The Best Backyard Chicken Breeds

Choosing the Right Chickens for a Micro Flock

While commercial egg farms select hen breeds based solely on productivity and uniformity of egg color, a backyard chicken keeper must consider a wider range of traits when creating a small flock. Most backyard chickens exist in small flocks and are used to produce eggs for a family.

Traits to Look for

• A friendly personality
• Excellent egg production
• Lack of flightiness
• Hardiness in hot and/or cold weather

A backyard chicken keeper may also select hens to preserve heritage breeds and to obtain unusual egg colors.

7 Best Breeds for Your Back Yard

1. Barred Plymouth Rock
2. Buff Orpington
3. Silver Gray Dorking
4. Wyandottes
5. Easter Eggers
6. Black Australorps
7. Marans

Each of these breeds is described fully below.

1. Barred Plymouth Rock

The Barred Plymouth Rock is a heritage breed (first exhibited in 1849) and an excellent producer of large brown eggs. The hen has barred black-and-white feathers and a single comb. The Barred Rock is a dual-purpose bird and can be used for meat and for egg production.

Personality: These chickens are cold hardy and very friendly with their human owners. Barred Rocks are not flighty and will be content in a backyard setting. In addition, this breed is not extremely aggressive to other chickens—this is important when dealing with a small number of hens.

Egg Laying: Barred Rocks can be expected to lay 200-280 eggs per year. Hens should start laying between 16-20 weeks of age. As with most hens, egg production will decrease over the winter months. For backyard flock owners who would like to keep egg production steady, artificial lighting over the winter months will help to keep egg production rates steady.

2. Buff Orpington

The Buff Orpington is a British breed and is one of the best breeds for a family flock. This chicken is extremely friendly, docile, and lays large light brown eggs. These birds are exceptionally cold hardy, but may not do as well in extremely hot climates. Another dual-purpose breed, these hens are very large and will weigh 7-8 pounds (3.2-3.6 Kg) at maturity.

Personality: "Big Buffs" have a tendency to become broody, which can be a nuisance to some backyard owners. These hens are excellent mothers and the broodiness can be an advantage when new chicks are ordered, as a broody hen will raise new chicks as her own.

Egg Laying: The Buff Orpington will start to lay eggs at approximately 20-24 weeks of age. Watch for signs of imminent egg-laying, such as squatting, singing the "egg song," and the comb and wattles obtaining a red color. This breed will lay 200-280 eggs per year.

3. Silver Gray Dorking

These hens were introduced to Britain from the Roman Empire and have five toes on short legs.

Personality: An endangered and old breed, the Silver Gray Dorking is known as an extremely friendly chicken. Similar to the Buff Orpingtons, Dorkings have a tendency to go broody. While Dorkings will not stray far from home, they do like to roost in trees (an interesting feat for a chicken with short legs)! These hens are so docile they may be subject to pecking and injury from more aggressive breeds.

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Egg Laying: Dorkings lay medium sized cream colored eggs. They are good layers, averaging about 175 eggs per year. They are a dual-purpose bird.

4. Wyandottes

Wyandottes come in many different colors and patterns. Silver Laced Wyandottes are the most frequently seen, but Columbian, Penciled, and Blue-Laced-Red varieties are also observed. These hens are dual-purpose and have a rose comb. They are cold hardy and large (7-8 pounds).

Personality: They have variable personalities—some hens may be friendly and get along with their flock-mates. Others may become dominant and aggressive toward other hens in the flock. The majority of Wyandottes are fairly easy-going and should mix well with most backyard flocks.

Egg Laying: Wyandottes lay approximately 275 large brown eggs per year.

5. Easter Eggers

While this breed is not a heritage breed, they are a fun addition to a backyard flock. Easter Egger chickens are not a heritage breed and are not pure-bred chickens. They are a mixed breed, generally bred to produce colorful eggs. These chickens often have a beard and a muff, characteristics from the pure-bred Araucana chickens used in the breeding process.

Personality: Easter Eggers tend to be friendly and curious, and are easy to tame.

Egg Laying: Depending on the hatchery or breeder, Easter Eggers may be bred to produce green, blue, or "pink" (light tan) colored eggs. Most hatcheries and breeders sell blue or green laying Easter Eggers. The eggs are beautiful and unique. The egg color can also be a selling point for those who wish to sell eggs from their hens. They lay approximately 200 extra-large eggs per year.

