Did you know chickens can lay eggs that are white, pink, tan, blue, green, yellow, or brown? They have their very own baby rainbow! But individual hens can only produce one color, so all her eggs would be blue or green or brown. The color of the shell doesn’t change the taste, they’re all the same. For preference, let’s discover the best chicken breeds that lay white eggs.
Best Chicken Breeds Lays White Eggs
1. White Silkie Bantam
As its name suggests, the White Silkie Bantam has a small body and silky white feathers. But its face is black with blue ears. This elegant bird is a slow layer with only 3 or so eggs a week. The eggs are typically white or cream in color, and like the hen, they’re on the smaller side.
2. White Leghorn
Feather coloring has nothing to do with eggshell colors. But in the case of White Leghorns, both the chicken and the egg are gleaming white. And while most Leghorns lay white eggs, the White Leghorn is among the most prolific and popular, producing over 280 eggs a year.
3. White Faced Black Spanish
This chicken breed has an arresting appearance for several reasons. It’s a big breed, with 8lb males and 6lb females. It has a glossy black body, a long white face, and a ruby-red comb. It’s considered the oldest Mediterranean chicken breed but takes a long time to reach its full size. (Sources: CoolChickenBreeds)
4. Sumatra
Sumatra chickens have a curious history. They were initially imported from Sumatra for cock fights. But their gorgeous tails and graceful plumage turned them into show birds. They have blue, black, or glossy-green feathers, but can only lay about a hundred white eggs every year.
5. Sultan
Sultan chickens have a shaggy lion-like mane, a red face, five toes, and feathered feet. Back in Turkey, tons of them free-ranged in the Ottoman Palace of the Sultan. The white variety is the commonest, but they also come in blue and black. They only lay around 50 eggs a year.
6. Silver Phoenix
Peacocks aren’t the only birds with glorious tails … check out the Silver Phoenix! It has a cream or white front end and a black back half. And while they’re miniature chickens, those tails can reach 5 feet! They’re tame and great with kids, but they barely lay 50 eggs per year.
7. Redcap
Redcaps have a vivid rose comb that looks a lot like a cap, hence their name. They’re equally good for meat and eggs and are originally from Pennine and Derbyshire, UK. These birds have black-and-brown feathers and lay 200 eggs a year. Their wild nature prefers free range.
8. Polish Chickens
The ‘big hair’ look on a chicken is called a crest, and Polish chickens often have a white crest on a black body. They can also be all-white or have reddish-brown bodies. Their calm, gentle temperament is ideal for petting and cuddling, but they only lay 2 to 4 white eggs in a week.
9. Norwegian Jaerhon
This chicken breed is hard to spell and harder to pronounce. But it’s among the best chicken breeds that lay white eggs, producing around 220 per year. Since it comes from Norway, it thrives in wintry conditions. It’s an auto-sexed breed i.e. its chicks hatch in gendered colours.
10. Minorca
The Minorca chicken (Menorquina in Spanish) comes in black, white, and buff variants. On its home island, it’s endangered, but around the world, it’s a top show bird. This breed has soft feathers, a rose comb, and is mostly ornamental since it barely lays 120 eggs per year.
11. Lakenvelder
Lakenvelder chickens – just like Lakenvelder cows – have a black head and rear framing a white midsection. This bookend breed is both beautiful and bountiful, laying over 150 white eggs a year. They’re dual chickens kept for eggs and meat, with cute black-and-white chicks.
12. La Flèche
Here’s a fancy chicken breed that was once endangered. It nearly died out in the 60s and 70s, and by 2011, rescue projects focused on preserving its lineage. It’s a French bird that does well in both meat and egg spaces, with its black plumage, white wattle, and V-shaped comb.
13. Houdan
Let’s look at another crested chicken. This time, it’s the speckled or mottled Houdan with its black-and-white spatter of plumage. It comes from Houdan in France and can lay 150 to 230 eggs per year. The eggs are large and white so it’s a favored hen for your bed-and-breakfast.
