If you are choosing chickens mainly for eggs, it is easy to get pulled toward the biggest number you see on a hatchery page. I would not choose that way.
A hen that lays 300 eggs but spends her day trying to clear your fence may be a poor fit for a small backyard. Another bird may give you fewer eggs but be calmer around children, easier to mix with the rest of the flock, and much nicer to live with every day.
So use egg numbers as one part of the decision. Temperament, body size, climate, space, broodiness, egg color, and whether you want a true breed or a commercial hybrid matter too.
The production ranges below are realistic backyard estimates, not guarantees. Two hens of the same breed can lay very differently depending on age, strain, feed, daylight, molt, weather, health, and how they are managed.
Quick Comparison of the Best Egg-Laying Chickens
| Chicken | Type | Approx. eggs/year* | Egg color | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leghorn | Breed | 200–300 | White | High white-egg output |
| Australorp | Breed | 200–280 | Brown | Calm dual-purpose flock |
| Austra White | Hybrid | 220–280 | White to light tinted | Active productive backyard layer |
| Plymouth Rock | Breed | 180–220 | Brown | Beginners and family flocks |
| Golden Comet | Hybrid | 250–300 | Brown | Early, heavy laying |
| Rhode Island Red | Breed | 200–300 | Brown | Hardy dual-purpose flock |
| Speckled Sussex | Breed | 180–250 | Brown | Friendly all-around bird |
| ISA Brown | Commercial hybrid | Very high | Brown | Maximum brown-egg production |
| Lohmann Brown | Commercial hybrid | Very high | Brown | Persistent commercial-type laying |
| Black Star | Hybrid | 250–300 | Brown | Productive sex-link backyard hen |
| Ameraucana | Breed | 150–200 | Blue | True blue eggs |
| Delaware | Breed | 180–220 | Brown | Gentle dual-purpose flock |
| Marans | Breed | 150–200 | Dark reddish brown | Dark egg color |
| Wyandotte | Breed | 180–240 | Brown | Cold-hardy backyard flock |
| Ancona | Breed | 180–250 | White | Active free-ranging flock |
| Barnevelder | Breed | 150–200 | Brown | Calm ornamental utility flock |
| Hamburg | Breed | 180–250 | White | Active forager |
| Easter Egger | Type/hybrid | 180–250 | Blue, green, or tinted | Colorful egg basket |
| New Hampshire | Breed | 180–220 | Brown | Fast-maturing dual-purpose flock |
Breed or Hybrid? It Matters More Than It Sounds
Leghorns, Plymouth Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, Ameraucanas, and the other established breeds on this list have recognized breed characteristics. If you keep and breed good representatives of the same breed, the offspring should broadly resemble the parents.
ISA Browns, Lohmann Browns, Golden Comets, Black Stars, and Austra Whites are different. They are hybrids or commercial lines created by crossing selected parent stock for traits such as egg number, shell quality, early maturity, or feed efficiency.
That is not a weakness. In fact, if your only question is, “Which hen will fill the egg basket fastest?” a good hybrid may be the easiest answer. Just remember that her chicks will not reliably reproduce the same combination of traits.
1. Leghorn
If you want a light-bodied hen that puts a lot of energy into making eggs, start with the Leghorn. A good Leghorn is busy from morning onward. She scratches, ranges, watches everything around her, and does not waste much time sitting still.
That lively nature is part of the package. Some become quite tame, but I would not buy Leghorns expecting slow, cuddly birds. They usually suit a keeper who values production and gives the flock room to move.
Backyard hens commonly fall somewhere around 200–300 white eggs in a strong year, depending on the strain. Standard large-fowl Leghorns are also much lighter than many people expect, at roughly 6 pounds for males and 4.5 pounds for hens.
2. Australorp
The Australorp is a much easier recommendation when someone tells me, “I want plenty of eggs, but I also want a calm backyard chicken.”
They are heavier and generally more settled than Leghorns, and they tend to fit mixed flocks well. You still get a useful dual-purpose body, but egg production remains strong enough that they do not feel like a compromise.
The famous record of 364 eggs in 365 days came from one exceptional Australorp hen under official testing. Do not use that as your backyard target. Around 200–280 brown eggs is a much more sensible expectation for a productive home-flock bird.
3. Austra White
An Austra White sits somewhere between the two birds above. It is a hybrid associated with Australorp and White Leghorn breeding, so you often get a productive hen with more body than a pure Leghorn.
The difficulty with Austra Whites is that hatchery lines are not all identical. One seller’s birds may differ from another’s in size, laying level, and temperament. That is why I would treat 220–280 light-colored eggs as a useful range rather than a fixed breed number.
They are worth considering if you want good egg output and do not care whether the bird breeds true from one generation to the next.
