They will tolerate confinement but prefer to free range. The Delaware was created around the s and was destined to become the broiler chicken of the industry. Originally called Indian Rivers they were extremely popular because they laid well and were fast growing. However they were surpassed in growth by the Cornish Cross, which became the broiler hen of the century. Available in both standard and bantam sizes this is a good homesteading breed.
Hens will lay 4 large brown eggs a week and rarely go broody. Derbyshire Redcaps are relatively pure since there has been little cross breeding with this breed.
They have a stunning rose comb hence the name Red Cap and will reach around 6lb. They were especially popular in the north of England however these days she is critically endangered. The hens are not prolific layers but will give you a respectable medium white eggs each week. They are also known as Pilgrim fowl as they are thought to have descended from the original breeds brought by the pilgrims.
Their plumage is a black and white staggered barring pattern which helps them hide from predators. Their dense plumage and rose comb makes them a cold hardy breed.
In general they are a calm, docile and friendly breed. They are active, hardy and a fairly low maintenance breed. The exact history of the Dorking is unclear but they are thought to have originated from England. You may occasionally find this breed is called old five toes. You should expect a shy and gentle chicken. They like to free range but will tolerate confinement fairly well.
They are one of the few hens with red earlobes that produce white eggs. They are attentive and devoted mothers and are quite broody. Their plumage is quite dense and they have beards, muffs and feathered feet which gives them an even fluffier appearance. The most popular variety of Faverolles is the salmon color , which is more of a honey brown tone. Once fully grown she will reach around 6lb, however if you are restricted with space then bantams are available.
They are an independent minded hen and prefer the company of their own breed. Whilst she is friendly enough to humans, she does not enjoy being picked up or cuddled. Their independent nature and low maintenance requirements makes them ideal for novices and 4H programs.
Icelandic chickens are a rare gem. They are almost genetically pure which seems to keep them pretty healthy and disease free. They were left in Iceland by the Vikings who had selected the best utilitarian chickens they could find.
As a Landrace Chicken there is no standard and they come in a wide variety of colors, patterns and plumage types. As you would expect, they are great foragers and can virtually feed themselves. They are extremely hardy to most climates, fly well and very predator savvy. Given their history this breed will never be cuddly, but they will become friendly and trusting of you if given time. They were created around the s in Iowa and quickly gained popularity in small farms and homesteads.
This is a large breed that will weigh between lb. Hens are good layers and will give you eggs each week. Also the ladies have a tendency towards broodiness and make good mothers. You can expect a fairly calm and docile chicken that is tolerant of a wide range of temperatures and environments. The Java is the second oldest breed in the US behind the Dominique. Despite their name they were developed in the US sometime around the mids. This breed loves to range and when allowed they will supplement their diet very well.
You can find them in three varieties black, white and mottled. The Jersey Giant was created in New Jersey back in the s. As you would expect this is a large chicken that stands around 2 feet tall. Males will weigh lb and hens around 11lb. Given their size you will need to have larger pens, doors and nest boxes available for them. Also make sure to place perches slightly lower to the floor. Jersey Giants are calm, gentle and love to forage.
This is a good thing as they are expensive to feed so letting them roam will reduce their feed bill slightly. They are not known for being broody, but sadly when they do, they often break the eggs with their weight or step on the chicks accidentally. They are suitable for beginners and children — although their size can be a bit intimidating!
Orpingtons are large fluffy hens that look enormous. They are a dual purpose hen but the lavender strain often is an exhibition or show bird too. Hens are notoriously broody and make great mothers and will raise most eggs placed under them. When they are not broody they will lay large tinted eggs each week.
Orpingtons are inclined to be lazy and whilst they do forage they will prefer to sit by the feeder. Their weight should be monitored as obese hens can have serious problems with egg laying. They have a light colored plumage and are quite large. However despite their appearance they are a gentle giant! She was created in the s in Lancashire England and is a beautiful hen well suited to small farms and homesteads.
The name Marsh Daisy may come from their oversized rose comb which is said to look like a Marsh Daisy. They are slow to mature but they are very economical since they love to free range and are very active foragers. Hens weigh around 5. They are occasionally broody and make good mothers. The Minorca was developed in the late s and comes to us from the Balearic Islands of the Mediterranean. Also known as the Moorish chicken, or the Red faced Black Spanish, they are the largest of the Mediterranean breeds standing tall with a long tail.
Hens have a good temperament and really enjoy their humans. They can still be a bit flighty on occasions but are generally calm and docile. Unfortunately they have always been overshadowed by the Rhode Island Red which was created around the same time. They are friendly hens that tend to make good pets and are easy to tame so are ideal for kids. However they can be food aggressive with other breeds, so be careful when mixing with other breeds.
