Popular egg breeds of chickens

Egg chickens are bred for business or for your own pleasure. Interestingly, the first mention of them was in Ancient Egypt. The progenitor is a wild chicken that still lives in the forests of Southeast Asia. It can be assumed that even then people realized the benefits of the content of this species.

Popular egg breeds of chickens

At present, breeders breed the best egg-laying representatives, record the quality and selection indicators. All this aims to increase productivity.

General characteristics

All hens of the egg-bearing breeds are similar to each other in certain characteristics.

1. Low weight. Compared to meat, they weigh only 2-3 kg.
2. A tail with long feathers and a large wingspan.
3. A bright red scallop.
4. The bird is quite active and mobile.
5. Do not hatch the eggs. As a result of selection, this ability is lost. This is a significant minus in breeding.
6. Begin to lay eggs already from 4-5 months.
7. Accelerated metabolism. For this reason, chickens are characterized by increased appetite. This affects the frequency of sock eggs. Egg breeds are carried about every 25 hours, so their feed should be mineralized, high in calcium.

Advantages and disadvantages

Hens of egg breeds have their advantages and disadvantages.

Pros:

• high and fairly frequent egg production; for a year, a laying hen can give up to 300-350 eggs;
• large enough eggs with a strong shell; from 80 to 100 gr;
• good immunity, excellent job with bird diseases and other viruses;
• unpretentious care, able to survive in small winter frosts;
• non-aggressive, calm.

For breeding it is not advisable to choose elite breeds that are too demanding of the conditions. They are rather capricious and violation of the rules of care significantly reduces egg production.

It’s better to get a house: they are unpretentious and more fertile.

Best egg breeds

For all parameters (the number of eggs per year and their size) the leading place is occupied by leggorn hens and their crosses: Highsex, Belaya Russkaya. They will help to quickly develop the economy and make a solid profit.

An important role is played by the fact that this bird is well adapted to the cold, unpretentious in care, although it is demanding on the quality of the feed.

Leggorn

The dominant egg direction. The birds first appeared in Italy, at the end of the 19th century.

It is noteworthy that at the beginning this breed was not oviparous, only as a result of multiple hybridization with European chickens, Leggorn became the standard.

Typically, these are thin white birds with an elongated back. But there is another plumage: brown, golden, cuckoo-partridge, spotted. In laying hens, the scallop is inclined to one side, and in roosters it is standing straight.

Representatives of this breed are not large: females are up to 1.8 kg and males are up to 3 kg.

Chickens rush from 4-5 months, for one year one can lay up to 350-400 eggs. According to statistics, they have the largest eggs. The captured record is an egg weighing 450 g, in which there were 9 yolks.

Leghorn unpretentious in care and food, adapted to the cold. Another feature is that they do not like noise. Loud or sudden sound makes them anxious.

White Russian

The breed is immune to diseases

The White Russian breed became the Leggorn hybrid. She inherited a drooping scallop and a thin body from the founder.

Chickens are small: females – up to 2 kg, and males – up to 2.5 kg. 220-250 eggs weighing up to 50 g are obtained per year.

The advantage of birds is frost resistance, undemanding to special conditions and immunity to diseases and viruses.

Active and productive laying of laying hens is only a year. After that, she carries fewer eggs, so they are then slaughtered.

Loman Brown

This breed is the result of German breeders.These egg chickens are characterized by calmness, non-fearfulness, perfectly adjoin to other birds.

They have brown plumage with mottled interspersed. Females carry brown eggs.

The advantages are increased egg production, unpretentious care and high adaptability to new conditions.

Disadvantages:

• after 8 months, the performance of chickens is greatly reduced , laying hens for slaughter;
• chickens of this breed cannot be hatched on their own, because they do not produce offspring;
• fastidious in food: it is not recommended to give whole grains; it is advisable to enrich the feed with greens, animal feed, carrots, turnips, corn.

Highsex

Dutch breeders bred cross chickens – Highsex.

• White is a hen with white plumage. They remind dwarfish, because they are very small, their weight is only 1.6 kg. But this does not affect performance. For a year, a laying hen can produce up to 300 large and nutritious eggs.
• Brown – brown chickens are larger than their relatives. Their weight is up to 2.5 kg. They lay beautiful dark brown eggs, weighing up to 50-60 g. They can also lay up to 300 eggs per year.

Both representatives have a calm and balanced character. They can be grown both in cells and in free range.

Minor

If you want to get not only rich income, but also aesthetic pleasure, then you are invited to breed Spanish breed of chickens Minorca.

This is an elegant bird with black plumage and bluish tint. It has a bright red scallop and white earrings. Basically, these individuals are small: from 1 to 2.5 kg.

Productive indicators are average: up to 200 eggs per year from one laying hen. But the eggs are white, large, weighing up to 100 g.

In care, they are not whimsical, but they are afraid of cold and draft. Therefore, it is advisable for them to make warm chicken coops. And young animals are generally not recommended to walk outside, because the chicks are susceptible to diseases.

With the onset of cold weather, the bird needs to rub the scallop with fat so that it does not freeze. Add greens, vegetables, compound feed to the feed.

Breeders of this breed need to know that Minorca is rather shy. Therefore, sharp sounds, noise should be avoided. They do not allow strangers to approach them.

Tetra SL

This hybrid is a product of Hungarian breeders. It’s easy to recognize chicks by gender: white males and females – fawn.

Individuals are small – up to 2.5 kg. Over a year, the chicken gives up to 300 brown eggs and weighs up to 65 g.

The advantage of the breed is its high egg production, adaptability to conditions of detention, low incidence.

Water needs to be changed daily. It is also necessary to ensure that the feed is not spoiled. trace elements and calcium. With a low calcium content, the chicken begins to eat its own eggs.

Conclusion

Of course, there are a huge number of egg chickens. Everyone can choose the most suitable one from this variety.

The main rule in this case is to study the features and characteristics of a particular breed well, so that you can enjoy and enjoy the breeding.