4. Barred Plymouth Rock
For a first flock, I would put the Barred Plymouth Rock high on the shortlist. You are not buying a specialist laying machine here. You are getting a sturdy American farm chicken that happens to lay well too.
They are usually calmer around people than the light Mediterranean breeds, they have enough body to feel substantial, and around 180–220 brown eggs a year is respectable for a dual-purpose hen.
Standard Plymouth Rocks are bigger than many hatchery descriptions suggest, around 9.5 pounds for males and 7.5 pounds for hens. If you have children helping with the flock, or you simply prefer birds that are easier to live with, that steady temperament can matter more than another forty eggs on paper.
5. Golden Comet
If you want brown eggs early and often, the Golden Comet is hard to ignore.
Golden Comets are red sex-link hybrids, so they are bred for practical production rather than breed standard. A good hen can give you roughly 250–300 brown eggs in a strong first laying year, and many start young.
One caution: do not assume every hatchery uses exactly the same parent cross just because the birds share the Golden Comet name. Commercial sex-link programs vary. Buy based on the hatchery’s actual line and reputation, not on one pedigree repeated across the internet.
6. Rhode Island Red
The Rhode Island Red is one of those breeds that has changed a lot depending on who bred it and why. A dark heritage-type bird from a serious breeder may look and behave differently from a production-selected red bird sold by a hatchery.
That variation also shows up in egg numbers. Roughly 200–300 brown eggs is a fair range across different strains, but do not expect every Rhode Island Red to land near the top of it.
I like them for their toughness and usefulness. Some hens are very easygoing; others have more attitude. If you are building a particularly gentle flock, pay attention to the source rather than relying on the breed name alone.
7. Speckled Sussex
The Speckled Sussex is the sort of chicken people often keep for years because she is useful without being difficult.
She is not going to compete with an ISA Brown for raw egg numbers, but around 180–250 brown eggs in a productive year is still a good return from a substantial, attractive, generally friendly bird.
They forage well and usually settle into family flocks nicely. If you want a hen that gives you eggs, personality, and a classic farmyard look, Sussex chickens make a lot of sense.
8. ISA Brown
The ISA Brown was created for egg production, and it shows. If you buy one because you want lots of brown eggs, you are buying the bird for exactly the job she was selected to do.
ISA’s own alternative-housing performance figures reach 470 eggs per hen housed from 18 to 100 weeks. Backyard life is not a commercial performance test, so do not turn that figure into a promise. It does tell you how strongly the line has been selected for laying.
With very productive hybrids, I pay close attention to body condition, calcium intake from a balanced layer ration plus free-choice calcium when appropriate, constant water access, and any sign of reproductive trouble. High output asks a lot from the hen.
9. Lohmann Brown
Lohmann Browns belong in the same conversation as ISA Browns. They are commercial layers, not a heritage breed, and the breeding program is built around steady brown-egg production.
Current Lohmann Brown Classic alternative-housing data lists 321 eggs per hen housed by 72 weeks and 412 by 90 weeks. Again, those numbers come from a defined management program. Your backyard result will move up or down with daylight, feed, stress, weather, age, and health.
If your flock is mainly there to supply eggs and you can buy genuine stock, Lohmann Browns are a very practical choice.
10. Black Star
The Black Star is another bird chosen for usefulness rather than pedigree. It is a black sex-link hybrid, commonly produced from a red male line and a barred female line.
One of the advantages is obvious at hatch: sex-linked coloring makes it easier to separate pullets from cockerels. Once grown, the hens can be strong brown-egg layers, often somewhere around 250–300 eggs in a good first year.
I would put Black Stars in the same practical category as Golden Comets. You are not choosing them to preserve a breed. You are choosing them because you want a productive hen that gets on with the job.
11. Ameraucana
If you want true blue eggs, look at the Ameraucana.
This is a standardized American breed, not a general label for every bearded chicken that lays a colored egg. A true Ameraucana should lay blue-shelled eggs and match the recognized breed characteristics.
Egg output is more moderate, often around 150–200 in a productive year. I would choose them for the combination of blue eggs, pea comb, beard and muffs, and their distinctive appearance rather than for maximum numbers.
Blue shells also do not make the eggs healthier or naturally lower in cholesterol. Inside, they are chicken eggs like the brown and white ones beside them.
12. Delaware
The Delaware came out of American poultry breeding in the 1940s, when off-colored birds appeared in crosses involving Barred Plymouth Rock roosters and New Hampshire hens.
Before modern broiler hybrids took over, Delawares were valued as useful meat-and-egg birds. That old utility still makes them attractive for a backyard flock today.
