Ask yourself
To do what is good for both you and the chickens, start with yourself. By asking yourself a few simple but important questions. How much time are you able and willing to give? How much space do you have and what facilities do you have for breeding? And why do you want to keep chickens? For beginners, we recommend breeds that require less time and care.
For the satisfaction of you and your hens
Ideal for you to start with is a hen that is calm and within limits also obedient. You also want her to lay as many eggs as possible in a year, but not consume a lot of feed. The hen you choose should also not be susceptible to various diseases and possibly be easy to care for. Isn't there such a thing as an ideal hen? Wrong. There is, and not just one.
Leghorn
It is the most famous bred white hen in the world. If you're looking for a hard worker, this is the hen for you - she lays about 180 more white-shelled eggs a year. Originally from italy, the leghorn was bred specifically for high egg laying. At 2 kg, it is one of the lightest breeds. Its appearance is characterised by its distinctive yellow claws. Beware of flightiness, which should disappear with time. If it does not, clip the wings of your hens.
Czech golden sprinkle
Kropenka is one of the light breeds that are well suited to our climate. They are ideal for free range, where they can find their own food. This reduces their feed consumption. They are quite hardy, so they carry on in the winter, and naturally resist disease. They have a strong maternal instinct and lay around 180 eggs a year.
Plymutka
A popular breed with high performance is the plummouse. This hen is also very teachable and can find some of her own food in a large run. It lays 180-210 eggs with a light brown shell per year, also during the winter months. Children will also love it because of its calm nature.
The platypus was bred in america. In addition to the regular laying of eggs, their popularity is also due to the tenderness and juiciness of their meat. With a weight of around 2.3 - 2.9 kg, they are a medium-heavy breed, with smaller heads, long yellow legs and a wide body.
Hybrid hens
Hybrid hens have been bred from standard breeds to produce as many eggs as possible with the least amount of feed. Domestic breeding is not recommended for these breeds because of the lower laying quality of their offspring. Compared to the standard breeds, they have a higher egg laying rate (about 300 eggs per year), but it is recommended to remove them from domestic breeding at about 1.5 years of age. The classic breeds lay less (around 200 eggs per year), but you can keep them in your backyard for 3 years and breed them while maintaining egg production.
The choice of laying hybrids is very varied, both in hen colour, with red, blue or brindle being the most popular, and shell colour. Here you can also get hybrids with green, blue or dark brown eggs.
Now you just need to make the right choice, give the hen the appropriate care and then just enjoy your homemade eggs in different ways.
