My plan for frugal living includes egg laying chickens that supply us with endless large and high quality chicken eggs.
If you’re looking for some chickens for your own egg supply, this is the information you need.
Eggs are rich in protein, fat and cholesterol, and that’s why we eat plenty of them. They are a natural food filled with some of the essentials for good health.
Like me, you might want to read about cholesterol levels and listen to a voice that’s at odds with all the low fat hysterics out there.
Our flock of girls are champs at laying eggs. They provide mostly extra large and jumbo size eggs, with the occasional large and medium egg thrown in.
The whole idea of raising chickens for eggs is to get good return in food for the investment of dollars and labor, so you might as well get some big eggs from great producers.
That’s what I’m here to talk about – my favorite egg laying chickens.
Black Australorp – a large hen with gentle habits that’s a consistent layer of large and extra large brown eggs, even in cold weather.
They are black with a beautiful green sheen that can be seen at an angle when the sun shines on their feathers. The Australorp can take to sitting on the eggs, as they have a natural instinct to turn those eggs into chicks.
In the photo above, you can see this Australorp hen is sitting on eggs. The eggs can be seen poking out just a bit on the right hand side of the photo. She is setting on 10 eggs from various chickens.
White Leghorns – a medium size hen that is rather flighty and easily scattered if not approached gently.
They are considerably smaller than the Australorps, yet they lay an exceptionally large white egg.
Most of their eggs are extra large or jumbo in size. It’s hard to imagine that such a large egg pops out of such a modest size chicken.
In addition to being a good layer, the Leghorn is a smart looking bird as well. The red comb is a brilliant contrast with the all white feathers of this bird.
Buff Sex Link – a medium large chicken that is reasonably well behaved, and a faithful producer of large brown eggs, even in cold weather.
The Buff Sex Link is an attractive combination of golden brown and white, with white feathers on the bottom and colored feathers on top, and a band of mixed colored feathers in between.
The name “sex link” comes from being able to identify the sex of the birds just from their markings at birth – no need to check the plumbing.
Buff Orpingtons – a large hen with a beautiful golden color that lays large brown eggs.
The Orpington is a cousin of the Black Australorp and shares it’s characteristic for faithful laying of large brown eggs.
You can see that both of these egg laying chickens have the “orp” letter combination in their names, and that’s not just coincidence.
Buff Orpingtons are known for being good setters and mothers as well as good layers of large eggs. In the photo above left, the Buff Orpington is second from the left.
Barred Rocks – another large and popular chicken – perhaps the most popular of all varieties in America. It lays a large brown egg.
The Barred Rock has a black and silver alternating pattern that defies description. It isn’t striped or checked, but something in between.
However you describe it, they are a nice looking bird.
Barred Rocks are one of the better egg laying chickens, and they are also known as a dual purpose bird because of their size.
They lay a nice large brown egg. They can be a little assertive, but nothing that can’t be handled.
Photo above left shows two Barred Rocks on the far right of the fence rail.
I’ll leave it at that for egg laying chickens. The birds described above are readily available at any hatchery or farm and ranch store that offers chicks in the spring.
If you’re looking for egg laying chickens, these are among the best that you could hope for, so look no further.
If your vision of frugal living includes egg laying chickens for ample fresh organic eggs, and you’re ready to start raising chickens, then rest assured that these are some of the best hens you can have.
They are great fair weather egg producers and respectable egg producers in colder weather and shorter days.