There are literally hundreds of chicken breeds to choose from when it comes to starting your first flock or adding to your existing flock! How do you choose the right breeds? Are there ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ chicken breeds? This guide for choosing chicken breeds for the homestead should give you a good handle on knowing how to pick the right breeds for creating a homestead flock! From fun to functional, to fancy, and everything in between… learn how to narrow down your options to create a homestead flock that will thrive!
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The Best Homestead Qualities
With so many chicken breeds to choose from, it only makes sense that each breed has specific qualities that makes it suited for certian purposes. There are breeds that have been created for commercial production, breeds that make good backyard pets, chicken breeds that are fancy or rare, and everything in between. Homestead chicken breeds should have special qualities too!
For me homesteading is all about self-sufficiency, going back to our roots, living off (and with) the land, and raising my animals in an ethical, natural setting. When it comes to choosing a homestead chicken breeds, or breeds, there really is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ choice. However, there are some chicken breeds that are better suited for the homestead lifestyle than others.
This guide should help you narrow out those breeds that both fit into the homestead lifestyle and meet your needs as a homestead chicken raiser! To start with the basics, these are some general qualities to look for in a good homestead chicken breed:
- meets your purpose for raising a homestead flock– whether you are raising a flock mostly for eggs, meat, or both
- are good foragers– homestead chickens do well with a free-range, forage-based lifestyle
- easy breeders– having a self-sufficient flock means your flock can easily and successfully reproduce on their own, broody hens are an asset on the homestead!
- hardy– chicken breeds with good genetics and an overall hardiness, both against weather and disease, are good to have in the homestead flock
- self-sufficient– many modern day chicken breeds are pretty far removed from their ancestors, but some degree of self-sufficiency and natural instincts are good traits to have in a homestead chicken breed
Note:
The breeds listed in this article are by no means an exhaustive list! They are just examples for the certain types or characteristics of different chicken breeds. If you have certain breeds in mind, do a little research on them to find out what type of breed they are and what special characteristics they have.
- Breed Types: egg production, meat production, fancy, dual-purpose, heritage, hybrid, rare
- Special Characteristics: cold hardy, heat tolerant, wet tolerant, personality, size, broodiness
Choosing a Breed Based on Purpose
There are three common purposes for chicken breeds: egg, meat, or fancy. Breeds that can be used for both eggs or meat are often called dual-purpose breeds. Some breeds are only developed for one purpose, other breeds can be used for multiple purposes.
Egg Production
All chickens lay eggs. However, some breeds have been bred solely for high egg production. Breeds that have been developed for egg laying purposes are best known for their high production rates. Whether they lay eggs on a daily basis, or are simply good year-round layers, production breeds will give you lots of eggs!
Good egg laying breeds are often ones who lay between 250-300 eggs per year.
- sex-link chickens (commercial hybird)
- Leghorn
- amber star (hybrid)
- golden comet (hybrid)
- goldline/Isa Brown (hybrid)
- Plymouth Rocks
- Rhode Island Reds
- Wyandotte
- Australorps
Meat Production
Not all breeds are suitable for raising for meat purposes. Breeds that don’t ‘put on the pounds’ are not economical to raise for meat. Just like with egg production breeds though, there are other chicken breeds that have been bred solely for meat production. They mature fast, muscle out, and provide a meaty carcass.
- cornish crosses (hybrids)
- freedom rangers/red rangers (hybrid, used for both meat and eggs)
- Jersey Giants
- Bresse
- Orpington
- Buckeye
- Naked Neck/Turken
Fancy Chickens
Fancy chicken breeds are the wild card in the poultry deck! These breeds have been developed for their showy looks and unique characteristics. They still lay eggs, but not at rates that you can rely on. As for meat, one look at these fancy birds would tell you they wouldn’t look good on your dinner table!
- Silkie
- Polish
- Frizzle
- bantams- Serama, Belgian Bearded d’Uccle, Sebright, ect…
- Apenzeller
- Houdan
- Onagadori
- Redcap
Dual-Purpose Breeds
Of course, there are many chicken breeds that fall into two or all three of those catagories. Those breeds are called dual-purpose breeds. Dual-purpose breeds are good egg layers but can also be raised out for meat purposes too. Some dual-purpose breeds are also fancy, making them fun to look at and functional to raise!
- Australorp
- Orpington
- Wyandotte
- Dominique
- Plymouth Rock
- Chantecler
- Brahma
- Buckeye
Considering Breed Genetics
Don’t worry, it’s not as scary as it sounds! When I say consider breed genetics, I’m simply referring to the genetic history of the breeds you are considering. Aside from classifying breeds based on their purpose, chicken breeds can also be classified as heritage, hybrid, or rare.