A good hen may give you around 180–220 large brown eggs a year. They are substantial without being huge, and their generally manageable temperament makes them easier to recommend than some more nervous production breeds.
13. Marans
You keep Marans because the eggs look different when you open the nest box.
Good Marans lines are known for dark reddish-brown shells. They are not extreme producers, and that is fine. Around 150–200 eggs in a strong year is a more useful expectation than trying to compare them with commercial hybrids.
Egg color can fade as a laying cycle continues, and one hen may never match the dramatic chocolate-colored photo you saw online. If dark shell color is important to you, buy from a breeder who actually selects for it.
14. Wyandotte
The Wyandotte is a useful choice when winters are cold and you still want a good-sized bird that lays a respectable number of brown eggs.
The rose comb is less exposed than a large single comb, and the breed carries enough body to handle cooler conditions well when housing is dry and draft-free. Expect roughly 180–240 eggs from a productive hen.
Because they are heavier birds, I would not make them jump down from very high roosts every morning. A comfortable perch setup matters more here than it does with a light, athletic Leghorn.
15. Ancona
The Ancona is not a big bird. It is a light, active Mediterranean-type chicken, with standard weights around 6 pounds for males and 4.5 pounds for hens.
If your setup gives chickens room to forage, Anconas can be great fun to keep. They stay busy, they are alert, and they can lay roughly 180–250 white eggs in a good year.
For a tiny backyard where you want hens that stay close and move slowly, I would choose something calmer. Anconas are better suited to a keeper who likes active birds and has secure fencing.
16. Barnevelder
Barnevelders are a nice middle-ground chicken. They are attractive, generally calm, useful around the yard, and still give you a fair supply of brown eggs.
Expect roughly 150–200 eggs a year from many backyard hens. Egg shade varies between lines, and I would not buy the breed only because somebody promised very dark shells.
If you enjoy patterned plumage and want a quieter-looking utility flock rather than a pen full of hyperactive layers, Barnevelders are worth a look.
17. Hamburg
Hamburgs are small, quick, and very active. They are the kind of chickens that make good use of space if you give them room to roam.
A hen weighs only around 4 pounds, yet she may give you roughly 180–250 white eggs in a productive year. Their light build also makes them agile.
I would not choose Hamburgs for a cramped run where they have nothing to do. They suit a larger, secure yard and a keeper who enjoys watching chickens forage rather than expecting them to stand around waiting to be picked up.
18. Easter Egger
The Easter Egger is the fun choice if you want variety more than uniformity.
It is not a standardized breed. Easter Eggers carry blue-egg genetics but can vary widely in color, comb type, beard, body size, temperament, and the shade of egg they lay.
One hen may give you blue eggs, another green, another cream or tinted eggs. Each individual hen usually keeps her own basic shell color rather than changing colors from one day to the next.
A productive Easter Egger may lay around 180–250 eggs a year. If you like opening the nest box and seeing something different from plain brown and white, they are an easy addition to a mixed flock.
19. New Hampshire
The New Hampshire came from Rhode Island Red stock, with breeders selecting birds that feathered, matured, and grew faster.
That history explains what the breed still does well: it is a practical, fast-maturing dual-purpose chicken rather than a specialist egg machine.
A hen may give you around 180–220 large brown or tinted eggs in a good year. Some lines are calm, while others are more assertive, so I would ask the breeder or hatchery about temperament if you are adding them to a very gentle flock.
Which Egg-Laying Chicken Fits Your Backyard?
If you want the most brown eggs and you are happy keeping hybrids, ISA Browns, Lohmann Browns, Golden Comets, and Black Stars are the obvious group to compare.
If you want a flock you can breed yourself, I would look at Leghorns, Rhode Island Reds, Australorps, Plymouth Rocks, Delawares, Sussex, and the other true breeds instead.
For a calm family flock, Australorps and Plymouth Rocks are hard to beat. For blue eggs, choose true Ameraucanas from a breeder who knows the breed standard. For a mixed-color basket, Easter Eggers are easier and often less expensive. For dark brown shells, Marans are the bird most people are really looking for.
And if your chickens will spend a lot of time ranging, active breeds such as Leghorns, Anconas, and Hamburgs can make excellent use of the space. In a smaller yard, a heavier and calmer breed may be much easier to manage.
Why Your Hen May Lay Fewer Eggs Than the Breed Estimate
Breed gives you potential. The rest depends on the bird and the way she is kept.
- Age: pullets usually build toward peak production, then laying gradually declines as hens get older.
- Daylight: shorter winter days can reduce laying sharply.
- Molt: many hens slow down or stop while replacing feathers.
- Feed: laying hens need a complete ration formulated for their stage of production.
- Water: running out of clean water can affect egg production surprisingly fast.
