The Best Chickens for Eggs

If you want to raise chickens for fresh eggs the following breeds are some of the absolute best chickens for eggs!

If you’ve never had farm fresh eggs you’ll be amazed by how much tastier they are!

After years of raising chickens of my own, I can hardly even eat store-bought eggs now because fresh eggs are just so much better!

So if you want the best egg-laying chickens be sure to check out these breeds!

Chicken Breeds for Eggs

Pearl-White Leghorn – The white leghorn is one of the best layers out there. They lay large white eggs and have a great feed-to-egg conversion ratio, which is great for the feed bill!

Leghorn chickens lay an average of 280 eggs per year but sometimes lay more than 300 eggs per year!

Some other good characteristics about them are that they are not broody and they are very resistant to disease.

In fact, over the years I’ve never had any of my White Leghorns get sick.

Red Star (also known as ISA Brown) – These hens are the best brown egg layers! Over half of my flock consists of these hens because they are such great layers.

They can lay an egg per day as long as they are healthy. So you can expect the best egg production from these girls!

They are friendly, they lay eggs consistently through hot and cold weather, and they also have a good feed conversion ratio.

Black Star – This is another excellent brown egg layer. Just like the Red Star hens, they lay consistently through hot and cold weather.

Rhode Island Red – Rhode Island Reds are one of the most popular chicken breeds out there! They are great egg layers and are also a good dual-purpose breed if you’d like them for meat as well.

Best Laying Hens for Beginners

While all the hens above are the best for egg production, I think the best laying hens for beginners are those that are also the most friendly.

So when it comes to the most friendly egg layers, the following breeds are my favorite!

Light Brahma – These hens are the best!

I always keep at least a few Light Brahmas in my flock because they are extremely quiet and gentle, they are good layers, and they are good mothers if you let them set on eggs.

White Crested Polish – These are some of the most unique chickens I’ve ever seen. They have black body feathers with a white top hat, which is my favorite characteristic about them!

They are super friendly, they lay a good amount of eggs, and their heat tolerance is excellent.

Speckled Sussex – Sussex chickens are really sweet which is why I think they are a great beginner breed.

They lay a good amount of eggs and they are both heat and cold hardy which makes them a great choice no matter what your weather is like.

Check out more great beginner breeds here!

How Long Do Chickens Lay Eggs

Hens will lay the most eggs in their first two years of life. Most hens start laying eggs at about 20 weeks old and will lay the most eggs in that first year.

Each year following their egg production will gradually decline to about year 7 when they will typically stop laying altogether.

So if you want to ensure that you consistently have lots of eggs, be sure to always have young hens in your flock.

I order new baby chicks every two years so that as my youngest hens are approaching their third year of laying, I have new hens just beginning to lay.

So let’s do a quick recap!

Whether you’re a new chicken keeper or have had chickens for years, Pearl-White Leghorns, Red Stars, Black Stars, and Rhode Island Reds are the best chickens for eggs!

If you want a continuous supply of farm-fresh eggs all year, be sure to add one or all of these chicken breeds to your flock, you won’t be disappointed!

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