An excellent brown egg-laying breed must lay at least 180 eggs per year and be easy to take care of.
Australorps are in the English Class and are an abbreviation of Australian Black Orpington. They resulted from stock imported from England to Australia in the 1920z where they were cross bred with the Black Orpington.
Australorps are easy to keep and can become very tame, making them a great choice if you have children. They also have a unique trait of not being aggressive toward one another. This allows even the youngest cockerels to be kept together without mishap. They are a heavy breed which means they are not good flyers, so they don’t require high fencing. They love to free-range but will handle confinement well. For a heavy breed, they are productive, laying 200-280 light brown eggs per year.
A gentle bird can be buddied which can lead to birds that are so stressed they quit laying. The impressive wattle and large single comb may be prone to frostbite in the severe cold, but that can be prevented with a coating of Vaseline. The pros far outweigh the cons for this exceptional bird.
The Brahma chicken breed are of the Asiatic Class and come in a variety of colors. They originated in India and were imported in the United States in mid-1840. Sometimes known as the “King of Chickens,” a rooster can weigh up to 11 pounds.
Their small pea comb and their dense feathering make them very weather hardy. They will go broody, and when they are allowed to hatch out a clutch of eggs, they make excellent mothers. They are calm and gentle and blend well into a mixed flock. They are good-natured birds who lay between 180-240 eggs per year.
When you raise a bird with heavy feathering on its feet and legs, you are opening the door to trouble. That feathering, while lovely, makes an inviting home for mites and lice, and often times aggressive hens will peck on the feathering which may lead to injury. Since their feathers are so thick, they may become more stressed in the heat of summer.
Black Sex Link chickens are considered in the “Other Breed Class.” They are a cross of two or more pure breeds, typically between a Rhode Island Red Rooster and a Barred Rock Hen.
This hybrid is color sexed, which means that the chicks are sexed when hatched by color. The pullets are black and the males are black with a spot of light color on the heat. This makes for more confidence that you will not discover a rooster or two as the new flock develops. Hybrids are usually easy to brood with hardy chicks that develope to point of lay quicker than many pure breeds. They lay anywhere from 200-280 eggs per year. The cockerels are a good fryer at 8-9 pounds.
Many hybrids created for intense egg production will be short-lived and after a few years, they’ll need to be replaced.
Red Sex Link are similar to Black Sex Link in that they are considered a part of the “Other Class” and is a cross between a Rhode Island Red Rooster and a Delaware Hen. They can be color sexed and the chick offspring is vigorous and healthy. They lay from 200-280 brown eggs per year.
Both the Black and Red Sex Link can be somewhat aggressive in a mixed flock, but that depends on the strain of stock you purchase.
Buchheit carries quality certified stock from a variety of national hatcheries. They carry many different breeds, but you may also special order through them for any breed available. Hope this was helpful!
Ann May
