecies that differ in color and body shape. However, they all have a large, massive body and a small head. The wings of the birds are close-fitting, the plumage is magnificent, the legs are short, which gives the dominants a squat and dense appearance. The plumage is light, black and white, motley, dark.

The live weight of an adult laying hen is about 2 kg, a cockerel is 2.5-3 kg. Hens begin to lay eggs at 4.5 months, and in the first year they give up to 310 eggs. The eggs are large - up to 70 g, the shell is quite strong, brown, white or cream in color, depending on the subspecies of the laying hen.

Minorchi

The name of this breed comes fromthe area where it was bred by breeders (Island of Minorca, Spain). Minorki were brought to Russia in 1885.

The breed looks very original. The birds have black plumage, a red crest, rather large white earlobes and wide, long scarlet wattles, giving them a rather impressive appearance. The back is long enough, sloping towards the tail, the chest is wide, the legs are high. The head is black, medium in size, graceful. The neck is long, the beak of the birds is black. In roosters, the comb is erect, large, in hens it is hanging down.

Minorkas are not suitable for industrial breeding, as they are demanding in terms of keeping conditions.

Minorkas begin to rush at the age of five months. In the first year, they are able to carry up to 2000 eggs. Eggs are large (60-80 g). The advantage of this breed is also that they can be carried regardless of the season.

The disadvantages include the effeminacy of the bird: in cold weather, legs and scallops can be frostbite. Also, this breed does not tolerate drafts, high humidity, cold.

Birds do not have a brooding instinct, so eggs must be placed in laying hens of other breeds or laid in an incubator.

Pushkin's striped motley

This is a relatively new breed, bred in 2007 in Russia.

The body of birds is wide, trapezoidal, wide, the neck is a long vertical neck. A spike is clearly visible on the crest, which goes to the frontal part from the back of the head. The back of the birds is even, narrowed towards the tail, the wings are long. The shape of the head is elongated, the size is small. The beak is of medium length, slightly curved. Eyesconvex, orange. Legs are long and grey. The color can be striped and variegated with white fluff or black and white.

Pushkin chickens are slightly larger than other breeds of the egg direction, which is especially attractive for their breeding, because after the end of the egg-laying period, they can be put on meat.

The weight of an adult chicken is 2 kg, a rooster is close to 2, 7-3 kg. Egg production begins at about 5 months, productivity up to 280-290 eggs per year. The shell is strong, white or light cream, weighing up to 60 g.

Pushkinskaya breed of chickens is unpretentious to the conditions of detention. The temper is calm. According to farmers, in case of danger, the birds do not run away, but crouch, leaning towards the ground, so they are easy to catch when slaughtered.

Hamburg breed

The bird was bred in Germany by crossing chickens brought from other countries with local individuals.

Hamburger breed is distinguished by a slender, elongated torso of medium size, a long neck, high chest, which gives it a proud look. The color of the crest is pink, the earlobes are white like a Minorca.

Since several breeds of chickens were involved in breeding the Hamburg breed, their color can be very different - black, white, fawn, silver-striped, partridge, spotted, golden-striped, blue.

Laying hens weigh 1.5-2 kg, males about 2-2.5 kg. For a year, one laying hen is able to lay up to 380-400 eggs weighing 45-50 g. The eggshell is white.

Summarize

So, we have considered which breeds of chickens are the mostoviparous, learned the reviews of the owners. When choosing poultry, it is important to consider:

• Purpose of breeding: for occasional sale or uninterrupted production of eggs.
• What is the area allocated for raising chickens.
• Conditions in which the bird will be kept: in cages, aviary.
• In what region and in what climatic conditions will chickens be raised.
• The degree of adaptation of a particular breed to given conditions.
• Availability and price of selected breed chicks.

It is worth buying young animals only after all the nuances of future breeding are thought out and the premises intended for keeping the bird are organized. It is also important to read detailed literature about which breed of chickens is egg-bearing and a complete description of breeding. Only under these conditions, hens will be able to delight with beautiful, large and even eggs throughout the year.