Chicken breed comparison chart

Twenty-one backyard chicken breeds compared side by side on the things that actually decide which one suits you: adult weight, eggs per year, egg color, cold tolerance and broodiness. Sorted by laying rate, highest first.

The most productive layers sit at the top of that table, but egg count is rarely the only consideration. Cold tolerance matters if you have hard winters, broodiness decides whether you get chicks or a steady egg supply, and adult weight drives your feed bill. To turn any of these into real numbers for your own flock, use the feed cost calculator, the egg production calculator, or the coop size calculator.

How to choose a breed

Work through four questions in order. What is your climate, since cold tolerance and comb type rule some breeds out immediately? Do you want maximum eggs, or a calm bird your children can handle? Do you want hens that will hatch their own chicks, or hens that never stop laying to sit? And how much feed can you afford, since a large breed costs roughly four times a bantam to feed?

Answer those and the table above usually narrows to two or three candidates. For a beginner-focused shortlist, see our guide to the best egg-laying breeds for beginners.

Breed profiles

Detailed notes on nine popular breeds. The remaining twelve have their own full guides, linked from the table above.

Faverolles

Hen 6.5 lb, rooster 8 lb, 15 to 17 inches tall. About 150 to 200 light brown to tinted eggs a year. Roughly $21.19 a month to feed six.

Created in the village of Faverolles in northern France in the 1860s to supply the Paris market, which wanted a bird that would lay through winter and still produce pale, tender meat. The salmon variety is the one almost everyone keeps today.

Exceptionally gentle, to the point of being a problem. Faverolles are so unassertive that they are routinely bullied in mixed flocks and will stand back and let other breeds eat first. They do best with other calm breeds or in a flock of their own. Cold tolerance is excellent, heat tolerance fair, and it goes broody sometimes.

Beard, muffs, feathered legs and five toes all mean more places for mites and mud. Keep the run drained, check the beard for caked feed, and inspect foot feathering regularly. The extra toe is normal for this breed and needs no intervention.

It suits cold climates, gentle single-breed flocks, and families who want a genuinely docile unusual bird. It is a weaker fit for mixed flocks with assertive breeds, hot humid summers, or muddy uncovered runs.

Hamburg

Hen 4 lb, rooster 5 lb, 13 to 15 inches tall. About 200 to 225 white eggs a year. Roughly $21.19 a month to feed six.

Known in Holland and Germany for centuries and refined by English breeders, who ran competitive laying trials with them long before formal poultry standards existed. The spangled variety was nicknamed the Dutch Everyday Layer for its consistency.

Quick, alert and independent. Hamburgs are strong fliers and prefer to keep their distance, and they roost high given the chance. Not aggressive, simply not interested in human company. Cold tolerance is good, heat tolerance good, and it goes broody rarely.

A superb forager that can supply a real share of its own diet given range, which makes it one of the cheapest breeds to feed. The trade-off is containment: a Hamburg will clear most garden fences easily, so a covered run is usually necessary.

It suits free-range setups, hot or cold climates thanks to the rose comb, and keepers who want a thrifty, self-sufficient bird. It is a weaker fit for small runs, low fences, or anyone wanting a friendly, handleable chicken.

Jersey Giant

Hen 10 lb, rooster 13 lb, 20 to 26 inches tall. About 150 to 200 brown eggs a year. Roughly $28.81 a month to feed six.

Bred by John and Thomas Black in New Jersey between the 1870s and 1890s with an explicit commercial goal: replace the turkey on the American dinner table. It never quite managed that, because it grows too slowly to compete economically, but it did become the largest purebred chicken in the world.

Docile and surprisingly gentle given the mass. Jersey Giants are calm with people and rarely aggressive, though a bird this heavy can injure a small hen simply by being clumsy in a crowded coop. Cold tolerance is excellent, heat tolerance poor, and it goes broody sometimes.

Two things matter. It takes eight to nine months to reach full size, roughly twice a normal breed, so expect a long wait and a large feed bill before the first egg. And the weight means low roosts, ideally under two feet, because heavy birds landing hard develop foot problems.

It suits cold climates, keepers with space who want the largest chicken available and a good dual-purpose bird. It is a weaker fit for small coops, hot climates, or anyone in a hurry for eggs.

New Hampshire Red

Hen 6.5 lb, rooster 8.5 lb, 16 to 18 inches tall. About 200 to 240 brown eggs a year. Roughly $21.19 a month to feed six.

Developed in New Hampshire in the 1930s from Rhode Island Red stock, selected hard for early maturity and fast growth rather than for looks. Farmers wanted a bird that started laying sooner and reached table weight faster, and that is exactly what they got.

Similar to a Rhode Island Red but generally a little softer. Still competitive at the feeder and capable of pushing smaller birds around, though usually less assertive than the parent breed. Cold tolerance is good, heat tolerance good, and it goes broody sometimes.

Easy to keep, with one genuine advantage: it matures faster than most heritage breeds, so first eggs typically arrive earlier and you spend less time feeding a bird that is not yet producing.

It suits keepers who want Rhode Island Red productivity with earlier maturity and a slightly calmer bird. It is a weaker fit for mixed flocks with very timid breeds, given its competitive streak at the feeder.