14. Hamburg aka Everlayer
In Germany, a Hamburger isn’t just beef in a bun. It’s also the local name for a chicken breed known as Hamburg in English-speaking countries. Even more confusing, it’s a Dutch breed originally from Holland! This polka-dotted Dalmatian-styled hen lays 120 to 225 eggs a year.
15. Egyptian Fayoumi
Fayoumi chickens have allegedly been raised for centuries along the banks of the Nile. They have a barred black-and-white body, a white head, and can lay 150 eggs per year. The hens mature at 16 weeks and start laying eggs described as tinted, off-white, or cream-colored.
16. Catalana
Catalan time can be brain-breaking to non-natives, but the Catalana chicken is far easier to comprehend. It has a decent-sized body so it’s kept for both meat and eggs, producing about 150 eggs a year. The breed is sometimes called Prat or El Prat and bears a six-pointed comb.
17. Campine
When you’re describing livestock colors, silver often means white and gold is bright brown. Hence Gold and Silver Campines whose single-toned heads blend into a black barred body. They lay 140 to 200 white medium-sized eggs every year and have energetic personalities.
18. Buttercup
Buttercup chickens were first bred in Sicily, where their distinct combs made them instantly recognizable. The comb is twin shaped, has multiple points, and merges at the beak and the back of the head. The breed lays around 180 eggs every year and its color is in high demand.
19. California
Let’s start with some quick math. White Leghorn Hen + Barred Plymouth Rock Rooster = California Grey. Similarly, White Leghorn Hen + California Grey Rooster = California White. Both are among the best chicken breeds that lay white eggs, producing over 300 eggs a year.
20. Black Tail Buff Japanese Bantam
In chickens, buff is a light shade of brown and bantam is a miniature chicken. The Japanese Bantam breed is known for its large, vertical tail and vivid color variation. Hens lay about 75 eggs a year. They include Black Tail White Japanese and Black Tail Buff Japanese breeds.
21. Black Breasted Red Old English Bantam
Most people call this breed the BB for short. And it’s probably the image that comes to mind when you think of the stereotypical rooster. Its neck and back are reddish-brown while its chest is a bluish-black and its tail is a greenish-black. BB Bantam hens lay 120 eggs a year.
22. Barred Holland
Earlier, we looked at the Hamburg chicken from Holland. In the Netherlands, that polka dot bird is known as the Holland Hoes while this striped one is referred to as the Barred Holland – that’s their main difference. And this dual-purpose chicken can lay up to 240 eggs per year.
23. Appenzeller Spitzhauben
Apart from its remarkable name, this bird breed has another special feature – it can lay eggs in winter! Most other chickens molt for 8 to 16 weeks starting in the fall and rarely produce during snowy months. But this bird originates in the Swiss Alps. Extreme weather is normal.
24. Andalusian
Here’s another breed that can lay eggs in winter. But because it’s not a daily layer, it totals 160 to 200 white eggs a year. These medium to large bright white eggs are ideal for the US market. Chickens can be black, white, or blue, which is a slate grey gradient laced with black.
25. Ancona
Let’s finish with a bird that was spawned in Italy but perfected in England. A third of its feathers have white V-shaped tips, giving it a speckled appearance. But its main body color can be black, blue, chestnut, or red. Ancona hens lay 220 eggs a year and their combs droop.
Molting Matters in Chickens
Generally speaking, a hen can live up to 12 years, laying an egg every day for the first 5 or 6 years of her life. As she gets older, she lays every other day or maybe twice a week until she eventually stops. On commercial farms, hens are kept for 2 or so years before they’re culled, meaning they’re slaughtered for meat. But most hens stop laying eggs while they’re molting.
This annual interval starts in the fall and can last 2 to 4 months. She sheds her feathers and grows newer, healthier ones. During this period, all her energy is focused on developing her feathers so she has nothing left for egg production. Novice farmers might cull a molting hen since she seems sick and barren, but just give her time – she’ll get her fluffy back in 16 weeks.
Do you know any other chicken breed that lay white eggs? Tell us about it in the comments!
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