Breeds

Backyard Chicken Breeds Compared: Egg Color, Eggs per Year, Size and Temperament

Field guide · Updated October 13, 2026 · about 6 min read

Most backyard flocks start with the same question: which breed? This directory puts the common laying breeds in one table — shell color, how many eggs sources report, standard hen weight, temperament, climate tolerance and whether hens tend to go broody — with each figure traced to an extension service, Oklahoma State University's breed reference or The Livestock Conservancy.

How to read the table

• Eggs per year are what each source reports for the breed, not a guarantee. Strains within a breed differ a lot: Oklahoma State notes that some Plymouth Rock strains are bred as layers and others mainly for meat, and that the top egg-production strains of Rhode Island Reds have had much of their broodiness bred out. Where sources disagree, both figures are shown.
• Hen weight is the American Poultry Association standard weight for a mature hen as listed by Oklahoma State, or the hen weight on The Livestock Conservancy's comparison chart (marked TLC).
• "No figure" means none of the sources consulted gave a number. Oklahoma State describes dual-purpose breeds such as the Orpington and Wyandotte by their use for eggs and meat rather than with an egg count.
• Production also falls with age. See how long hens keep laying for the year-by-year decline.

Laying breeds side by side

Weights without a mark are APA standard hen weights from Oklahoma State's Breeds of Livestock pages. UGA = University of Georgia Extension; TLC = The Livestock Conservancy. Terms such as bantam, sex-link, heritage and APA Standard are defined in the backyard poultry glossary.

Shortlists by goal

Most eggs

Mississippi State Extension calls the Leghorn usually the best overall layer and credits sex-link hybrids with 300 or more eggs a year (for the crosses and what other sources report, see sex-link chickens explained). Among brown-egg breeds, the Australorp is known for laying records, and Oklahoma State calls the Rhode Island Red probably the best layer of the dual-purpose breeds. The trade-off: Leghorns are small, nervous and noisy, and Georgia Extension notes they avoid people.

Cold winters

Mississippi State notes that small combs suit cold climates (large combs shed heat better in hot ones) and that most American breeds generally do better in cold. Breeds singled out for cold include the Brahma ("extremely hardy"), Wyandotte (rose comb resists freezing, per Oklahoma State), Orpington, Plymouth Rock, Australorp and Rhode Island Red. Large single combs on Leghorns and New Hampshires are prone to frostbite.

Hot summers

Georgia Extension lists the Leghorn as heat tolerant and the Rhode Island Red and New Hampshire as handling hot or cold. The Livestock Conservancy rates the Australorp, Sussex and Delaware for both hot and cold climates. Mississippi State warns that Wyandottes do poorly in heat and that Brahmas are not ideal for warm climates.

Calm birds for families

Sources consistently describe Orpingtons, Plymouth Rocks, Australorps and Brahmas as docile or gentle. The flip side, noted by both Georgia Extension and Oklahoma State, is that very docile breeds such as the Orpington are easily bullied when kept with more aggressive birds.

Colored eggs

Ameraucanas lay blue eggs (see Ameraucana vs Easter Egger vs Araucana); Oklahoma State stresses that "Easter Eggers," which lay blue or green eggs, are not Ameraucanas and do not conform to any breed standard. Georgia Extension notes that Easter Egger shell colors vary because of their mixed breeding. Oklahoma State calls the Marans a "chocolate egger"; its breed page explains why those dark shells lighten through the season. A Texas A&M AgriLife county list gives the Langshan as a layer of very dark brown eggs and the Araucana as blue to green to brown. The egg color chart sorts more than 40 breeds by shell color and explains the pigments behind each one.

Hatching your own chicks

If you want a hen that will sit on eggs, look at breeds described as broody and good mothers: Orpington, Australorp, Brahma, Cochin and, among bantams, the Silkie (which Georgia Extension calls very broody) and the Belgian d'Uccle (Georgia Extension calls them great brooders; see the page on breeding the Mille Fleur). If you only want eggs, broodiness is a cost: a broody hen stops laying while she sits (see broody hens for the signs, the 21-day hatch and how to break it). Leghorns, Polish and Minorcas rarely or never go broody. Bantams also need less room: see the coop space calculator for floor, roost and nest-box space per bird.

Before you buy: a short checklist

1. Decide the purpose first — eggs, meat, both, pets or showing. Georgia Extension puts this before everything else.
2. Match the climate. Check comb type and feathering against your winters and summers.
3. Think about temperament and the flock mix. Do not house very docile breeds with aggressive ones.
4. Ask about the strain. A production strain and a show strain of the same breed can lay very different numbers.
5. Estimate output. Plug your hens' ages and type into the egg production calculator.
6. Ask locally. Your county extension agent can suggest breeds that do well in your area.
7. Check what you are allowed to keep. Flock-size, rooster and coop rules are set by your city or county, sometimes your state and often your HOA; see how to check local chicken rules.

All breeds guides on HenClass

• Rhode Island Red ChickensStandard weights, comb varieties, brown eggs per year as each source reports them, temperament, broodiness, heritage vs production strains and the breed's New England history.
• Leghorn ChickensStandard weights, varieties, white eggs per year as each source reports them, temperament, combs and cold, broodiness, industrial vs heritage lines and the breed's Italian-American history.
• Australorp ChickensStandard weights, eggs per year as each source reports them, the Australian laying-contest records, temperament, broodiness, heat and cold, and how a Black Orpington became the Australorp.
• Plymouth Rock ChickensStandard weights, the seven APA varieties, eggs per year as each source reports them, how barring works (and why it makes black sex-links), temperament, broodiness and the breed's New England history.
• Orpington ChickensStandard weights, the four APA varieties, eggs per year as each source reports them, broodiness, feathering and cold, temperament, and how William Cook made the breed in 1880s England.
• Wyandotte ChickensStandard weights, the nine APA varieties and their admission years, eggs as each source reports them, the frost-resistant rose comb, heat limits, temperament and the breed's 1870s New York origins.
• Sussex ChickensStandard weights, the Speckled, Red and Light varieties and how their feathers are marked, egg counts as each source gives them, calm temperament, broodiness, climate notes and the breed's English history.
• Ameraucana vs Easter Egger vs AraucanaBeard and muffs vs ear tufts and no tail, APA and ABA recognition dates, varieties and weights, the dominant blue-egg gene, and how to tell a purebred from an Easter Egger.
• Silkie ChickensBantam in the US, large fowl too in Britain: varieties, hookless feathering, five toes and black skin explained, eggs and broodiness as sources report them, plus low roosts and Marek's.
• Marans ChickensThe chocolate-egg breed from western France: APA varieties, the 1-to-9 egg color scale, why dark shells fade as the season goes on, feathered vs clean shanks and standard weights.
• Cochin ChickensThe big, soft-feathered Asiatic breed: APA large fowl and bantam varieties, feathered shanks and feet, eggs as sources report them, famous broodiness, and why Cochins like cold better than heat.
• Sex-Link ChickensWhich rooster-and-hen crosses make red and black sex-links, how to tell pullets from cockerels by down color, why the cross works only one way, and laying figures as each source reports them.
• Breeding Mille Fleur BantamsThe mahogany, black and white Mille Fleur pattern in Old English Game and d'Uccle bantams, the standards, and breeding basics.