Heritage Breeds
Chickens were first introduced to American by the Spanish. Since then, many hundreds of ‘breeds’ have been developed. The American Poultry Association was created in 1873 and started classifying and catagorizing select breeds. These breeds were hardy, had longevity, good genetics, and were reproductively successful at creating more of the same kind of breed.
A chicken breed can be considered heritage as long as it meets these criteria:
- has an APA standard– genetic line has been documented for multiple generations and individuals have traits that meet the standard set by the APA
- naturally mating– can reproduce individuals of their same breed through natural mating processes
- have a long, productive outdoor lifespan– breeding hens should be productive for 5-7 years and breeding cocks should be productive for 3-5 years
- slow growth rate– the breed should have an average to slow growth rate that allows it to properly mature, individuals should reach market weight no sooner than 16 weeks of age
Many heritage chicken breeds are considered dual-purpose breeds. They are good egg layers that can be raised for meat as well. They are also genetically diverse, which allows the breed to be adaptable according to environmental pressures. Heritage chicken breeds would have been what the early pioneers rasied.
- Orpingtons
- Australorps
- New Hampshire Reds
- Rhode Island Reds
- Plymouth Rocks
- Delaware
- Jersey Giants
- Andalusian
- Minorca
- Dorking
- Favorelle
For more breeds, check out this list from the Livestock Conservancy.
Hybrid Breeds
In contrast to heritage chicken breeds, hybrid chicken breeds were introduced when poultry raising became industrialized. Breeds were developed for the specific purpose of laying eggs or for growing into meat birds. Many hybrid chicken breeds are crosses between different heritage breeds and cannot be interbred with each other to create more of the same hybrid.
Hybrid egg layers are the best egg production chicken breeds. They are bred to lay lots of eggs on a consistent basis. The sacrifice for this high egg prodiction is a less hardy genetic makeup and a shorter lifespan. Many hybrid egg laying breeds only have an excellent laying lifespan of 2-3 years. They are also more prone to reproductive diseases and cancer.
- freedom ranger (eggs and meat)
- red star/red sex link
- golden comet
- black star/black sex link
- Isa browns
Hybrid meat breeds are the best breeds for raising for meat. They grow very fast, put on muscle efficiently, and often have less feathers to make plucking carcasses easier. Many hybrid meat breeds cannot mate naturally because of their heavy weight. Their rapid growth also means their cardiovascular muscles don’t mature correctly and their bone structure is weak. Hybrid meat breeds are usually ready for the market as soon as 6-8 weeks of age.
- freedom rangers/red rangers
- cornish crosses (fastest maturing)
Rare Breeds
Rare chicken breeds are breeds whose genetic pool is shrinking. Many rare breeds feature unique characteristics, other rare breeds are made rare simply because there was not enough interest in them at one point in time. Commercialized hybrid breeds have pushed many heritage chicken breeds to a rare or endangered status.
Rare chicken breeds will be country specific. Breeds that are rare in one country may not be rare in another country. In the United States, rare chicken breeds are often breeds that have been developed in another country and are just being introduced to the States. However, there are some heritage chicken breeds that could be considered rare because not enough breeders are preserving the genetic line.
- Svart Hona
- Ayam Cemani
- Dong Tao
- Brabanter
- Breda
- Scots Dumpy
- Burmese
- Malay
Regional Breed Considerations
Where you live and what seasonal weather your region experiences will determine what breeds of chickens you should get for your homestead. Chicken breeds can be classified as cold hardy, heat tolerant, or a little bit of both. Most breeds cannot be both very cold hardy and heat tolerant at the same time because certain physical characteristics make them one or the other.
Cold Hardy Breeds
Cold hardy chicken breeds do well in cold weather. While most chickens do well with temperatures that are in the 50’s, cold hardy chicken breeds are bred for colder temperatures. Physical characteristics such as more feathers, smaller combs, and feathered legs help equip certain chicken breeds for dealing with cold weather. They will be less likely to experience cold stress as soon as other chicken breeds and are less prone to frostbite.
Cold hardy chicken breeds are often heavy breeds with lots of body mass to help them stay warm. Many cold hardy breeds come from the American and Asiatic classes of APA recongized breeds. Heritage breeds tend to be more cold hardy than hybrid breeds because they are able to adapt to their climate easier.
- Orpingtons
- Australorps
- Java
- Sussex
- Buckeye
- Plymouth Rocks
- Cochin
- Brahma
- Ameraucana
Heat Tolerant Breeds
Heat tolerant breeds are chicken breeds that do well in warm climates with higher temperatures. In general, chickens don’t thrive as well in hot climates, however, some breeds are better equiped to handle the warmer temperatures than others. Physical characterstics such as large combs and wattles and feathers that aren’t as dense enable chickens to be more heat tolerant.