6. Black Australorps

This Australian breed was developed from Black Orpingtons and is another dual-purpose chicken.

These hens have black feathers with a green iridescence in the sunlight. They are large birds and will weigh 5-7 pounds at maturity. These hens mature quickly and will begin laying at approximately 16 weeks of age.

While the adult hens are entirely black, chicks are hatched with black and white down. Some early chick feathering may include some white feathers, which will fall out at the first molt.

Egg Laying: An Australorp set the egg-laying record, laying 364 eggs in 365 days. While this feat hasn't been repeated recently, these hens are excellent producers of large light brown eggs.

7. Marans

Due to an import ban, the genetic stock of this breed suffers from a lack of diversity in the United States. This is a rare breed.

These chickens are cold-hardy and calm. They are one of the rarest chicken breeds in the United States, though they are common in France. Most Marans will have feathered legs, though there are clean-legged varieties available. The French Poultry Standard states Marans should have feathered legs.

Egg Laying: Maran eggs are highly sought after, as they are often so dark they appear to be chocolate in color! Some Marans lay darker eggs than others, with the Black Copper Maran laying extremely dark brown eggs. Mature hens are 5-6 pounds and lay over 200 dark chocolate brown eggs per year. For the darkest eggs, seek out a breeder working to improve the breed's egg color.

Chicken Characteristics

A Buff Orpington hen

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Benefits of Backyard Hens

• Chickens given access to pasture produce eggs with 2-3 times more Omega-3 fatty acids than commercially produced eggs.
• Hens will recycle table scraps, reducing the amount of garbage that goes to a landfill.
• Hens produce manure. When composted, the manure creates a fantastic fertilizer for vegetable and flower gardens.
• Chickens as pets teach children about the food supply chain.
• Hens are fun to watch, and are one of the few pets that give something back (eggs)!

Which Breed Is Best for You?

Any of the breeds listed above are fantastic for a small flock. Most chicken owners have more than one breed of chicken, though some will specialize in a single breed. Our family has a small flock of Buff Orpingtons, Barred Rocks, and Black Australorps. This mix of chickens produces a large quantity of eggs and is personable (and friendly with our children).

There are many different chicken breeds, and all provide entertainment with the benefit of healthy, protein-packed eggs!

Questions & Answers

Question: Is it difficult to introduce new chicks to an established flock of 3?

Answer: Introducing new chicks is always a difficult task, but not impossible. Ensure the chicks are old enough (and big enough) to integrate with the new flock - I would not introduce 2-week old chicks to an established flock of mature chickens. Wait until the chicks have all of their adult feathers and are of an appropriate size to fend off any potential attacks by the established chickens. Slowly introduce the new members by placing them side-by-side with the existing flock (use chicken wire or another see-through barrier). You want the existing flock to be able to see, but not touch, the new chickens. After this has been done and no aggression observed, remove the barrier and keep a sharp eye out for aggression. If aggression is observed, you will need to separate the new chickens and try again. Keep trying and eventually, the flock should integrate. Please note that there will always be some aggression, as the introduction of new chickens will cause the pecking order to be re-established. Having a rooster can sometimes be a help with this, as the rooster is always the "alpha." In an all-hen flock, the dominance of the top hen is sometimes challenged.

© 2014 Leah Lefler

Comments

Leah Lefler (author) from Western New York on September 08, 2020:

I really want a red-laced blue Wyandotte, Mackenzie! I am planning for new chicks next year and am trying to decide on breeds. I really want some crested legbars (blue eggs), wyandottes, and a lavender orpington!

Erin on August 10, 2020:

You say Marans whether it is a plural or not it is always Marans not Maran because they originate from Marans in France.

Mackenzie Perkins on July 15, 2020:

I love the Wyandottes chickens there beautiful.

Leah Lefler (author) from Western New York on September 29, 2014:

Ann1Az2, I love our chickens. We have an Australorp, 2 Barred Rocks, and 2 Buff Orpingtons. I had the option to get a Spangled Hamburg from a friend, but they aren't fantastic layers and they are flighty, so the chicken wouldn't have fit in well with our current flock. They are quite easy to care for!