What came first, the Chicken or the egg?

Its springtime, and around here that means babies.  We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of several babies this month on the farm.  I have a couple goats who should be delivering anytime, and a Sebastopol Goose who is sitting on a clutch of at least 7 or 8 eggs that should be hatching this week.

    I even have a broody hen, which I haven't let set on her eggs yet, but I think I am ready to give her some.  Why pull out the incubator when I have a willing mother hen ready to do all the work?  

   Many of you have asked me at one time or another what kind of chicks I recommend.  And while that  depends largely on several factors, the one factor that most people care about is egg production.  All the ones listed below lay nice brown eggs unless otherwise noted.  If you just want a chicken that lays an egg daily, and you don't care about anything else, you can choose between quite a large list:   

One of our Black Stars with her brood.

Black Star (sexlink)

Red Star (sexlink) 

Easter Eggers (Americaunas) (green eggs)

Buff Orpingtons 

White Leghorns (white eggs)

Black Australorps

Rhode Island Red

Barred Rock

Delawares

     But did you know that some of these birds are have a much higher feed to egg ratio, and will even lay an egg a day for 365 days?  Does that matter to you?  If it does, your very best choices are going to be the Black and Red Stars.   They also have a good temperament, and are good foragers in a free ranging setup.  I have even had one go broody and hatch out 10 eggs all at once.

  If you are determined to have white eggs, the White Leghorn is a good choice.  This is the bird that lays most of the eggs you find in stores.  But your eggs will still be better if you are raising a free range bird.   I personally like to have "easter eggs" all the time.  I like to have several different colors of eggs in my basket.  So i have white, brown, pink and green layers.

My Coronation Sussex with her newly hatched babies

     Orpingtons are a heavier breed, and tend to eat much more.  They do still lay very well, and double as a good table bird if you wanted to butcher a few.  Also one of my favorites in this same category are the Light Sussex.   They are an excellent Table bird, and lay a medium size pink egg, daily.  They are good mothers too, and tend to go broody in early spring.

More rare birds that still lay well:

Light Sussex (pink eggs)

Coronation Sussex (pink eggs)

Speckled Sussex

Brown Leghorns

Blue Andalusians (white eggs)

These birds tend to be more in the “pretty feathers” category, but will still lay eggs for you pretty well.  5-6 eggs a week or more.  I really like the Sussex, they are a great all around bird.  Andalusians are good layers of white eggs, they are very small, lightweight birds, with a good feed to egg ratio, and are also foragers.  I could never keep mine in the pen.

I like to keep a mix of pretty birds, good layers, and unique egg color in the coop.  My current flock consists of a few Americaunas, a light sussex, some Black stars, a white leghorn, and a couple of mixed birds.  Any old farmer will tell you that mixed birds lay better eggs.   Black Stars are actually a mix of Rhode Island reds Roo and Barred Rock Hens.  Red Stars are also a mix of Rhode Island Reds Roo and Delaware Hen.   I also have some fancy feather birds, a Coronation Sussex and a breeding trio of Golden Cuckoo Marans.  Now Marans don't lay worth a darn.  2-3 eggs a week in their best season, but they lay dark chocolate colored eggs, have feathered legs, and are very pretty birds.  So to me, that makes them worth keeping around.

If you have any specific chicken questions, feel free to email me, or leave them in the comments below so all can benefit from the discussion.