Best Brown Egg Layer?

[JosiahK]

Which breed, in your opinion, is the best brown egg layer?

 

[GitaBooks]

Red Star and Black Star hybrids are suppose to be very good layers, and they are. They are also friendly and pretty. However, Australorps I think have the record for the most eggs laid in a year and are also very friendly, pretty, and very hardy. Plymouth Rocks are also pretty good, as are certain strains of Rhode Island Reds.

I hope this helps.

 

[Hawkesy]

It's difficult to say which is the best as each bird varies but I highly rate Australorps when it comes brown egg laying. The ones I have are the most consistent layers in my flock along with White Sussex but they don't produce pure brown eggs.

There are many breeds that lay around the same amount of eggs so if you are looking at some narrow down the regular layers and then choose your favourite looking etc.

 

[JosiahK]

It's difficult to say which is the best as each bird varies but I highly rate Australorps when it comes brown egg laying. The ones I have are the most consistent layers in my flock along with White Sussex but they don't produce pure brown eggs.

There are many breeds that lay around the same amount of eggs so if you are looking at some narrow down the regular layers and then choose your favourite looking etc.

Thanks! How to the Australorps compare to Red Stars?

 

[GitaBooks]

I think Red Stars mature quicker, but they are more prone to health problems related to laying too many eggs such as egg-binding or water belly..

 

[Michael OShay]

Statistically, the best brown layers on average are Black and Red Sex Links which is why the laying houses use them for brown eggs, although the single brown egg record is 364 eggs in 365 days by a Black Australorp. However that Australorp record was set back in the 1920s, and no Australorp has come close since then. I've raised both sex link variaties and Black Australorps for many years and have done meticulous egg counts, and I can tell you from experience (as much as I love Australorps which are my favorite standard breed), that they cannot match the lay rate of the sex links. I've had a few Australorps over the years which have managed to barely break the 300 egg mark in a year, but my Black and Red Sex Links have consistently churned out more than 300 eggs per hen per year. According to Murray McMurray, the Black and Red Sex Link laying ability is equal (https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/faqwhichbreedlaysbetterredstar.html), however I have found that in really cold winter weather my Black Sex Links will actually lay a little better than my Reds. Also, my Blacks have tended to have a little longer laying life. In defense of Black Australorps, they generally have a longer laying life than either sex link variety.

 

[Michael OShay]

Statistically, the best brown layers on average are Black and Red Sex Links which is why the laying houses use them for brown eggs, although the single brown egg record is 364 eggs in 365 days by a Black Australorp. However that Australorp record was set back in the 1920s, and no Australorp has come close since then. I've raised both sex link variaties and Black Australorps for many years and have done meticulous egg counts, and I can tell you from experience (as much as I love Australorps which are my favorite standard breed), that they cannot match the lay rate of the sex links. I've had a few Australorps over the years which have managed to barely break the 300 egg mark in a year, but my Black and Red Sex Links have consistently churned out more than 300 eggs per hen per year. According to Murray McMurray, the Black and Red Sex Link laying ability is equal (https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/faqwhichbreedlaysbetterredstar.html), however I have found that in really cold winter weather my Black Sex Links will actually lay a little better than my Reds. Also, my Blacks have tended to have a little longer laying life. In defense of Black Australorps, they generally have a longer laying life than either sex link variety.

To avoid nomenclature confusion which almost always comes up in a discussion that involves sex links, Red Sex Links are marketed by hatcheries under a number of different labels including Red Star, Brown Sex Link, Gold Sex Link, Gold Star, Golden Buff, Cinnamon Queen, Bovans Brown, Golden Comet, Isa Brown, Brown Shaver, Red Shaver, Babcock Brown, Warrens, Gold Lines, Lohmans Brown, Bovans Goldline, etc., and Black Sex Links are marketed by hatcheries under other labels as well such as Black Star, Bovans Nera, Rock Red, Black Rock, etc., but no matter what label they are marketed under, Red and Black Sex Links are egg laying machines.