What breeds of laying hens exist

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If you plan to engage in animal husbandry or breeding poultry, then you definitely need to start with chicken. The fact is that this poultry is considered truly one of the most unpretentious and easy to care for.

Species and breeds of laying hens

It should be said that chicken is a universal source of food for yourself, as well as a stable source of profit. The chicken regularly lays eggs, and tender dietary meat is also eaten. Down and feathers are not thrown away either: they serve as an excellent natural filling for pillows, mattresses and blankets. Thus, it becomes obvious that keeping chickens is beneficial.

What breeds of laying hens are used most often? The most popular are the following:

• Leghorn;
• Loman Brown;
• Kuchinskaya;
• Hisex;
• Island and others.

General description of egg direction chickens

In the catalog of laying hens breeds there are many varieties that differ in appearance, as well as in performance. But, despite these differences, all representatives can be characterized by several common properties. For example, it should be said that absolutely all laying hens are lightweight. Usually their weight does not exceed 2-2.3 kg. For this reason, all birds have a not too heavy skeleton.

The fact is that the laying hens were bred for only one purpose: to obtain high-quality large eggs. For this reason, it is not customary to pay attention to meat characteristics.

Laying hens are bred to produce large eggs

These poultry become sexually mature rather quickly and develop rapidly. Usually by 130 days of life, they reach a maximum in growth, the first clutch of eggs occurs already on 120 days.

There is one feature that unites representatives of all individuals that belong to the breed of laying hens. This is the appearance. All birds have bright plumage, while their wings and tail are lush and oversized, this can be seen in the photo and video. The ridge located on the head often has 7 teeth, and its color may differ depending on the breed.

Description of the breed Lohman Brown

Loman Brown French laying hens are distinguished by good egg production. If we take a calendar year for the reference period, you can get about 3 hundred eggs from one female, sometimes this figure is somewhat higher. The choice of this breed will, in any case, make it possible to obtain large egg yields.

Lohman Brown chicken

It should also be said that this type of breed is characterized by a rather long laying period, which lasts about 75 weeks, which makes it extremely profitable to breed birds. As for sexual maturity, the bird reaches it already on the 130th day of life. Compared to other poultry, this is quite small.

The characteristics of a chicken egg of this breed of laying hens are as follows: the mass of one egg is usually 60-65 g, and the color of the shell is light brown. After the end of the active period of laying, there is a pause, and all indicators go down. Of course, for a farmer, such a downtime is simply unacceptable, so usually chickens are slaughtered at this time.

Speaking about the Loman Brown breed, one cannot fail to mention such an important characteristic as the percentage of survival of chicks. In the described breed, this indicator can be attributed to a record, because it is almost 100%.

Description of the Leghorn chicken breed

The German Leghorn chicken is not much inferior to Loman Brown, their description is similar. In Russian farms and farms, you can most often find white (silver) or red (less often - red) Leghorns.

Leghorn chicken

Whereas the previous domestic breed reaches sexual maturity at 135 days, here it happens a little later, at about 21 weeks. If all the conditions for normal life have been created, then the chicken can lay up to 270 eggs per year.

Unlike the previous type of laying hens, the eggs of these birds are white even on their sides, their weight is also slightly less, about 57 g on average. The best performance is observed in the breed in the first year of life, after which the performance characteristics drop sharply.

Description of the Kuchin breed

This variety differs in that it takes root equally well in different climatic conditions. This is extremely important and convenient for the farmer. A distinctive feature of the breed is a bright red color with black tan and a bright red large comb.

Chicken of Kurchinsky breed

Usually, the first clutch of eggs occurs at the age of 4-5 months, while you should not expect more than 180 eggs per year, this is the maximum figure that farmers have managed to achieve.

In the literature, there are references to champions among this breed. So, one chicken laid about 200 eggs in a year, but in practice this is almost impossible to achieve. Chickens with the name Kuchin Anniversary They lay not very large eggs, the weight of which is approximately 60 g, while the color of the shell is light brown. This breed is most widespread in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus and other former USSR countries. At the same time, silver individuals are popular.

Description of the Hisex breed

This productive breed of laying hens belongs to the new hybrid, for its breeding the super-white Leghorn was taken as a basis, the breeding and maintenance of which was originally carried out in Russia. This bird has striking external differences from other chickens. The most memorable is the shape of the comb, it resembles a leaf, and one cannot but pay attention to the weight of the bird, such chickens weigh about 5 kg.