The hens weigh in at 6. They also have a broody tendency and make great mothers. To this day the Orpington breed is a favorite of many small farms and backyard poultry enthusiasts. They are large and have copious feathering which comes in several varieties — buff is regarded as the favorite. Next to the Orpington, this is possibly the most well known chicken breed worldwide. This breed was created in the mid s in Rhode Island — their fame is such that it is the state chicken there.
They are excellent layers and are rarely broody. They do well in confinement or free range and are a very low maintenance chicken to keep. Rhode Island Reds are docile and friendly with humans, but can be pushy with other breeds. They can be quite noisy too so urban living really would not suit them. Their comb is shaped more like a crown and it is the only breed with such a comb. Also the plumage of the hens and roosters is totally different with the ladies having a spangled appearance.
Originating in Sicily, this breed has the typical slender Mediterranean build. Although it can be used as a dual purpose hen, it is not very meaty. They tolerate heat very well but do not tolerate confinement at all as they are an active and restless chicken. Egg laying is considered to be low to moderate with large white eggs per week. The hens are not broody by nature. Hens will lay 4 large eggs each week and are not known for being broody.
Their personality is a little distant although they are friendly enough with humans. The Speckled Sussex is one variety of the very old Sussex breed. This breed has been around since the Roman invasion of Britain. Personality-wise they are a calm, docile and friendly bird. They do well with children and can become tame enough to sit in your lap. They are quite cold hardy but do not enjoy the heat so much.
If allowed to free range they are excellent foragers but they do tolerate confinement well. They were kept as a dual purpose chicken and in their heyday supplied London with meat for the markets.
This is a dual purpose breed that will put out large brown eggs a week. Hens are known for being a bit broody but they do make great mothers. They do well in confinement but excel when allowed to free range and this will reflect in the feed bill they are excellent scavengers. Overall they are a mellow, low maintenance breed that is available in standard or bantam size and is suitable for kids or as a lap chicken.
It is thought they originated from Transylvania, which explains their other nicknames: the Transylvanian naked neck or Kaalnek. They like to forage and roam, but they will tolerate confinement. If they are allowed to range they are good foragers, active and vigorous. They are generally a placid and calm hen. This breed does better in warmer areas but will be hardy enough in cold areas with some protection. It is a handsome chicken with black and buff plumage.
A hen weighs around the 5lb mark with roosters around 7lb. They are fast to grow and mature and are very suitable for small farms and homesteads. She is winter hardy to most climates and available in both standard and bantam sizes. The hens are decent layers of cream eggs — around 3 per week and they lay well throughout the winter.
They do like to be active so free ranging is best for them as they are good foragers. Here in the US they are gaining popularity as a dual purpose bird that is great for small farms and homesteads. They are decent layers and produce large dark brown eggs each week.
They are culled at weeks and will dress out at lb. The Brown Leghorn is a useful dual-purpose bird. It will lay an average of eggs per year. They can be butchered at 16 weeks and weigh a good lb. They are also good foragers, so the feed ratio is good. Although Leghorns are not usually known for their meat qualities, the meat is decent on the brown variety. Although the Leghorn breed originated in Italy, most of the color varieties developed possibly for better camouflage , including the Brown Leghorn, were developed in Great Britain, America, and Denmark.
Leghorns tend to be skittish and flighty birds, nervous birds. Combined with the fact that Leghorns are swift runners, complicated to catch, they might not be the best breed to be recommended as pets. Leghorns, brown as well as white, are prolific egg layers.
A good hen will lay in the vicinity of large, white eggs a year. A dual-purpose hen that thrives in the cold! The Buckeye chicken has the distinction of being the only breed to have been created by a woman. Buckeyes will give you around eggs each year. They can be butchered as young as 16 weeks and can dress out to a respectable lb bird.
They are very active, curious birds that love to be around people and other animals. They are also excellent hunters that will hunt for and catch mice. Buckeyes lay about medium-sized brown eggs per year and are very cold hardy; egg-laying continues through the winter months. Known as one of the ornamental breeds. Cochins are known to be quite peaceful and calm, easy to handle, and friendly, but are prone to broodiness, so they are not known for egg production.
The fluffy hen loves to be cuddled and can easily become a lap chicken. This bird would be suitable as a therapy bird. Cornish chickens originated from Cornwall County in England, and a heritage breed, the best guess for development was around Standard chicken in Intended initially as an all-purpose breed, their heavy body and muscular nature quickly gave rise to overwhelmingly meat-only chicken.
