What are the best laying hens for your garden?

So you want to keep the best laying hens for tasty eggs. Then you need to know about hybrid chicken varieties and other chicken breeds, plus chicken feed.

Are you thinking about keeping chickens? Their fresh free-range eggs are undoubtedly their greatest selling point, right? Which chicken breeds should you go for if you want the best laying hens? And what should you pay attention to when keeping chicken species for their eggs? For example, which food is best to give laying hens? Here are the basics to give you the pluck.

Choosing the right chicken varieties

Hybrid chickens

For starters, you can choose between hybrid chickens and purebred chickens. Hybrid chickens are not strictly speaking purebred chickens. Hybrids are crosses between different chicken breeds. They were crossed with the intention of enhancing a particular trait, such as consistent egg laying.

Examples of the best hybrid laying hens are Black Star, Golden Comet, ISA White and ISA Brown, Hisex White and Hisex Brown, and Bovans Nera. You can expect these sturdy, calm chickens to lay about 250 to 300 eggs per year.

The disadvantage of hybrid chickens as opposed to other chicken breeds is that they are bred specifically for commercial egg laying. After a year, their egg production therefore decreases. Of course you can keep these chicken species longer as a fancier, even if they don't lay many eggs anymore.

Pure breed chickens

Purebred chickens usually live a lot longer, but these chicken types are not as hardy as hybrids and require more attention and care. Some of the best laying hens in this category include the Leghorn, Australorp, and Rhode Island Red chicken breeds.

Give them the right food

Laying eggs requires a lot of energy regardless of the chicken species. If you want an egg every day, or almost every day, then adapted nutrition is absolutely necessary. Country’s Best Gold 4 Mix provides all the nutrients in the right amounts and proportions to produce nutritious, firm eggs, whether you go for hybrid chickens or other chicken breeds.

Would you like to know more about laying hens and how to best care for them? Find more advice on different chicken breeds at Welcome Home Nature.

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