Barnyard Favorites: Our Top Picks for Laying Hens

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Spring and summer are such exciting times of the year! Feedstores display banners advertising baby chicks, and you can hear them peeping as soon as you enter the store. Even if we’re not currently shopping, we always have to take a look. Baby chicks are such cute little puffballs, and the store may have a new breed we’ve been looking at adding to our flock of egg-laying hens!

Over the years, we’ve owned many different breeds of chickens. All of them have their pros (and cons) but we keep coming back to a few types of laying hens that are favorites in our barnyard. I’ve put together a list of our favorite chicken breeds, in case you’re thinking of starting a new flock or adding to your existing one! P.S. Be sure to read to the end – I’ve added an extra breed that we’re super excited to add to our flock this year!

Our Favorite Breeds of Laying Hens

#1 Barred Plymouth Rock

A black and white, Plymouth Barred Rock hen. — Plymouth Barred Rock hen

It’s hard to pick a single breed as our favorite, but Barred Plymouth Rocks (Barred Rocks for short) certainly make the shortlist.

This heritage breed was first developed in America and has been a favorite of chicken keepers since the late-1800s. Plymouth Rock chickens come in several color varieties, but the barred black and white pattern adds variety to our flock.

Barred rocks are considered a dual-purpose breed, raised for their eggs and meat. We love them for their large brown eggs, cold hardiness, and quiet temperament. They are always the first hens out of the coop in the morning and excel at free-ranging without being flighty. Internet research will tell you that these hens tend to go broody – but we’ve not found this to be the case. Overall, they are solid, dependable laying hens that will always have a place in our flock.

#2 Buff Orpington

A yellow Buff Orpington hen. — Buff Orpington hen

Another dependable heritage breed, Buff Orpingtons are big, fluffy, gold-colored hens. They are known for their gentle temperaments and are often the friendliest hens in the flock. They genuinely seem to like people, and will make friends with the other livestock, too.

The Orpington breed was developed in England in the late 1800s. They are a dual-purpose breed used for their large, light-brown eggs and meat production. They are also a fairly heavy breed. Roosters average 8-10lbs and mature hens weigh 6-8lbs. Their abundance of fluffy feathers makes them a great choice for colder climates.

Buff Orpington hens do tend to go broody once in a while. If you’re looking for a surrogate mother to new chicks, this may not be a bad thing!

#3 Speckled Sussex

Two Speckled Sussex hens. — A pair of Speckled Sussex hens

Speckled Sussex hens are a beautiful addition to any flock. Their dark brownish-red feathers are tipped with specks of white and black and they often grow more colorful with each molt.

Another English heritage breed, Speckled Sussex are quiet birds that do well in a barnyard or free-range setting. They don’t go broody often, but regularly lay brown eggs that sometimes have a pink or purple bloom.

In case you’re picking up on a theme – our favorite laying hens tend to be dual-purpose heritage breeds with quiet temperaments. No flighty chickens here, thank you!

#4 Ameraucana

An Ameraucana hen with a beard and muffs. — Ameraucana hen.

Ameraucana hens make the “favorites” list for one reason. Colorful eggs! Eggs from Ameraucana hens (sometimes called Easter Eggers) range from blue to green, and ocassionally pink. Each hen lays one color of egg, making a fun addition to your egg basket.

Ameraucanas are a fairly new breed, having been developed and improved from the Araucana breed. There are several pure-color varieties available, but many are mixed, so you rarely know how that newly hatched chick will feather out. One of their unique features are their puffy cheeks which are known as muffs. Some birds also have a beard, which is another puff of feathers under their beak.

These hens are the most active breed on this list. While they don’t crave human attention, they are fairly easygoing, and once you catch them they are friendly and well-mannered.

#5 Bielefelder – our newest addition!

A Bielefelder rooster. — Bielefelder rooster

Full disclosure here: we ended up with our first Bielefelder chicken by mistake. I had picked up some Speckled Sussex pullets for our new flock, and to our surprise, the chick with a unique white spot on its head grew up to be a Bielefelder rooster!

As it turns out, Bielefelders are an auto-sexing breed. All the roosters are light brown chicks with white spots on their heads. The pullets resemble Speckled Sussex chicks.

We have been so happy with this gentle giant that I’m adding several Bielefelder pullets to our flock this spring. Any rooster that will fall asleep in my son’s lap waiting for 4-H showmanship is a winner in my book!

Based on our research into the breed, we expect the hens to be heavy-dual purpose birds who will lay large brown eggs. They should share our rooster’s gentle temperament and be a good addition to our farm flock.

There are a huge number of chicken breeds to suit any flock owner’s purposes. For our farm, we prefer heritage birds with quiet dispositions that are cold-hardy and good layers. If you have questions for us or a suggestion for another breed that would make a good addition to our farm feel free to email us.