So, you’ve decided you want chickens for eggs but which breeds should you consider? There are so many from which to choose! Here are eight of the best egg laying chickens for your consideration. 
The following is a guest post by our friend Kristen at MrAnimal Farm!
Are Egg Laying Chickens Worth It?
One of the main reasons that most people have for owning backyard chickens is to get their own eggs. However, if eggs are your goal, you need to make sure that you get the right breeds for your flock by focusing on the best egg laying chicken breeds.
While all chickens do lay eggs, some, like Silkies are better as pets since they are friendly, but do not lay eggs very often. Other chicken breeds are mainly used for meat as they are super large, consume a lot of feed, and do not lay as well as others.
More Chicken Resources!
Why I Keep Silkie Hens – They’re essential to our breeding program!
Getting Started with Chickens – Poultry 101
3 Best Places to Find Poultry for Sale
The Top 8 Best Egg Laying Chickens
Keeping in mind that eggs are your goal, here are some of the best egg laying chickens that are accessible to most backyard chicken keepers.
- Rhode Island Reds
- Leghorns
- Australorp
- Orpington
- Amberlink (or other sex-link hybrids), Golden Comet, Red Star etc.
- Deathlayers
- Easter Eggers
- Sussex
The main qualifications that we used in order to choose the breeds on this list are: number of eggs, hardiness, egg size and feed conversion. So, without further ado, let’s review some details about each of the breeds.
Rhode Island Reds
- This breed is one of the best egg layers clocking in at around 300 extra large brown eggs per year.
- They are cold hardy, but don’t do as well in the heat.
- They tend to be friendly birds who can do well in both free range and confined environments.
Due to their ease of care and generally good personalities they make a great addition to any flock and are especially good for new chicken owners.
Leghorns
Leghorns are, perhaps, one of the breeds most people envision if you mention chickens. They are fantastic layers of large, white eggs.
- Typically they will clock in with around 300 eggs per year.
- The most common color these birds come in are white, but they also do come in brown as well.
- They are both heat and cold hardy, so with this breed you can get eggs year round.
One con to leghorns is they do tend to be a little flighty and not super friendly, so if you are looking for a chicken that you can spend time with and cuddle, this might not be the breed for you.
Australorp
Australorps are a dual purpose breed. This means they do well for both eggs and meat. However, they are such good layers of large brown eggs, they also work well in flocks that are just for egg laying.
- You can usually expect at least 250 eggs per year from them.
- This breed is cold hardy, but not heat hardy.
- They are also very friendly, so are a good addition if you also want your chickens to be pets.
Orpington
Even though Orpingtons are a large and heavy bird, they still rank as a top egg layer.
- You can expect around 250 large to extra large brown eggs per year.
- Like the Australorp, they are very friendly and easy going.
- They do fine in most environments including free range or tighter confinement.
One cool quality of Orpingtons is that they come in a huge variety of colors including blue, black, splash, buff, white and a variety of lacing and cuckoo colors and patterns.
Amberlink (and Other Hybrids)
Since so many people are looking specifically for high volume egg layers, there have been many hybrid breeds created just for their egg laying ability.
A hybrid breed is simply two purebred chickens bred together to create offspring which have the best qualities you are looking for.
Amberlinks, Red Star and Golden Comets are all examples of high egg production hybrid breeds.
- These breeds may be slightly different in their origin, but their overall characteristics are very similar.
- Most will lay 270 – 300 large brown eggs per year.
- They also are mostly cold and heat hardy which means that they can lay year round.
Deathlayer
If Deathlayers name alone isn’t enough to make you want to own a few, they are also great egg layers.
- They lay around 200 medium white eggs per year.
- They are a smaller breed and are also active foragers.
- These two qualities mean that their feed conversion is great.
Basically, being smaller they eat less than a heavy breed and also foraging allows them to find a lot of their own food. So, this can cut down on your feed bill.
Easter Eggers
Easter Eggers are a mixed breed of chicken. There is not a standard of what breeds are mixed in order to create Easter Eggers other than it is typically a dark brown egg layer crossed with a blue egg laying chicken.
Due to this fact, they don’t all have the same colors, looks, personality or egg color. However, most lay a large to extra large sized egg.
- Their eggs can be green, blue, brown or light pink.
- You can generally expect 250 – 300 eggs per year.
Sussex
Adding this breed to your flock should get you around 250 large light brown eggs per year.
- They are cold hardy and therefore tend to lay decently well through the winter.
- Sussex tend to have calm and friendly personalities and can be really fun to watch and interact with.
- They only come in three colors – red, speckled and light.
- They do well if you do not have room for them to roam as confinement does not bother them.
Adding any one or combinations of these breeds to your flock will certainly go a long way to getting you a basket full of eggs everyday.
Homestead Lady Butts in: Thank you, Kristin, for that excellent list of the best egg laying chickens! Be sure to visit Kristin and Justin at MrAnimal Farm.
The following are a few more FAQs about egg laying chickens.
Can a Chicken Lay 300 Eggs Per Year?
The short answer is that some can and some average less than 300 a year. If you look at Kristen’s list, there are at least four chicken breeds that will give you an average somewhere around 300. These are:
- Rhode Island Red
- Leghorn
- Amberlinks and other hybrids
- Easter Eggers
Remember that chickens are living things and each one is unique. So, you may end up with an Easter Egger that only lays 250 eggs in a year but who is also friendly and a good forager.
These recommendations are only guidelines for you to consider.
Can a Chicken Lay Two Eggs a Day?
How many eggs will a chicken produce in a day is also a common question. The basic answer is one.
Or sometimes none.
They do come in handy for other things on the homestead, though! Do you keep a compost pile? If so, you must read the following:
–>>How to Turn Compost Easily – with Chickens!<<–
Do Roosters Lay Eggs?
No.
If you think you have a rooster and you catch “him” in the act of laying egg, then you have a hen with a large comb and extravagant tail feathers. Roosters do not lay eggs. To learn more, please visit this article form MrAnimal Farm:
This is good new for convincing the city council of your town to allow backyard chickens in your area because people seem to object to the noise of chickens the most. While a hen can often be very vocal when laying an egg (wouldn’t you be?), they aren’t nearly as consistently loud as a rooster.
There you have it! Any other chicken questions we can help you with? Just leave a comment below!
If you’re completely new to chickens, be sure to read the following:
–>>Getting Started With Backyard Chickens for Beginners<<–
I have Australorps, Speckled Sussex and Barred Rocks. The Barred Rocks are also excellent egg layers.
Australorps seem to be natural flock leaders (at least in my flock). The Sussex are by far the most docile. Barred Rocks are the comic relief & troublemakers. They’re the ones I find butt deep in the pond, roosting in a tree, sitting on top of the coop and always the last inside the coop at night.
I love all those breeds, too! Australorps are too cool for school and, yes, those Barred Rocks are big, lovable dorks. Chickens are just great entertainment – and you get eggs, meat, bug control, composting, and so much more!