Looking For Good Laying Hens

May 12, 2018 3:59 PM

A friend is ready to go with her coop. I am researching good layers for her. Requesting good recommendations to start me off. She is a designer so stunning lookers are a plus
posted by goalyeehah to Pets & Animals (12 answers total)

Buff orpingtons are good layers, but are pretty plain looking.
posted by gryphonlover at 4:26 PM on May 12, 2018

Designer and former chicken-owner here. The most a e s t h e t i c layer breed: Golden-laced Wyandottes

Look at that pattern! The coloring! Ugh.

Other ideas:

Rhode Island Reds
Golden Comets
Australorps
Ameraucana / Easter Eggers (not an actual recognized breed, more for the egg colors than anything)
posted by Snacks at 4:26 PM on May 12, 2018 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Wyandottes combine hardiness, mellow temperaments, and pretty decent laying in the warm months. Other old-fashioned breeds like Rhode Island Reds and Plymouth Rocks also have these qualities but I have no direct experience with them, and Wyandottes are really beautiful birds.
posted by Quietgal at 4:34 PM on May 12, 2018

Check out Japanese Bantams they are pretty good layers but cannot compete with the best for raw output in terms of kilograms per month because they are rather small an their eggs are also notably smaller than eggs at the grocer.

But they are beautiful mini chickens that are well suited to backyard life, and for many people the small eggs are better anyway.
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:23 PM on May 12, 2018

Stunning looks are all very well, but as you say, they're a plus. Eggs are where it's at.

It's amazing how beautiful they look when they're each laying an egg two days out of three. The older breeds--Wyandottes, Orpingtons, Rhode Islands, etc.--just won't do that. Get a laying breed like a white leghorn.

Full disclosure: Spent twenty years putting up with substandard egg production for the sake of pretty chickens. [And Buff Orpingtons are mediocre layers but they're my favorite breed for looks.]
posted by bricoleur at 5:58 PM on May 12, 2018

Buff Orps only look plain if you’re looking at a picture in a chick catalog. If you’re looking at a flock of hens in a field, Buff Orps are big fat storybook hens who glow in the afternoon light and gleam against the greenery. You can’t really see the markings of fancier hens like Wyandottes from a distance, which is mostly how you’ll be looking at them.
posted by HotToddy at 7:56 PM on May 12, 2018 [1 favorite]

I had a some Welsummers and Speckled Sussex hens in my mixed flock of 30 a few years ago that were pretty reliable layers and really beautiful. The Speckled Sussex were especially charming and personable.
posted by sk932 at 8:32 PM on May 12, 2018

Voting for Orphs or 'Dottes.

The fancys look great all cleaned up for show, but in real life their feathers get bedraggled and covered with poop. Keep a pretty feathered flock by free ranging or feeding lots of greens, avoiding over-crowding, and by getting rid of any aggressive hens. Don't keep a roo. The males continually tear up feathers while mating.
posted by BlueHorse at 8:51 PM on May 12, 2018

Plymouth rocks are just gorgeous and have lovely temperaments.

Leghorns are a relatively flighty breed Fyi. Generally be aware that hybrids will pump out a lot of eggs, but the price is that output drops dramatically after three years or so.

I wouldn't go bantams or silkies, output can be super low and the eggs are a lot smaller. Also silkies go broody if you look at them.

Plymouth, wyandottes, welsummer, orps are all lovely. Throwing in a vote for Hampshires, gorgeous scarlet girls.
posted by smoke at 12:38 AM on May 13, 2018

I had an Andalusian who had lovely laced plumage and was a good layer. Marans are also pretty, good layers, and have gorgeous, almost mahogany colored eggs.
posted by elsietheeel at 6:19 AM on May 13, 2018

Our black sex-link hen would consistently lay big eggs, and many of them were double yolk. Our aracunas were pretty consistent; they laid colorful eggs that weren’t as big as the sex-link’s. The Orpingtons laid some decent sized eggs as well. The silkie would lay a couple of small eggs a week... when she wasn’t broody, and she gets broody a LOT. We actually still have these chickens, but they rarely lay anymore seeing that they’re 7 years old.
posted by azpenguin at 9:54 PM on May 13, 2018

Our Rhode Island reds layed lovely brown to red eggs and were a pleasure to look at, I miss them!
posted by julie_of_the_jungle at 7:02 AM on May 14, 2018