4 Basic Types of Chicken Breeds for Your Backyard

There are limitless and infinite reasons for backyard chickens. In addition to making coop arrangements, you also need to consider the type of chicken breeds that will be most suited for you. Today, there are nearly 60 different chicken breeds that are distributed all over the planet. Moreover, the same applies to their variants that have been produced by using the different techniques and procedures of genetic engineering. For your ease, I have also included chicken breeds with pictures.

It is quite corroborated that your decision about selecting the backyard chicken breeds should be based on what you want to have out of them. There are numerous facets because of which people love to buy chicken breeds for themselves. Below I would be sharing with you all about the 4 dominant types of chicken breeds which are going to be helpful whether you plan to keep a chicken breeds for eggs or just some broiler chicken breeds . It is imperative for you to be clear in your head about the prime motive or purpose for keeping the chicken breeds. Without any further ado, here are the 4 basic types of chicken breeds.

You may like to see other types of chicken breeds such as white and black chicken breeds, heritage chicken breeds, rare chicken breeds, egg laying chicken breeds and small chicken breeds.

Egg Laying Breeds

The egg laying chicken breeds can be linked to the Mediterranean class of chickens which lived hundreds of years back. In other words, these egg laying chicken breeds trace their ancestral origins to these specific classes of breeds. Moreover, these chicken breeds are selected in lines to their genetic makeup which makes them the most optimal for the purpose of egg production. At the same time, they have small bodies due to which they are undesirable for meat production purposes. It is also due to the size of their bodies that they are able to direct all the nutriments towards the egg production, which is another reason for their increased egg production. In addition, these breeds are also classified in terms of the color of their eggs. There are those which produce white shelled eggs and the ones which lay brown colored eggs. Now here, the White Leghorns are believed to be the most prolific layers for the white eggs.  The Black and White Minorcas  and the Anconas  also lay white colour eggs.

Meat Production Breeds

The meat chicken breeds are in reality cannot be termed as pure chicken breeds after all. It is due to their hybrid nature, all because they are produced from the combination of different breeds. At the times of pairing the breeds, the genetic engineers and poultry producers prefer to obtain certain meat characteristics. Some of these breeds grow much faster in comparison to others and also come to have a larger body size. For the sake of meat production, there is no other chicken breed that can match the fast and multifaceted growth of the Cornish Cross (Including the White Cornish and Plymouth Rock). Moreover, the breeds are named after the breeding company that processed them or paired them like Peterson, Hubbard or The Arbor Acres. The prime weakness of these breeds is that they are not capable to lay some large number of eggs in comparison to the other different breeds of chicken.

Dual Purpose Breeds

The dual purpose chicken breeds include a number of American and English breeds include the Plymouth Rock, Sussex, Wyandottes, New Hampshire etc. In addition to giving a reasonable number of eggs, they are also optimal in terms of their meatiness. Although their meat production capacity is quite low in comparison to the commercial hybrid breeds, still they happen to much better for egg production.

Cold Weather Breeds

For the areas that are marked for their extremely cold weather, there are certain chicken breeds which should be preferred over all others. Moreover, it is also better to utilize a standard size chicken than the bantam chicken breeds. The breeds that do quite well in the cold weathers include Plymouth Rock, Sussex, Rhode Island Reds and some others. At the same time, you can also consult with a number of local sources and farmers in order to have a better idea about the breeds. Choosing a chicken breed can become a tough job, especially for those who happen to be rookies or novices in the domain of poultry breeding.