Looking through a hatchery catalog and seeing all of the different breed options can be kind of overwhelming. Today we’re going to go through my five Top breeds for Beginners to help you determine what chicken breed is right for you.
Hey, this is Ashley at Square Root Farms, and this is part two of my mini series ‘Four decisions you need to make before getting chickens’ and I created a PDF guide to go along with these videos. So make sure you go and download it so you can follow along and fill it in. The link is in the description.
Okay, let’s dive in. Here are my five favorite chicken breeds for beginners.
My Top 5 Must Haves
Black Australorp
All right. To start things off the Black Australorp, these are stunningly beautiful blackbirds. They lay very, very well. And so they’re just a solid choice. If you’re looking for a good brown egg layer, I highly recommend.
Barred Rock
And second, we have the barred rock. These birds have a very distinctive black and white feather pattern. But the thing I love most about them is their confident and adventurous personally. It makes them wonderful free rangers and foragers.
Buff Orpington
Third is the Buff Orpington. Buff Orpingtons have beautiful golden feathers, and they’re especially known for their docile temperament. I’ve heard them called the Golden Retriever of the chicken world, which is so true.
Speckled Sussex
Next up is the Speckled Sussex. This is a personal favorite of mine. I not only love their color, but their personality is amazing. The three Speckled Sussex that I have right now are the friendly as hens out of the entire flock. They are always the first to run up to me and greet me in the morning.
Light Brahma
And finally, number five is the light Brahma. This is a large very friendly, calm bird. And they’re popular with farm visitors because they have feathered feet. They are also extremely good for cold weather, which is good for me up here in Minnesota.
And there you have it. Those are my top five chicken breeds for beginners. These breeds have made up the core of my flock for the past ten years. They are dependable egg layers. They’re cold hardy and they have great temperaments.
You’ll also notice that they’re all different colors, which I love because I like to have a little variety in the flock.
Other Breeds to Keep in Mind
So although those breeds are my personal go tos, here are a few other breeds you can keep in mind when you’re searching for your perfect chicken.
If you are looking just for production, there are some newer hybrid breeds that are known for their extremely high egg production. Isn’t breeds like Red Stars, Amber Lynx and Golden Comets.
Personally, I don’t have much experience with these breeds, but I’m not necessarily opposed to giving them a try, especially if it means more farm fresh eggs.
Want Beautiful Colorful Eggs?
The second thing to consider is more and more people are starting to raise chickens that lay colorful eggs, blues, greens, really dark chocolate browns.
So if you’ve been swooning over pictures of a super colorful egg basket, here are a few breeds you can try Black Copper Marans lay those extremely dark chocolate brown eggs.
If you’re looking for blue eggs, you could try Ameraucanas, Easter Eggers, Whiting True blues or Leg Bars.
For green eggs, you could go for Mint Eggers, Olive Eggers or Whiting True Greens.
And finally, you may have noticed that there are no white egg laying breeds on my list. And confession I’ve actually never owned a white egg laying chicken. That’s because most hearty heavyweight breeds that are great for cold weather lay brown eggs (plus, they’re a lot less likely to fly and escape), so I’ve stuck with brown egg layers throughout the years.
So what breeds caught your eye? Are there a few that stand out to you?
Do you want those colorful eggs or are you more just looking for solid producers? Go ahead and jot down a few of your favorite breeds in your guide and then I’ll see you in the next video where we’ll be discussing where to get your chickens.