Heat tolerant chicken breeds tend to be smaller, lighter breeds that come from the Mediterranean or Continental classes of APA recognized breeds. Again, heritage chicken breeds will be more heat tolerant than hybrid breeds because of adaptability. However, hybrid chicken breeds usually do better in warmer climates versus cold climates.
- Leghorns
- Minorca
- Catalina
- Welsummer
- Campine
- Penedesenca
- Plymouth Rock
- Andalusian
- Sumatra
Wet Tolerant Breeds
Aside from heat tolerant or cold hardy, another regional factor to consider is wet tolerance. While wet tolerance is not an actual rating for breeds (it’s something I made up), I definitely think it is something to consider when choosing homestead chicken breeds.
Wet tolerant breeds are chicken breeds that do well on climates that are damp or wet. While there aren’t really any physical characteristics that makes one chicken breed more wet tolerant than another, there are some things to consider. Breeds with feathered feet or shanks won’t stay as clean in wet environments. Breeds with dense feathers will have to be kept as dry as possible since dense feathers won’t dry quickly.
In general, breeds that are disease resistant and hardy do better in wet climates. They often can build up immunity to the host of diseases and bacteria that thrive in wet regions.
- Egyptian Fayoumi
- Leghorn
- Buckeye
- Bielefelder
- Java
Chicken Breeds & Personality
You will also want to consider personality when choosing homestead chicken breeds. Chicken breed personality choices will be based off of personal preferances. Keep in mind that breed personalities vary between individual birds. There are ‘wild cards’ in every breed no matter how good the breeding is!
Certain breeds have a reputation for certain personalities. Genetics and breeding does play a role in personality, but so does handling and husbandry as the birds are raised at a young age. Here are a few breeds that have personality reputations:
- Friendly Breeds: Orpingtons, Sussex, Australorps
- Docile Breeds: Cochin, Plymouth Rocks, Brahmas, Ameraucanas
- Assertive Breeds: Plymouth Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, game bantams, Ameraucanas (certain individuals), sex links, Leghorns
- Flighty Breeds: Leghorns, Polish, Penedesenca, Catalana, Hamburg, Sebright
Heritage breeds will be more likely to have consistent personalities since they have not been overbred. When birds are selected for production reasons, other characteristics such as personality, are often ignored.
With that being said, each individual chicken will have its own personality no matter what its breed or breeding history is. Some personality traits to consider for homestead chicken breeds include:
- docile/tame– breeds that tend to be docile and tame are always nice to have in the homestead flock
- friendly– you may choose breeds that are especially known for their friendliness if you have young modern pioneers in your family
- protectiveness– some degree of protectiveness is good to have in a homestead flock as they will be foraging and free-ranging
- flightyness– in general, try to stay away from flighty breeds who may scare and scatter easily
Notes to Consider
Aside from those main considerations, there are a few other factors to evaluate when choosing the right breed, or breeds, to include in your homestead flock.
Size Accommodations
How big your homestead coop is and the amount of space you have on your homestead for chickens will play a role in what breeds you choose and how big you start homestead flock. Of course, there’s always room for expansion (chicken math is real!), but starting within your means is essential for raising your flock ethically and naturally.
Large chicken breeds will need more space, eat more food, need lower perches, and will drink more water. Lighter chicken breeds will be more active, so they still need plenty of foraging space, but coop space needs will be less. They also like higher roosts.
Bantam chicken breeds are small and take up minimal space! However, they aren’t usually raised for meat and they don’t tend to be the best layers. They are cute to have around the homestead though! Like any miniature version of animal, their attitude is bigger than they are!
Weather Needs
If you do choose a breed because you like its personality or production purpose, but it doesn’t fit well with your regions weather, you will have to consider special weather needs. While raising heat tolerant breeds in a cold region is possible, they will need a little more winter time maintenance and care. The same goes for raising cold hardy breeds in a warm region.
Flock Dynamics
A lot of homesteaders like to raise a mixed flock. A mixed flock is a flock that is made up of several different chicken breeds. When choosing breeds to start a mixed flock, you will want to consider each breeds personality. Certain breeds are known to be bullies, or aggressively dominant, towards docile breeds. It is only natural for every flock to have a hierarchy system, but you want to avoid excessive bullying and feather picking in the homestead flock.
