Choosing the Chicken Breed

People raise chickens for a variety of reasons. Some want them for their eggs, their meat or both, others for exhibition and there are also those who care to preserve them, especially those breeds that are in danger of extinction. No matter what your reasons are, you have to be sure that you pick the right breed so that you will get the optimum results from your efforts.

For Eggs: If you are into poultry for this main reason, your best bets for breeds are the different varieties of Leghorns, Minorca, Ancona and Andalusian if you are opting for white eggs; while you can choose among Australorp, Red Sex Links and Golden Comets for brown eggs. Another way of determining the color that a specific type produces is by looking at the earlobes; if they are white the eggs are white, if red, they are most likely to produce brown.

For Meat: Although all of them can provide meat, if it is for business, it is better to look for those that can give immediate returns. For this particular purpose, you may opt for Brahma, Jersey Giant and Cornish but if you want the best of them, you better go for the cross between White Cornish and White Plymouth Rock, also known as the Cornish Cross. This particular breed can reach 4 to 5 pounds in just a matter of 6 weeks.

For Egg and Meat: Dual purpose breeds include Sussex, Plymouth Rocks, Wyandottes, Rhode Island Red and New Hampshire. This group produces just a fair quantity of eggs and only grows to a moderate size, basically enough for personal consumption.

For Exhibition: Some people want chickens for pet and though this batch are inclined to be raised for such, their meat are also edible and a number of them also produces eggs, although not that much. A few example of would be Ameraucana and Araucana, which lay blue eggs; Phoenix and Sumatra, hich are characterized by their long tails; Polish, Faverolle, Old English Game and Modern Game.

For Preservation: Due to abuse and other inevitable factors, some species of chickens are in danger of extinction so some people step up to preserve them; Lakenvelder, Langshan and Dorking are just three of the many that are threatened of complete eradication if no actions are taken.

Depending on what you really hope to achieve, there are many types that you can choose from. Thus, it is necessary that you are able to identify your goal early so that you will not go wasting your time on breeds that will not give the outcome that you are aiming for.

Kenny Oliver has been into poultry raising for more than 20 years now and have mastered the strategies and techniques in raising healthy chickens. Visit his website at http://mychickencoopplans.org/ to get free information and pieces of advice on this endeavor to begin your own project today.