05/01/2025
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10 Best Egg-Laying Chickens: Which is the Best Layer Chicken Breed for Your Backyard?
Having egg layers in your flock means more eggs you harvest and fewer trips to the grocery store Not sure what breed of chicken you should get?
Here are the top 10 best egg-laying chicken breeds that you should have in your backyard chicken coop for increased egg production every year.
The 10 Best Chicken Breeds For Eggs
Ready to take that step into off-the-grid living?
Don't buy a chicken breed without knowing its natural disposition, lifestyle needs, and how many eggs a happy hen will lay each year. Do not raise a breed that lays few or weak eggs.
Now, let's find out what are the best chicken breeds that lay eggs.
1. Rhode Island Red
✅Begins to lay eggs: 18-20 weeks
✅Habit of the hen: Friendly
Broody: No
✅Cold resistant: Yes
The Rhode Island Red produces about 260 eggs per year and fends for itself due to its strong foraging ability. Rhode Island Reds are good free-living birds and do well without major intervention.
Rhode Island Reds are generally friendly, but sometimes they can be quite aggressive, so be careful when you put them with other chickens.
2. Golden Comet
✅Begins to lay eggs: 15 weeks
✅Habit of the hen: Friendly
Broody: No
✅Cold resistant: Yes
Laying up to 300 eggs a year, the Golden Comet is one of the most prolific layers on the list. A female weighs about five to seven pounds and begins laying eggs at a younger age than most breeds.
Some hens become sullen, seeming aggressive when they lay eggs, but in general, this breed has a kind disposition.
Golden Comet does well in cold weather.
They start laying eggs at the age of 15 weeks.
3. Buff Orpington
✅Begins to lay eggs: 5-7 months
✅Chicken behavior: Calm
Broody: Yes
✅Cold resistant: Yes
Buff Orpingtons make great backyard chickens because of their calm and quiet personalities. This chicken breed is also prized for its egg production.
Although they produce 150 to 200 eggs annually, which is less than some of the others on this list, it's still enough to keep one person fed! The Buff Orpington not only produces beautiful eggs but can also be a great mother to her chicks.
4. Hamburg
✅Begins to lay eggs: 4-5 months
✅Habit of the hen: Obedient
Broody: No
✅Cold resistant: Yes
Hamburg is a spotted chicken with the color of a Dalmatian. Their feathers are white tipped with black.
Aside from its unique plumage, Hamburgs are excellent egg-laying chicken breeds. They can provide you and your family with 200 medium-sized eggs per year.
If you want to keep these beautiful and productive egg-layer chickens in your homestead, you should keep them as free-range chickens in the backyard.
They don't do well inside a chicken coop, so make sure they have enough space to walk around.
If they don't have enough space to roam, chickens are known to become aggressive in small spaces when they can't go outside.
5. Speckled Sussex
✅Begins to lay eggs: 16 weeks
✅The hen's personality: Friendly and affectionate
Broody: Yes
✅Cold resistant: Yes
After just sixteen weeks of age, your Speckled Sussex can start laying at a rate of up to 300 eggs per year. They are a docile breed with attractive mottled fur.
If your flock is mostly white, the Speckled Sussex's attractive feathers will make the breeds stand out.
However, you should be concerned if your other chicken breeds are aggressive. The Speckled Sussex chicken is so kind and gentle that it often falls victim to bullies of other chicken breeds. This chicken does not need a lot of space.
The Sussex is also one of the most expensive chicken breeds in the world.
6. New Hampshire Red
✅Begins to lay eggs: 18-21 weeks
✅The hen's personality: Friendly
Broody: Yes
✅Cold resistant: Yes
The New Hampshire Red is a cold-hardy chicken breed that is great for both egg laying and meat production.
If you're looking for egg-layers that are friendly and do well as pets, you should have a New Hampshire Red in your flock.
After only 18 to 21 weeks, a hen begins laying her 200 eggs per year. Just give your chickens a comfortable place to sleep and food to eat for egg and meat production.
You can keep this chicken breed in cold weather conditions as it is winter hardy.
7. Barred Plymouth Rock
✅Begins to hatch: 16-20 weeks
✅Chicken behavior: Calm
Broody: Yes
✅Cold resistant: Yes
Always have fresh peachy-colored or light brown eggs for your table with a Plymouth rock in your yard.
These are big birds weighing up to six and a half pounds, which means you get big eggs. This is a hardy, favorite breed of chicken. You'll love that it's family-friendly, especially with kids.
8. Golden Laced Wyandottes
✅Begins to lay eggs: 18-20 weeks
✅Body of hen: Aloof
Broody: Yes
✅Cold resistant: Yes
Although Golden Laced Wyandotte chickens have a caring personality, you will be happy to know that this shy chicken breed can provide you with around 200 eggs per year.
They are also good at finding their food. You can also raise chicks from eggs because Golden Laced Wyandottes are great mothers.
9. Ancona
✅Begins to lay eggs: 5 months
✅Habit of the hen: Friendly
Broody: No
✅Cold resistant: Yes
These small chickens suit your needs if you don't have a lot of space. They lay about 200 eggs each year, although the eggs are smaller than the standard size that most people are familiar with.
Ancona is one of the most popular breeds in the United States and United Kingdom.
Be careful, though - the Ancona flies if its feathers aren't trimmed! This breed looks like a Plymouth Rock.
10. White Leghorn
✅Begins to lay eggs: 16-17 weeks
✅Habit of chicken: flying
Broody: No
✅Cold resistant: Yes
White leghorns are one of our best at laying eggs. This well-known breed of chicken can lay about 280 eggs annually.
Their behavior makes them an excellent bird for keeping in a cage with adequate food, water, and warmth. The White Leghorn is not hardy but starts laying at 16-17 weeks of age.
If you have limited backyard space to raise this chicken breed as free-range backyard chickens, you'll be happy to know that the White Leghorn is happy living in a coop.
Final Thoughts
Not all chickens can give you a lot of eggs every year. But if you want to lay eggs year-round, having any of these top chickens will definitely benefit your backyard egg production.
Now that you know the best egg-laying chickens, the next step is finding the right chicken coop for these productive breeds. Chickens prefer to lay their eggs in peace. So if you have a tight cage, now is the best time for an upgrade.
Do not forget that even the best breeds of chickens for laying eggs require adequate diet and nutrition. You must provide them with quality feed, enough water and sunlight, and enough space.
Once you know which breed of egg-laying chicken you want to get, set up the coop, and prepare their food, it's time to order your chickens.
If you own these breeds, let us know in the comments section how many eggs you get from them? Also, don't forget to share this guide with your friends.
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