Are you the type of reader who likes to skip to the end of the book to see how the story turns out?  If so, here's a handy chart summarizing the pros and cons of the types of chickens mentioned in Thrifty Chicken Breeds.

Breed	Avg. eggs per year	Weight of adult rooster / hen (lbs)	Primary uses	Primary disadvantages
Ameraucana	250 (prolific)	6.5 / 5.5	Green and blue eggs	True Ameraucanas are very rare.  Most birds listed as "Ameraucanas" are actually hybrids more properly known as "Easter Eggers."
Australorp	250 (prolific)	9 / 6.5	Eggs and meat	Only a moderate winter layer
Brahma	150 (average)	12 / 9.5	Meat, pets	Feathered feet
Cochin	110–160 (below average)	11 / 8.5	Broody  hens, pets	Feathered feet
Cornish	150–180 (average)	10 / 5.7	Meat	Less efficient converter of feed to meat than Cornish Cross
Cornish Cross	May not live to laying age	10 / 6	Meat	Hybrid, so you can't keep your own flock going.  Also, this very productive meat bird may be hard to keep in homestead conditions.
Dominique	180–260 (average, good winter layer)	7 / 5	Eggs and meat	Aggressive roosters
Easter Egger	200 (varies)	varies (about 6–7)	Green and blue eggs, pets	Inefficient layers
Faverolles	200 (above average, good winter layer)	10 / 8.5	Pets	Currently bred for looks, not production
Leghorn	280 (extremely prolific)	2.4 / 2	Eggs	White variety attracts predators, flighty behavior
Marans	150 (average)	8.5 / 7	Broody hens, "chocolate" eggs	Inefficient layers, skittish behavior
New Hampshire	200–280 (above average, good winter layer)	8.5 / 6.5	Eggs and meat	Inefficient layers
Orpington	175–200 (average, good winter layer)	10 / 8.5	Eggs and meat, broody hens	Most strains are now bred for looks, not production
Plymouth Rock	200–280 (average, good winter layer)	9.5 / 7.5	Eggs and meat	Most strains are now bred for looks, not production
Red Sex Link	200–280 (varies, but usually prolific)	8–9 / 6–7	Eggs, pets	Inefficient meat producer, too friendly for some homesteads, doesn't breed true
Rhode Island Red	200 - 280 (extremely prolific, good winter layer)	8.5 / 6.5	Eggs and meat	Aggressive roosters, flighty behavior
Silkie	150 (average, small eggs)	2.3 / 2	Broody hens, pets	Inefficient producers, can't see predators, feathered feet
Sussex	240–260 (above average, good winter layer)	9 / 7	Eggs and meat	White variety attracts predators, too friendly, inefficient meat production
Wyandotte	200 (average, good winter layer)	8.2 / 6	Eggs and meat	Fluffy vent feathers can make it hard for roosters to fertilize eggs

What if the breed you're interested in isn't listed above?  Here are a few of my favorite sources for chicken stats if you want to research further:

But don't get bogged down in crunching numbers and making pro and con lists.  Your on-the-ground data might not match what others have reported, so there's no replacement for just diving in and trying a new breed out!

I hope you enjoyed this excerpt from Thrifty Chicken Breeds.  If so, why not read the whole thing for only 99 cents?  Or stay tuned for another excerpt here on the blog tomorrow.

This post is part of our Thrifty Chicken Breeds lunchtime series.  Read all of the entries: Thrifty Chicken Breeds Why are there so many chicken breeds? What should homesteaders look for in a chicken? Statistics on common chicken breeds Most popular chicken breeds

Want more in-depth information? Browse through our books.

Or explore more posts by date or by subject.

About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.



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