Best Chicken Breeds For Egg Laying and hatching

There are many chicken varieties, and all lay eggs, but only a handful are in the best egg-laying chicken breeds category. All  female chickens will lay edible eggs with identical nutritional content, but some bird varieties have been bred especially for their egg-laying capabilities and thus are superior laying chickens. For example, Leghorn hens are excellent for consistent, nearly-daily laying and produce about 300 eggs per year. 

Many modern laying breeds contain some Leghorn in them. Some of the best egg laying chicken breeds include:Rhode Island Red egg laying hen

  • Leghorn
  • Rhode Island Reds (right)
  • Black Star
  • Red Star
  • Light Sussex
  • Plymouth Rock
  • Cuckoo Maran
  • Barred Rock

If you're looking for a good setting hen, one that will “go broody,” that is, brood a clutch of eggs and care for the chicks that hatch, you'll do well to consider the Cuckoo Maran, Rhode Island Red (but not  sex-linked or hybrid varieties), Light Sussex or Plymouth Rock. Heritage breeds are good setting hens in general; modern breeds intended for egg protection usually are not as they have had certain traits and characteristics bred out of them. 

A mixed flock of the best egg laying chicken breeds as well as some rarerLeghorn chickens breeds is often a good way to accomplish your goals. You might have Leghorn chickens (photo at right) for egg production, some of which are for eating and some which are saved for hatching. You can then use broody hens, who are ready to set on their own clutch of eggs, to hatch other hens' eggs simply by adding them to the brood hens' nests. Some of the best egg laying chicken breeds will never sit on their own eggs, but others will go broody and set on eggs very quickly. A combination of the two can make an ideal flock. 

Male offspring can be used for meat and for sale, while females can be used for further egg production or if there is no more room, for sale as young pullets. With a renewed interest in backyard chicken flocks, there is a strong market for hens and offering your excess for sale can produce a good side income. Ultimately, the best egg laying chicken breeds depend on your purpose, whether you want steady egg production or more chicks. Some small chicken breeds can actually be very fun to include in your flock, even though their egg production lags behind Leghorn and Barred rocks and Rhode Island Reds and Whites.

To add some color and fun to your daily egg collection, consider including some Easter Egg Chickens when raising backyard chickens. Some like to breed these Americounas with the best egg laying chicken breeds to have both consistent egg production and fun, colored eggs.

Go back to Chicken Breeds, home to Egg Laying Chickens, or check out more chicken-related resources:

Best Coop Plans:A medium sized chicken coop built from these plans

How to Build a Chicken Coop - detailed plans and construction guide for making backyard coops, including small coops. 

These chicken coop plans and building guide are the best I've found, and purchased them myself to build our first coops. There are five different chicken coops included, beginning with the most basic double-story ark and culminating with the largest design, the Chicken Barn with attached screened-in chicken yard. I want to use their plans again for their largest chicken coop, the chicken barn, when we are ready to upsize our chicken flock's habitat.  The coop pictured here is a medium-sized all-in-one design. 

Book about keeping chickens

Recommended Chicken Books:

Favorite Chicken Quotes

“ A chicken you eat only once — eggs a hundred times." ~ Tajikistani Proverb

“ You cannot cook one half of the chicken and leave the other to lay eggs." ~ Sanskrit Proverb

“ You don’t have to kill the chicken to get eggs." ~ French Proverb