One thing to keep in mind is that chickens aren’t good at accepting differences. A bird of a different color, appearance, or size will often get picked on by other flock members. A single bird with a crest or muffs may get its feathers pulled out by other curious or aggressive flock members. Here are some tips for keeping a mixed flock:
- Safety in Numbers– having several birds of each breed will make it less likely for one individual to be singled out and picked on
- Raise Them Together– raising the different breeds all together will make birds more accepting of each other and any differences
- Personality Pairings– choose a good mix of dominant and submissive breeds to prevent excessive bullying
- Pecking Order– every flock will establish a pecking order, with the most submissive breeds being at the bottom, just make sure no bullying is going on
Broodiness
Broodiness is a natural instinct. Most heritage breeds will go broody if encouraged. However, certain breeds are more prone to broodiness than others. Having a broody hen on the homestead can be beneficial for raising a self-sufficient flock. Broody hens will hatch and raise chicks which can help naturally add to flock numbers.
- Silkies
- Buff Orpingtons
- Cochin
- Svart Hona
Conservation
You may also consider choosing breeds for the homestead flock for the purpose of conserving certain breeds. There are many heritage and rare chicken breeds that need genetic preserving and conserving. If you are up to learning the basics of breeding to conserve genetics, then choosing an endangered or rare chicken breed may be a good choice for your homestead!
Keep in mind that you aren’t just ‘breeding’ these birds. You will want to pay special attention to genetics, quality, and standards (if the breed has one) in order to better the breed and preserve only good genetics.
Choosing the Right Breed(s) for Your Homestead
Phew! That’s a lot to consider when choosing breeds for a homestead flock! Whether you decide to focus on one breed or create a mixed flock (or do both), knowing what breeds will be the right for your homestead is important. Choosing the right breeds for your homestead can make flock care easier. The breeds will also be more likely to thrive when matched to the right homestead circumstances!
Here are some tips for narrowing down your chicken breed choices!
Purpose:
If you’re mostly raising a homestead flock for eggs, choose heritage breeds. If you are seriously considering getting into selling eggs, you may also want to invest in some hybrid egg layers.
Maybe you want to raise chickens for meat on the homestead. Consider some heritage breeds that especially make good meat birds. If you are just getting started with raising meat birds, you may opt for hybrid broilers since they grow faster and you are less likely to get attached to them!
For both meat and eggs, choose heritage breeds! Raise a flock of heritage breeds as a laying flock and cull out any extra males to raise as meat birds. Or simply raise a meat flock and an egg laying flock. Choose heritage breeds that are best suited for each purpose.
Genetics:
I highly recommend you stick to heritage or rare chicken breeds for the homestead flock. Not only are you helping conserve the heritage breeds by showing interest in them, but they will also be a wonderful asset to your homestead flock. They tend to be more adaptable, hardier, and live longer lives than hybrid breeds.
By choosing heritage breeds you are also getting birds who will be more likely to display instinctual behaviours such as foraging for their food, brooding and raising chicks, and roosters who protect their flocks.
Rare breeds may be slightly harder to raise since some rare breeds have a narrow gene pool and may need special care.
Region:
If you homestead in northern regions, with cold temperatures and lots of snow, choose cold hardy breeds. If you homestead in southern regions, or an area where the temperatures get hot, choose heat tolerant breeds. Also consider how wet your region gets and how adaptable the breeds you choose are to wet environments.
Heritage cold hardy breeds will be good winter time layers and less prone to cold stress or frostbite. Heritage heat tolerant breeds will be good summer layers and will be able to handle warm temperatures better.
Check out these other regional chicken keeping considerations that might play a role in what breeds you choose!
Personality:
Choose homestead breeds that are naturally calm but have some degrees of protectiveness. Heritage breeds often display good personalities for the homestead. If you want a few pets chickens in your homestead flock, choose a few breeds who are known to be friendly and who may bond with their keepers.
I did some reviews on a few breeds that I raised for showing in 4-H, you can find my evaluation of each breed in this Show Chicken Breed Reviews article!
Other:
Choose breeds that will be suitable for your homestead coop. Only get as many birds as your coop can comfortably accommodate. I know it may be tempting to get a little bit of every breed, but try to keep your flock numbers down to what your homestead can naturally handle.
When choosing breeds for a mixed flock, try to combine a good mixture of dominent and submissive breeds. Try to keep the numbers from each breed about even and raise them all together.
Lastly, if you want to get into breeding, choose some endangered or rare breeds! Having those special birds on your homestead will be an adventure! Keep in mind that learning to breed and improve genetics will take time and effort. But it is a fun addition to raising a homestead flock!
This guide for choosing chicken breeds for the homestead should help you find the perfect chicken breeds for your homestead flock! Whether you are adding to your existing flock or starting a flock from scratch, choosing the right breeds is important. Considering each breeds purpose, weather hardiness, genetic history, and personality are all important when narrowing down your options. Homestead chicken breeds should be hardy, region appropriate, have self-sufficient instincts, and be a good match for you!
We love sharing all our tips for raising chickens naturally and sustainably with our modern pioneer newsletter community, so make sure you join us on this pioneer journey of raising homestead chickens!
by Alexa
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