Hisex chicken

If we take the average indicators, then the white chicken rushes for about 8 tens of weeks, after which there is a lull. The bird brings a large number of eggs per year, sometimes more than 300.

It is noted that the eggs of Hisex laying hens are large, there are no eggs less than 60 g, while the shell is white. poultry farmers note that these eggs contain a low percentage of cholesterol, which makes them an ideal dietary food. For this reason, many prefer birds of this particular productive breed, and in the rating of the best breeding in the egg direction, they consistently occupy the first line.

Description of the breed of chickens Russian White

Russian white chickens were bred in Russia, which is clear from the name. The plumage of the bird is dominated by white color, although until the moment of sexual maturity the chickens are covered with a characteristic yellow fluff, this can be clearly seen in photographs and videos. The head of this type of chickens is small, a distinctive feature is a yellow beak. The body is quite powerful and elongated, which is characteristic of many breeds.

It is worth saying that the Russian whites were bred specifically for the harsh climatic conditions of Russia.Such birds will adapt better to cold weather and, accordingly, get sick less.

As for the characteristics of egg production, the Russian white can bring about two hundred eggs in one calendar year, while the weight of one egg is about 53 grams, and the shell is painted white.

Characteristics of the breed Isa Brown

Let's move on to the description of the Isa Brown breed, which occupies a confident place in the ranking of the best laying hens. Like the previous breed, Isa Brown perfectly adapts to a variety of climatic conditions, which makes her keeping and breeding as comfortable as possible. The breed originated in France, where the best breeders of the country worked on its creation, after which it successfully took root in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus and other countries.

Isa Brown chicken breed

For one calendar year of keeping, representatives of Isa Brown can give about 300 eggs, the color of their shell is brown. One egg weighs about 60 g and looks large enough. The first clutch may appear as early as the end of the third month. If a keep birds in cages, you need to count on the fact that each individual will consume about 120 g of feed.

Tetra breed

This type of laying hens does not differ in special sizes, their body size is average. A distinctive feature of Tetra laying hens lies in the original form of the comb, it takes the form of a leaf by nature. At the same time, chickens have a powerful hard beak, a relatively short tail, short legs that are yellow in color.

Tetra chicken

Only for the first year of keeping, the total number of eggs in clutches can be more than 240 pieces. It should be said that this breed is characterized by the fact that it begins to lay eggs very early, already at 20-2 weeks of life.

Breed of egg direction Minorca

The breed received such an unusual name due to its origin, because the work on its selection was carried out on the island of Minorca. Further, the improvement of the breed took place already in England, after which the chickens won world fame.

Minorca chicken

The maximum number of eggs clutches occur starting from the 5th month of life of birds, usually this number does not exceed 170 pieces. The eggshell has a white tint; the weight of each egg is usually about 50 g.

Description of the breed Rhode Island

The birds have several distinctive features, the first of which is the comb, which is colored pink, while the bird has a wide-set chest and a powerful body. The rest of the physique of the laying hen is no different from other breeds from the catalog.

Rhode Island chicken

Separately, it is worth mentioning that Rhode Island chickens have an unusual color, which distinguishes them from other layers. The feather is brown, reddish at the root, and darker at the tips, close to burgundy or dark red. It is by this dark tip that they determine how thoroughbred and purebred the birds are.

A unique characteristic of the Rhode Island breed is the presence of a golden gene, thanks to which you can easily distinguish males from females. Chickens have a characteristic spot on the back of their heads, which indicates the sex of the bird. In the first year of a laying hen's life, you can get about 200 eggs, which are colored brown and weigh about 60 g.

Breed New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a layer breed obtained from breeding work from Rhode Island. The daughter breed differs in color, while the breeders have managed to improve many characteristics and properties. Now representatives of the New Hampshire breed can begin to lay as early as 3 months, the weight of one egg is approximately 70 g, the color is brown.

New Hampshire chicken

In addition to good egg production, birds also adapt well to different climatic conditions, this is a positive characteristic for any novice and experienced farmer.

It is worth saying that the nature of these birds is calm, they can be safely populated into cages as a home with other birds, without fear of fights during breeding and keeping. Another distinctive feature of this breed is that chickens New Hampshire large, weigh at least 3 kg, because of this, the price for them is high.

Conclusion

There are a lot of varieties of chickens in the egg direction, which one is better, each poultry breeder must decide for himself, based on personal preferences. In any case, the choice will have to be made by the farmer.