Monday, April 9, 2012

Picking Chicken Breeds

I thought I’d take a minute and respond to the wave of (imaginary) emails I've received about how I select chicken breeds for my backyard flock. Here is a great chart that lists all of the most common chicken breeds and egg colors for each. My advice is to simply vary your egg layer colors so that you can keep track of who is putting out, and who is not. You have to earn your keep around here!


For example, here is what I picked out for my current flock:

1. Cuckoo Marans - dark brown/chocolate
2. Silver Laced Wyandotte - brown
3. Amercauna - blue/blue green
4. Silver Grey Dorking - creamy white


My advice is based purely on egg color and is not considering other factors that may be important to you, such as friendliness and body style. You may need to adjust your formula for selection based on what is most important for your needs. One thing I can say with certainty is that even if you select the wrong breed, it will still taste delicious if you slap that bird on the grill and cover it with Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce.



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