Chicken Breeds, the Basics!

Welcome back! As promised, we're gonna be going through different chicken breeds, sizes, personalities, etc.

Lets start off by saying that just like anything else every chicken is different and the following information is simply to provide the standard expectation of the breeds. There are over 60 different recognized chicken breeds. Naturally we won't be covering them all, but we'll list our top 3 favorites in the following categories; Egg Productivity, Hardiness/ Personality, Dual Purpose, and Ornamental. We'll also include the breeds stanard and explain what you want to be looking for when sourcing your birds. 

So lets dive in!

Egg Productivity:

1.Leghorn

If you're looking for a dependable heritage breed that will lay daily and is relatively hardy, this breed might just be what you need for your farm or homestead. Its important to note that although they're a fantastic butt-nugget machine, they're extremely flighty birds. Meaning... they're not the most friendly of birds. If you're like us and living in a cold climate like Canada, these birds are also more prone to frostbite on their combs. They're also quite noisy birds, so if you've got neighbors close by that aren't huge fans of chickens, I'd rethink this breed. Breed Standard: Sleek in build, red wattle, white earlobes, and a single or rose comb. They do come in various colors, however white is the most common. This breed lays large white eggs.

2. Australorp

This is probably my personal favorite high production chicken breed. Its a great combintion of daily egg production, sociable personality, and hardiness. The issue is that they're reasonably difficult to source. Breed Standard: This breed is black in plumage with an iridescent shine. They don't have feather dusters on their legs, so when shopping around you're looking for clean slate legs. These are long and broad birds with a full well rounded chest. These gals are prolific layers of medium sized light brown eggs.

3. Rhode Island Red

These girls are probably one of the most popular chicken breeds you'll find in a beginner backyard coop. They're reasonably friendly, decent layers (approximately 5 eggs per week), and don't go broody often. Breed Standard: Like the leghorn, they also sport a single (medium size) or rose comb, medium neck length, long and broad back, tail well spread, large wings, deep, full and well rounded chest.

Hardiness/temperment:

1.Orpington

At the top of the list, we gotta go with the beloved Orpington. If you're looking for a cold tolerant, teddy bear that would take a snuggle with you any day of the week... you need an orpington in your life. They're decent layers, laying about 250 pinkish-beige eggs per year. Breed Standard: These are broad breasted, very rounded chickens, with small horizontal wings. Tails should be short but full and flowy like a skirt. Eyes are round and kinda doe eyed. They also have a small single comb with medium-sized waddles. Legs should be short and stocky. The feathers should also me loose, flowy and soft. Close tight feathers is NOT what you're looking for.

2. Amerucana

This is another must-have breed for your flock. Not only are they stunning birds, but super hardy as well. Their small combs and balanced structure makes for a wonderful chicken to have in a Canadian climate. Breed Standard: These chickens have a pea comb, muffs (fluffy cheeks), miniml if not no wattles, possible beards, arched neck and a prominent neck. They usually come in Blue, black splash, wheaton, buff, white, silver and brown. If that alone wasn't enough to convince you, they lay the most beautiful blue to turquoise colored eggs.

2. Easter/Olive Egger

Ok, before you come at me... yes we know this is not a recognied breed. However it is a term to commonly used to describe a mix of birds. We absolutely love them particularly because of how climate hardy and friendly they are. These guys will eventually be a topic all on their on, but just to give you the basics; Easter and Olive egger are the combinations of blue, green and brown layers. Easter eggers typically describe hens that lay eggs in the blue spectrum, where olive eggers lay green, grey and khaki eggs. Because they aren't a recognized breed and are esentially mixed breeds, there isn't really a standard you can go by. They can have muffs...  or not, slate legs... or not, bold colors... or not. 

Dual Purose:

1. Canadian Bresse

While not the largest bird for meat purposes, it is BY FAR the tastiest. Originating from France, these gals are a wonderful table bird that is great for sustainable practices. While they're calm around humans, they can be bossy/bullies to other breeds of chickens. Breed Standard: White, blue black and splash plumage, steel legs and feet (however young chicks may start off with yellow legs), short neck for hens, broad and long backs, full and prominent chest. They also sport a single red comb with medium sized wattles. 

2. French Copper Maran

One of our personal favorites, the maran is a gorgeous chicken originating from France. Although it comes in lots of different colour's, the most popular are Blue, black and Splash. Not only are they excellent table birds with a generous amount of mea, they lay GORGEOUS big brown eggs. What's unique about their eggs is that they can come in hues as dark as red wine to hot chocolate. Some even have speckles! This is a great breed to cross with a blue egg carrier to create olve eggers. Breed Standard: Bright red waddles and single comb, black beak, slate legs with pinkish toes, plumage is black with an iridescent shine, copper coloring in the neck feathers. They also sport little feather dusters on their legs for added cuteness.

3. Jersey Giant

This is one of the ""Big Bertha" of birds. This breed of chicken was created in New Jersey as its name suggests, and is a wonderful dual purpose bird. They lay around 240 large beige eggs per year. With Roosters weighing in at 13 lbs and hens around 10 lbs, you'll have more than enough meat to serve a family of 5 on Sunday's dinner. Keep in mind, these are BIG birds... roosters can grow to about 2 ft tall, so its imprtant that you keep their space requirements in mind when integrating them into your flock. They have a very calm temperment and are quite social. Breed Standard: The recognized colors are black, white and blue however you can also find them in silver and splash but those two colors aren't recognized colors. They have large red combs and wattles making them more prone to frostbite in extreme cold, so be cautious of that.

Honorable mentions: Orpingtons, Cochins, and Brahma

Ornamental:

1. Silkie

Easily one of the most popular chicken breeds in 2024. Lets face it, they're just absolutley adorable and the sweetest little cuddle bears. That being said, Silkies need a little extra love and TLC. They feathers are very fine and wooly, so they're prone to getting dirty much easier and can require an annual bath. They're not the most winter hardy, so I'd make sure that their inclosure is well prepare to meet their demands. These little girls do have a reputation of going broody often. If you are raising silkies as pets or keep them around to hatch chicks, then they're the chickens for you. Breed standard: They come in various colors including but not limited to blue, black, splash, white, buff, and partridge. They have black skin, bones, face, comb and wattles. The can come in either bearded or non bearded varieties. They have a very full looking appearance with a full helmet and arched well spread tail.These are bantam (meaning small) sized chickens, and can have a harder time with standard chickens... although this isn't always the case. Fun fact, silkies have 5 toes instead of 4! 

2. Polish

Polish chickens are a nice medium sized chicken. They have a very unique look, also sporting a helmet like the silkie. However they have satin feathering and come in various recognized including but not limited to gold or silver laced, and buff laced. You can also get the wth or without a beard. While these birds are super adorable and social, they are known to be loud birds. Breed Standard: These are relatively smaller bird weighing between 4 and 4.5 lbs, small V comb, full and round helmet, long neck, broad shoulders narrowing toward the tail, wing nincel tucked, a pronounced chest, and lay a light beige to pink egg. The are great additions to a standard, bantam or mixed flock.

3. Bantam Cochin:

Haha, I bet you thought the Serema was gonna make it on here, alas I'm giving third place to the bantam Cochin. There is nothing cuter than a chubby cuddle bear with feather dusters on their feet. Similar to the standard size, they're sociable, hardy and come in the prettiest colors. Their breed standard is similar to their larger counterparts. 

While this was a lot to cover, theres even more to discover. I highly encouarage you to do you research on heritage breeds to find the absolute best fit for your flock. The most important take away is to not feel shy about asking questions when shopping for chickens. 

See you for next weeks blog on "Chicken coops and predator proofing"!