Orpington

Hen 8 lb, rooster 10 lb, 15 to 17 inches tall. About 180 to 220 brown eggs a year. Roughly $21.19 a month to feed six.

Created by William Cook in Orpington, Kent, in 1886, with the specific goal of producing a bird that looked immaculate at poultry shows while still filling a Victorian dinner table. The buff variety arrived in 1894 and quickly became the version almost everyone now pictures.

The one most often described as a lap chicken, and the description is earned. Orpingtons are slow-moving, tolerant of handling, and usually the first birds to approach a visitor. They are frequently bullied by more assertive breeds, so watch mixed flocks. Cold tolerance is excellent, heat tolerance fair, and it goes broody often.

The dense, loose plumage that makes them look like feathered cushions also traps moisture and gives mites more cover than a sleek-feathered bird does. Guaranteed access to a dry dust-bathing spot matters more for this breed than most, and it is worth parting the feathers occasionally to check the skin.

It suits families with children, cold climates, and anyone who wants a calm, handleable bird and accepts fewer eggs for it. It is a weaker fit for hot humid summers, or keepers who need maximum eggs per pound of feed.

Plymouth Rock

Hen 7.5 lb, rooster 9.5 lb, 16 to 18 inches tall. About 200 to 280 brown eggs a year. Roughly $21.19 a month to feed six.

First shown in Boston in 1849, then re-established and standardised in the 1860s. Through the first half of the twentieth century the barred variety was the most widely kept chicken in America, and it fed a great many households through the Depression and both world wars.

Placid, unbothered, and hard to rattle. It neither bullies nor gets bullied much, which makes it one of the easiest breeds to slot into an existing mixed flock. Hens tolerate handling well without actively seeking it. Cold tolerance is excellent, heat tolerance good, and it goes broody occasionally.

Genuinely low-maintenance. The one thing worth watching is weight, because a Plymouth Rock will happily eat every treat offered and can tip into overweight, which suppresses laying. Keep scratch and kitchen scraps under about a tenth of the diet.

It suits first-time keepers, cold climates, and mixed flocks that need a peacekeeper. It is a weaker fit for anyone wanting an unusual-looking bird, since it is about as classic as chickens get.

Polish

Hen 4.5 lb, rooster 6 lb, 13 to 15 inches tall. About 150 to 200 white eggs a year. Roughly $21.19 a month to feed six.

Despite the name it almost certainly came from the Netherlands rather than Poland, and appears in Dutch paintings from the 1600s. The name most likely derives from the Middle Dutch word for a crown or tuft rather than the country.

Genuinely hard to predict, and most of it traces to eyesight. A Polish with a full crest cannot see above or behind it, so it startles easily and can seem skittish or nervous when it is simply surprised. Approach from the front and talk before touching and they settle considerably. Cold tolerance is fair, heat tolerance good, and it goes broody rarely.

The crest is the whole care story. It blocks vision, soaks up water, freezes in winter, and harbours mites. Many keepers trim the feathers around the eyes, which transforms the bird behaviourally. Nipple waterers beat open founts, which soak the crest every drink.

It suits keepers who want a genuinely striking ornamental bird and will accept the crest maintenance. It is a weaker fit for mixed flocks with assertive breeds, hawk-heavy free ranging, or anyone wanting steady egg numbers.

Sussex

Hen 7 lb, rooster 9 lb, 16 to 18 inches tall. About 240 to 260 cream to light brown eggs a year. Roughly $21.19 a month to feed six.

One of the oldest English breeds, with roots traced back to birds the Romans found in Britain. It was standardised in 1903 as the county of Sussex fought to keep its table-poultry trade alive against imported stock, and the speckled variety is the one most backyard keepers now buy.

Curious to the point of nosiness. Sussex hens follow keepers around the garden, investigate anything new, and are among the easiest breeds to train to a feed call. Friendly without being needy. Cold tolerance is good, heat tolerance good, and it goes broody sometimes.

An unusually good forager that genuinely reduces its own feed bill given range. The flip side is that a confined Sussex gets bored, and a bored Sussex is one of the more determined escape artists among heavy breeds.

It suits free-range setups, gardeners who want company while they work, and keepers wanting a dual-purpose bird that lays well. It is a weaker fit for small confined runs where its curiosity turns into restlessness.

Wyandotte

Hen 6.5 lb, rooster 8.5 lb, 15 to 17 inches tall. About 200 to 240 brown eggs a year. Roughly $21.19 a month to feed six.

Developed in New York and Wisconsin in the 1870s and named after the Wyandot people. The silver-laced variety came first and the breeders were explicit that they wanted a bird that could survive a northern winter outdoors while still laying, which shaped every decision about its body and comb.

Calm and self-possessed, though somewhat more reserved than an Orpington or Rock. Wyandottes tend to be middle-of-the-pecking-order birds that neither start trouble nor back down from it. Cold tolerance is excellent, heat tolerance fair, and it goes broody often.

The dense underfluff that makes it so cold-hardy works against it in damp conditions, since wet feathering next to the skin is slow to dry. A dry coop floor matters more than a warm one, and deep bedding that is actually kept dry is the single best thing you can do for this breed.

It suits genuinely cold climates, keepers who want an attractive bird that still lays well, and anyone tired of treating frostbitten combs. It is a weaker fit for hot humid regions, or anyone who wants a bird that will not go broody.