Most domestic chicken used in the meat industry today is at least part Cornish chicken. Cornish temperament tends to be aggressive, loud, and active and is not usually recommended for the backyard chicken keeper. They are the quintessential meat chicken.
They grow fast, too fast for their bodies to keep up; hence owners must butcher them to save them from suffering.
They are ready to cull at weeks and weigh around 8lb by this age. Given that these hens are most used as a meat breed , you would not expect them to be the best egg layers. Historically, they were very much sought after and sometimes given as payment when purchasing or renting land in France, and now they are so rare as to be on the endangered list there.
Crevecoeur was admitted to the American Poultry Association in and is also considered endangered in the United States. Although they are a low-maintenance chicken with an active nature that would usually make them a good starter chicken, they are not usually found as a beginner or backyard chicken due to their rare nature. They were cross-bred with breeds from Asia and then re-crossed with European breeds. Cubalaya was admitted to the American Poultry Association in , and in North America is rare and enjoyed only as an ornamental breed.
Hens of this breed are friendly and calm, though males should be kept apart as they are aggressive to other males. Towards humans, they tend to be loyal and calm. They are good around supervised children, and some roosters have even been known to be quite protective over their human kids.
Cream Legbar Chickens were developed in the s in Great Britain but are still relatively rare in the United States. Still, as of , it has gained enough popularity in the USA that its recognition should not be far off.
Together, these genes give the much-sought-after breed extraordinary beautiful eggs ranging from sky-blue to light green turquoise, a pretty plume, and excellent egg production.
The female chicks have a dark brown stripe, whereas the male chicks have a much paler and less distinct brown stripe. Sure to become a favorite backyard chicken in the United States, Cream Legbars are sociable, friendly, and active birds. They are not extremely flighty but do like to wander as they are extreme foragers.
The Cream Legbar hen is a good layer, with egg production numbering to over per year. However, Cuckoo Marans are still fairly rare in the United States. Cuckoo Marans are active birds who enjoy foraging and get along fairly well with other chickens.
As with all varieties, the Cuckoo Marans rooster can be slightly aggressive at times. A typical hen lays about dark brown eggs per year. Delaware is a respectable layer of 4 brown eggs per week. The hen is also a good dual-purpose bird dressing out at 5lb. The fowl is a cross between a Plymouth Rock and a New Hampshire. Delaware as a breed was accepted into the American Poultry Association Standard of Perfection in Owners report that the Delaware chicken is hardy, friendly, calm, and also funny to watch.
Delawares are also good foragers. Hens mature rapidly and lay large brown or brown-tinted eggs that number to per year, depending on certain conditions such as food supply and weather.
The Dominique chicken breed was developed in New England from the fowl in the area. This breed is so old that no one can really say where it came from or how it was developed. Many believe that. Dominiques came to this continent with the pilgrims, and they are sometimes called Pilgrim Fowl, but they were not recognized as a specific breed until the early s.
Dominique hens are known to be calm and reliable, but roosters can be quite protective. Some owners even report that roosters have killed small rodents, cats, or snakes! The Dorking is one of our oldest breeds of chickens. Named for the town of Dorking in Surrey in southern England, the Dorking chicken breed is said to have been brought to Great Britain by the Romans beginning in A.
No one is sure when Dorkings first came to the United States, but by the time the American Poultry Association was formed, they were well-distributed across the country. Although desired mainly for their delicious meat, Dorkings are also good layers with around to white eggs per year.
The sweet, calm personality of these chickens would, on their own, make a terrific backyard chicken, yet they are so docile that when combined with other breeds, they would not farewell. Due to a pigment deposit called enocyanin on the surface of the eggshell, the eggs have a green-blue tint. For example, an Easter Egger crossed with a Maran that lays dark brown eggs will result in olive green eggs. They have even been known to lay pink, blue, and green eggs and different shade variations of those colors.
Easter Eggers have a peaceful and friendly temperament. They love getting treats, and are easily trained to sit in your lap, and will even come running to see you.
In addition to these wonderful and unique qualities, Easter Eggers usually produce over large to extra-large eggs per year. They are a wonderful beginner chicken for the backyard flock.
These Faverolles chickens will make you smile. They are talkative, curious, friendly, and a bit scatterbrained! Frizzle chicken is not so much a breed of chicken but a characteristic of the feather. This feathered fowl can be traced as far back as , from Africa to the Philippines. Although recognized as a separate breed in many European countries, it is not recognized as a distinct breed in the United States.
