Most cost effective egg laying breed

[polychickens]

Which breed of chicken is the most cost effective in terms of producing eggs?

Since feed is the biggest expense, lets assume that we want very economical eaters who produce the most possible eggs.

Egg size is also a factor for me, so bonus points if a breed meets the above criteria and also lays LARGE eggs.

My brown leghorns are economical eaters and lay nearly every day, but I am not satisfied with the small eggs. Of course small bird, small food bill, small eggs. My New Hamps lay an abundance of large eggs, but they consume much more food than the leghorns. I just wonder if there is a breed out there that might feed us more cost effectively. Perhaps there is a leghorn breed that lays large eggs? What about a brown egg breed that meets the criteria?

I love the makeup of my current flock, but if I add, I want the most production with the least expense.

Thanks!
Poly
Fifty chickens including Rhode Islands, New Hampshires, Barred Rocks, Brown leghorns, Ameraucanas, & Buff Orps

 

[davecash]

Golden comets.

 

[Chelly]

I would think the egg producing farms use the most cost effective egg producers. Don't they use Leghorns or ?

 

[eggchel]

Look to the breeds used in the egg industry.

For white eggs, keep standard size white leghorns or California Whites. They are egg laying machines that are very thrifty. Their eggs are not small.

For brown eggs, RIR (production variety, not the show type) are used by one of the egg farms near us.

There are several commercial hybrids that you rarely hear mentioned in the backyard chicken groups. ISA, Babcock, Shaver, Hisex, Bovans and Dekalb are the ones produced by Hendrix, here is their link:
http://www.bovans.com/

And here is a link to an article which hopefully will convince you NOT to raise any of the commercial breeds of chickens:
http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5128

Biodiversity isnt just a question of the survival of various animal breeds, it may very well turn out to be important for the survival of our species.... IMO.

Chel

 

[mdbucks]

Quote:
If saving specific speices from becoming extinct, you should also get rid of your diversified group and focus on one breed only. If you do not breed your chickens then it will not matter the hatcheries will have the purebreed(or what they consider purebred) unless you keep your chickens seperated by breed, all future breedings woould be considered Mutts so the purity of the breed wold be lost on all future generations.

 

[devora]

By purchasing heritage breeds we can encourage hatcheries to keep breeding them.

 

[chickenwoods]

White leghorns would fit what you need!!,There eggs are small at first they get bigger..Mine white and brown, leghorns lay EVERY day.thier eggs were small for about a month or so then they started getting almost as big as my rir,and bsl eggs. mine dont eat much at all.2 of my leghorns eat as much as one of my fat rir,or bsl lol.

 

[kayri]

Aren't white leghorns very flighty? We had one ( gave it away to a friend). Out of the 16 chicks we started as day olds, it was the one that was hardest to hold. I wouldn't mind a good layer, but equally important for me, is the ability to get near my chickens wihout them throwing a hissy fit. Are the brown leghorns as flighty?

 

[silkiechicken]

I think all leghorns are flighty but if you just want lots of "cheap" eggs, go for the white leghorn. I have some of them and they are laying machines. As for brown eggs, I did best with production reds, but they are about twice the size of my leghorn girls. To keep cost effective though, you might want to concider breeding them and replacing your flock every few years, or at least on rotation, so that you keep up the high volume of egg laying.

 

[Youngfamily1989]

I love my buff orpingtons they are pretty to look at and friendly. Out of 24 hens I sometimes get as many as 22 eggs a day. I also sell my friends eggs he has red sex link he gets more eggs than I do but his eggs are ugly oblong inconsistantly shaped and I was told that the double yokers were watery. So I'll take my buffs over any hybred.