- Heat and stress: hot weather, predators, crowding, flock changes, and repeated disturbances can all reduce laying.
- Health: parasites, reproductive trouble, injury, and infectious disease can all show up as fewer eggs.
Free-ranging does not replace balanced feed. Grass, insects, seeds, and greens are useful extras, but your hens still need a complete poultry ration as the base of the diet. You can read more in our chicken feeding guide.
If a hen that was laying normally suddenly stops, do not blame the breed first. Work through age, molt, daylight, stress, feed, water, and health. Our guide to why chickens stop laying eggs covers those causes in more detail.
For the day-to-day side of production, see how many eggs a chicken can lay.
FAQs About the Best Egg-Laying Chickens
Which chicken breed lays the most eggs?
Among standardized breeds, Leghorns are one of the strongest choices for egg production. Commercial hybrids such as ISA Browns, Lohmann Browns, Golden Comets, and other sex-link layers can produce even more under good management, but they are hybrids rather than true breeds.
What is the best egg-laying chicken for beginners?
Plymouth Rocks and Australorps are excellent beginner choices because they combine useful egg production with generally calm temperaments and substantial body size. Rhode Island Reds and Sussex can also work well, depending on the strain and flock setup.
Which chickens lay blue eggs?
True Ameraucanas lay blue-shelled eggs. Easter Eggers may also lay blue or green eggs, but they are not a standardized breed and individual egg color varies with genetics.
Which chickens lay dark brown eggs?
Marans are the classic dark-brown-egg breed. Egg darkness varies by line, hen, age, and point in the laying cycle, so not every Marans egg will be equally dark throughout the year.
How many eggs can a good laying hen produce per year?
A productive backyard hen may lay roughly 180 to 300 eggs in a strong year, depending on breed or hybrid, age, daylight, nutrition, health, molt, weather, and management. Specialized commercial hybrids can exceed that under intensive management.
Do hens need a rooster to lay eggs?
No. Hens lay eggs without a rooster. A rooster is only needed if you want fertile eggs that can develop into chicks.
Final Thoughts
There is no single best laying chicken for every backyard.
If I wanted the most eggs from a small number of hens, I would look hard at a proven commercial hybrid or a strong Leghorn line. If I wanted a calmer flock that still kept the egg basket moving, I would lean toward Australorps, Plymouth Rocks, Sussex, Rhode Island Reds, or Delawares.
And if the egg basket itself is part of the enjoyment, Ameraucanas, Easter Eggers, and Marans give you blue, green, and dark brown shells that production charts cannot really capture.
Whichever birds you choose, start with healthy stock, feed them for their age and laying stage, keep clean water available, and give them a secure coop with comfortable nesting boxes. Genetics set the ceiling. Daily flock care decides how close your hens get to it.
Sources
- The Livestock Conservancy: Leghorn Chicken
- Oklahoma State University: Australorp Chickens
- The Livestock Conservancy: Plymouth Rock Chicken
- The Livestock Conservancy: Rhode Island Red
- Ameraucana Breeders Club: Breed Standard
- Ameraucana Breeders Club: Easter Egger FAQ
- The Livestock Conservancy: Delaware Chicken
- The Livestock Conservancy: New Hampshire Chicken
- Marans Chicken Club USA: Breed Description
- Oklahoma State University: Ancona Chickens
- Oklahoma State University: Hamburg Chickens
- ISA: ISA Brown Alternative-Housing Performance
- Lohmann Breeders: Lohmann Brown Classic Alternative Housing
I dont have enough money to buy Good quality feed for my Lahmann Brown Classic chicken.
I am looking at a small flock of 7 hens for backyard egg production. I was told they were “barndrop” chickens. They look like Barnevelder or Plymouth Rock breed. About 9 months old. They look good for my purpose, I realize I will see a drop in egg production.
Thanks for writing here,
I have never heard of that breed, But if they look like Barnevelder or Plymouth Rock they may be mix breed.
My guess is it’s another way of saying “barnyard mix” or whatever the barn dropped. So basically, it’s the offspring of whatever mixed flock they have running around.
Yes, right, that’s a great name, barnmix.
Mr. Kumar. Exhaustive list you’ve put up. However, how many of these are available in India and from where does one get them.
Leghorn, Plymouth Rock, Rhode Island Reds are mostly available in India because these breeds can survive in the high-temperature states and countries.
What are the chances of attracting snakes while raising chickens for egg production?
The major cause of attracting snakes is the deep smell of the litter. It is good to clean them periodically.
Also, you must keep the door of the chicken coop closed in the daytime as there is a chance, snake get inside and rest for eating your flocks at night.
Great article! Thank you for the great education on the many different types of egg laying breed of chickens.