The notable characteristic in this breed is its quaint feather formation, as each feather is curling towards the head of the bird. This breed is usually quiet, gentle, and beautiful birds that are easily handled and add a splash of uniqueness to any flock. Frizzle hens are also decent layers of white or tinted eggs around eggs per year but are valued more like an exhibition or show chickens than for eggs or meat.
Because it is a hybrid, The American Poultry Association will never admit it. Its use soon narrowed to egg production, as the Golden Comets became known as fantastic egg producers in a commercial setting. The Golden Comet chicken has since become a top breed choice for backyard farmers and beginners because of its calm, friendly and docile temperament. A curious chicken often delights owners with the comedic activities that curiosity will undoubtedly lead to. Golden Laced Wyandotte chickens are quiet.
They are generally friendly, but you may find one or two individual hens in your flock to be aggressive to other, more docile breeds. Hamburg chickens carry a German name but actually were first documented back in fourteenth-century Holland.
A hand-raised Hamburg can make an excellent, tame pet. Left to their own devices, though, this breed is a bit shy of humans, very active, and does not like confinement. The cross-breeding to create Hybrid chickens began to pick up worldwide in the s, and now specific strains have been created by crossing many generations, selecting for certain characteristics within the offspring such as egg numbers, feed conversion or a broad breast, fast maturity, and body weight in the case of table hybrids.
Hybrids are ideal beginner birds; they are usually vaccinated against the disease and are generally quite tame and easy to handle. As stated previously, depending on what each hybrid is bred for will determine the color and number of eggs produced. ISA hens lay a vast number of eggs, up to per year. There is also no dramatic drop in production in the fall due to waning daylight hours with these hens.
They produce huge brown eggs, so as a commercial egg layer, they are quite popular. ISA Brown Chickens were also bred for their very mellow temperament. They are friendly and calm with humans and do well in almost all farm environments, making them a great beginner breed of chicken.
The Jersey Giant chicken is the largest purebred breed of chicken. The resulting adult birds are massive in size, with mature roosters weighing in at 13 lbs and hens up to 10 lbs. Originally bred to be both a commercial meat and egg chicken, the Jersey Giant breed is not used for commercial farming because it takes 6 months to grow to full size instead of 2 months for other breeds. Besides consuming more food in a lifetime than a smaller breed and needing more space, they would make good backyard chickens.
William Cook developed the breed in the mid to late s. He named them after his hometown, Orpington, England. The breed was a wild success, and within 10 years, Orpington Chickens were a mainstay of British poultry enthusiasts.
British brought over Orpington Chickens to America at the turn of the century. The first Orpingtons shown in America in were black, followed soon after by buff. The buff color was the first Orpington variety recognized by the American Poultry Association in There are many types of chickens for you to choose from.
Each of them offers some traits that make them desirable for certain keepers or situations. An avid outdoorsman, Dean spends much of his time adventuring through the diverse terrain of the southwest United States with his closest companion, his dog, Gohan.
He gains experience on a full-time journey of exploration. For Dean, few passions lie closer to his heart than learning. An apt researcher and reader, he loves to investigate interesting topics such as history, economics, relationships, pets, politics, and more. Skip to content. Nov 04 Dean Eby. Contents 1. Plymouth Rock 2. Brahma 3. Cochin 4. Marans 5.
Easter Eggers 6. Jersey Giant 7. Orpington 8. Leghorn 9. Barnevelder Australorp Rhode Island Red Ameraucana Wyandotte Turken Naked Neck Silkie Speckled Sussex Frizzle New Hampshire Red Polish Welsummer Conclusion Related. Dean Eby An avid outdoorsman, Dean spends much of his time adventuring through the diverse terrain of the southwest United States with his closest companion, his dog, Gohan. They can be found in as many as eight different colors and two sizes standard or Bantam Cochins can live their entire life in a chicken coop, but do well roaming free range as well.
Some of their best qualities are that they are quite, hardy, exceptionally calm and friendly. Not the highest producing layer breed, a Cochin hen may produce up to three eggs per week. Australorp chickens are black in color and hail from Australia. Their feathers have an iridescent green color that shimmers in the sun. Australorp hens often become the top of the flock as they establish a slight dominance who display a bit of a homebody nature that makes them suitable for confinement is smaller spaces where they prefer to stay anyway.
Another chicken breed from China is the Silkie Bantam bantam means small. Marco Polo described this breed in the thirteenth century after a visit to China. They are very lightweight, small and easy to handle. They have some unusual features including their feathers, which are fluffy like fur and give the bird the bit of an afro on top. Their feet, which have five toes, are also covered in fluffy feathers and have black skin.
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