When it comes to chickens, there are so many different breeds to choose from, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the choices. Early on, we fell into this trap and bought some beautiful birds but they didn’t lay many eggs. Now that we sell our eggs, we did a ton of research as to the best egg laying chickens (heritage breeds!), and we also have the experience of seeing these birds in action.
When considering the best chickens for egg laying and production on a homestead or small farm level, the number of eggs is not the only thing that should be factored in. It’s also important to consider temperament, how well they forage, and amount of feed needed for egg production.
Many people are newly diving into having chickens to take control of their own egg production and to manage their own costs since egg prices are skyrocketing! You want to make sure you go into it knowing which breeds will be the best egg laying chickens, otherwise, you may end up spending more on them that you expected.
Why Use Heritage Breeds for Egg Production?
I personally stay away from hybrid chickens, since they are bred for a specific purpose, like excessive egg or meat production, at the expense of the health of the bird. These chickens are often prone to more problems and will not breed true to their original.
Heritage breed chickens on the other hand, will breed true to their original type. They are generally more hardy and able to stand up to things like weather and are less susceptible to health problems.
Even though at face value it may seem like heritage breeds lay less eggs per year, they will not burn out as quickly as hybrid egg layers. In most commercial egg production situations, the chickens are culled after the first year of laying due to burn out or health problems.
There are some breeds that started out as a heritage breed but over time have been hybridized and kept the same name. An example is Rhode Island Red. Rhode Island Red is technically a heritage breed but there are only 2500 of the original “heritage” type left. All others you see in stores or hatcheries are likely a hybrid version. The same is true with leghorns. More information about this development HERE and HERE.
Chickens that aren’t Hybrids or Heritage Breeds
Just like vegetable seeds, there is a small amount of newly developed chickens that are neither heritage or hybrid. They breed true to type but haven’t been around long enough to be considered a heritage breed. We have an example of one breed of this type in our flock called Whiting True Green. They are excellent layers and most have been hardy.
It’s also nice to know they can be bred if needed. I think they may prove themselves overtime! Other chickens that fit into this category are spin offs of heritage breeds like lavender orpingtons and chocolate orpingtons.
What are the Best Heritage Breed Egg Laying Chickens?
Here are the top ten best egg laying chickens (heritage breeds):
(Listed In alphabetical order)
- Ancona
- Australorp
- Black Minorca
- Buff Orpington
- Cream Legbar
- Cuckoo Maran
- Delaware
- Plymouth Barred Rock
- Welsummer
- Wyandotte
#1 Ancona
A mediterranean breed known for its small frame and excellent egg laying ability. They also have amazing feed to egg conversion, consuming less feed than most birds and still laying a high number of eggs. Ancona are great at foraging their own food but unlikely to go broody. They tolerate heat very well.
- Estimated Number of Eggs per Year: 220-250
- Shell Color: White
- Egg Size: Extra Large
- Temperament: Excellent
- Heritage Breed: Yes
- Free Range and Foraging ability: Better
#2 Australorp
In order to get the most out of these birds, the hatchery it came from does matter. Some lay more eggs than others. I personally got my Australorps HERE. They are very friendly and are excellent at both egg laying and can be dual purpose and used for meat.
- Estimated Number of Eggs per Year: 250-325
- Shell Color: Brown
- Egg Size: Large
- Temperament: Excellent
- Heritage Breed: Yes
- Free Range and Foraging ability: Excellent
#3 Black Minorca
We personally raise this breed. They are excellent layers of large white eggs, and have a good disposition. They lay very consistently until they molt. The birds are a beautiful black, but beware, they are fast! Definitely one our hardest breeds to catch if they get loose.
- Estimated Number of Eggs per year: 220-300
- Shell Color: White
- Egg Size: Extra Large
- Temperament: Good
- Heritage Breed: Yes
- Free Range and Foraging ability: Excellent
#4 Buff Orpington
This one just barely made my list. This is one breed that is popular because they are a great all around bird. They lay a good number of eggs (although compared to most of the best egg laying chickens (Heritage Breeds) list are on the lower end of the amount of eggs). They are a great breed for laying through the winter and they are also excellent mothers and go broody often. So if you need a mom to sit on eggs or a keep laying through cold weather bird, Buff Orpintons are a great option!
