Do you want to start your own chicken flock or maybe add some more chickens to your existing ones? Which breeds should you buy? There are so many options out there so it may get confusing at times. Chicken breeds are different from each other in terms of appearance, productivity and temperament, but none of them are the best breeds. As to the ones that you should get, well that completely depends on your needs.
Show Quality
There are some of you that may want to show off your chickens, in which case you should buy ones that meet the set standards. Generally hatchery breeders are more conscious about quality than quantity so these chickens may not be able to produce as many eggs as you may desire. Still, they are healthy, vigorous and suited for backyards.
Utility
Do you want chickens for eggs, meat or both? Consider this before you buy a breed.
Dual Purpose
Dual purpose breeds produce eggs in plentiful quantities and are fleshy so there is enough meet. Generally, these birds have a calm temperament, but some may tend to become broody. But they are still a good choice for backyard chickens. Plymouth Rock, Australorp, Rhode Island Red, Sussex and Orpington are some examples of dual purpose breeds.
Egg Production
If you want chickens for eggs, you should go with a breed that converts most of the feed into eggs and doesn’t waste too much on flesh. As such, laying breeds are slender and lightweight. They are suitable for the backyards, but they may get nervous. They don’t weigh much and most of them can fly as well. Thus, you should keep them in a complete enclosure rather than just fencing them in.
Leghorn, black star, red star, golden comet and campine are some examples of egg laying hens.
Meat Production
If your goal is meat, you should have chicken breeds that are large and fleshy. These breeds use most of the feed for their bodies rather than wasting on eggs. Hence, they are plumper and larger than the dual purpose breeds. Red ranger, freedom ranger, jersey giant, Brahma and Cornish are some examples, but the most preferable is the Cornish Rock.
Size
Choose a size which is suitable for the expected size of your coop or backyard.
Standard Size Chickens
Standard sized chickens are full sized, weighing between 4 and 8 pounds. They lay eggs in sizes that are generally available in most of the stores.
Bantam Chickens
Bantam chickens are much smaller than the standard chickens and are only one –fourth of their size. Their average weight is around 1 to 1.25 lbs. Generally every bantam is a version of the standard size chickens, but not all of them have bigger counterparts. Form examples, Serama and Dutch only exist as bantams but Wyandotte does have a larger version available.
Since this is a smaller breed, they also lay smaller eggs which are usually half in size of the standard eggs and in lesser quantities.