- Estimated Number of Eggs per year: 200-250
- Shell Color: Brown
- Egg Size: Large
- Temperament: Excellent
- Heritage Breed: Yes
- Free Range and Foraging ability: Better
#5 Cream Legbar
Cream Legbar has high production of tinted eggs, in a light blue tone. Not many of the tinted egg layers have great production, but Cream Legbar is an exception. We raise these birds and they are friendly as well. From my personal experience with Cream Legbar, they lay right on through most of winter (and I don’t add supplemental light to my chickens).
- Estimated Number of Eggs per year: 230-250
- Shell Color: Blue
- Egg Size: Large
- Temperament: Excellent
- Heritage Breed: Yes
- Free Range and Foraging ability: Good
#6 Cuckoo Maran
With dark brown eggs being popular right now, cuckoo maran have high production of this color egg. They aren’t as dark brown as French Copper Marans, the cuckoos are more friendly and lay more eggs.
- Estimated Number of Eggs per year: 220-280
- Shell Color: Dark Brown
- Egg Size: Large
- Temperament: Excellent
- Heritage Breed: Yes
- Free Range and Foraging ability: Good
#7 Delaware
Another chicken we currently raise. They are a great dual purpose breed, for both meat and eggs. Although not usually noted as a prolific egg layer, their egg production with our personal strain of this breed has been excellent!
They have laid through most of the winter whereas the majority of our other chickens have stopped laying in the cold and short daylight hours. This is my favorite all around chicken breed on our homestead.
- Estimated Number of Eggs per year:200-250
- Shell Color: Brown
- Egg Size: Large-Extra Large
- Temperament: Hens are good. We’ve had some very docile cockerels and some more mean ones. It’s hit and miss for the males.
- Heritage Breed: Yes
- Free Range and Foraging ability: Excellent
#8 Plymouth Barred Rock
A lovely, friendly breed, these chickens are also excellent layers. They aren’t fazed by the cold weather of winter. This breed was the first we ever raised and one of the friendliest.
Estimated Number of Eggs per year:220-280
- Shell Color: Brown
- Egg Size: Large
- Temperament: Great
- Heritage Breed: Yes
- Free Range and Foraging ability: Excellent
#9 Welsummer
A good breed for both hot and cold areas, Welsummer are another prolific layer of dark brown eggs. We personally raise this breed and the hens have been friendly.
- Estimated Number of Eggs per year: 220-280
- Shell Color: Dark Brown
- Egg Size: Large
- Temperament: Better
- Heritage Breed: Yes
- Free Range and Foraging ability: Better
#10 Golden Wyandotte
Great at laying eggs but not as friendly as most breeds. We had a rooster of this breed and my kids described him as “not very likable”. The poor free ranging ability is also accurate. We haven’t owned hens. I hear they are much more friendly!
- Estimated Number of Eggs per year:200-260
- Shell Color: Brown
- Egg Size: Large
- Temperament: Good
- Heritage Breed: Yes
- Free Range and Foraging ability: Poor
Conclusion
I hope this helps you to see some of what I think are the best egg laying chickens among the heritage breeds. I recommend both Cackle Hatchery and McMurray Hatchery as nationwide sources for purchasing chickens. This year, they sold out fast, but still have some openings later in the summer for some of the chickens. I also recommend checking out an app called Farmish for local chick sales from breeders.
If you’re looking for some information about meat chickens, our favorite heritage breed for meat is Delawares, if you need a faster growing hybrid, we liked Freedom Rangers. After butchering a set of Cornish Cross, we decided it wasn’t a good fit for us. You can read more about our first time butchering HERE.
4 comments
Hi Becky!
Congrats on baby!
Can you talk about what you feed your birds? The lavender Orpington, would those be true to type if bred? Also would love to know your favourite veggies and fruits that aren’t seeds on the farm (fruit trees, potato varieties etc.)
Thank you!
John 3:16
Hi Becky! This info is super helpful for me as we are finally getting chickens this year! This has certainly helped me narrow down my breed options a bit. What a crazy year to get chickens though–I thought I was doing well to order them now but I’ve discovered many hatcheries are already sold out completely or at least until late summer for the breeds I want. I have a million questions as a soon to be new “chicken mom”…but I’ll keep it to a few: Do you keep your chickens in your tractors all the time or let them out to free range wherever during the day? Do your chickens tolerate your winter weather pretty well in your tractors? How many square feet per bird works for you for both the coop and the open space in your tractors (for your laying hens)? Do you exclusively use layer feed or also give them lots of food scraps, etc.? Thanks for all your informative posts!!
Also, could you explain why you aren’t doing meat birds this year? 🙂
We will raise meat birds again this year, we usually do a mix of Freedom Rangers and Delaware Broiler.