Chicken Breeds

Compare every chicken breed we offer for 2027 by egg color, laying rate and personality. Whether you want a basket of blue and chocolate eggs, a calm bird your kids can hold, or a hardy hen for Mid-Atlantic winters, this page helps you find the right fit. Click any breed to see photos, hatch dates and prices.

Not sure where to start? Take our Chicken Breed Finder Quiz, see the chicken egg color chart, or read the best beginner-friendly chicken breeds.

Shop by egg color: Brown | Dark brown and chocolate | Blue, green and olive | White

Breed guides

Blue egg layers

BBS Ameraucana: 150–200 eggs a year, calm, cold hardy, beards and muffs
Cream Legbar: 180–200 eggs a year, active layer with a crest
Easter Egger: about 240 eggs a year, blue or green eggs, beginner friendly
Arctic Blue Egger: about 240 eggs a year, beginner friendly

Green and olive egg layers

Olive Egger: about 200 eggs a year, large olive eggs
Onyx Olive Egger: about 200 eggs a year, deep olive eggs
Blue Olive Egger: about 200 eggs a year, soft blue feathers
Seafoam Egger: seafoam green eggs

Dark brown and chocolate egg layers

French Black Copper Marans: 150–200 eggs a year, dark chocolate eggs, calm
Blue Copper Marans: about 200 eggs a year, dark chocolate eggs
Blue Cuckoo Marans: about 180 eggs a year
Cuckoo Marans: about 180 eggs a year
Welsummer: speckled terracotta eggs, active forager
Welbar: about 240 eggs a year
Barnevelder: about 180 eggs a year, dual purpose

Brown egg layers

Buff Orpington: 180–200 eggs a year, very docile, great for families
Lavender Orpington: 150–200 eggs a year, gentle, rare color
Barred Plymouth Rock: about 200 eggs a year, calm, beginner friendly
White Rock: about 240 eggs a year, dual purpose
Rhode Island Red: hardy, productive classic
Black Australorp: top brown egg layer, docile
Blue Australorp: about 240 eggs a year, beginner friendly
Golden Laced Wyandotte: about 200 eggs a year, cold hardy, docile
Silver Laced Wyandotte: cold hardy, docile
Blue Laced Red Wyandotte: cold hardy, docile
Columbian Wyandotte: about 220 eggs a year, dual purpose
Speckled Sussex: about 220 eggs a year, friendly, good forager
Delaware: heritage dual purpose
Dominique: America's oldest breed
Buff Brahma: 150–200 eggs a year, gentle giant, cold hardy
Light Brahma: gentle giant, cold hardy
Dark Brahma: gentle giant, feathered feet
Black Giant: about 200 eggs a year, extra-large eggs
Spangled Russian Orloff: very cold hardy
Naked Neck: about 180 eggs a year, heat tolerant
Black Sex Link: high-production layer
Blue Star: about 280 eggs a year, high-production layer
Production Blue: high-production layer
Buff Cochin: fluffy, feathered feet, very calm
Black, Blue, Partridge, Self Blue and White Cochin: fluffy, feathered feet, very calm

Cream and tinted egg layers

Salmon Faverolles: friendly, bearded, cold hardy
Ayam Cemani: all-black rare breed

White egg layers

White Leghorn: top white egg layer, heat tolerant
Ancona: about 260 eggs a year, active, mottled feathers
California White: about 280 eggs a year, extra-large eggs
California Gray: about 240 eggs a year, extra-large eggs
Black Minorca: about 200 eggs a year, extra-large eggs
Buff Minorca: about 208 eggs a year, extra-large eggs
Production Black: about 240 eggs a year, high-production layer
Assorted Polish: 150–200 eggs a year, crested, ornamental

Bantams

Bantams are small chickens, about a quarter to a third the size of standard breeds. They need less space and feed, lay small cream eggs and make great pets.

Silkie Bantam Assortment: fluffy, calm and great with kids
Cochin Bantam Assortment: small, fluffy and gentle
Mille Fleur d'Uccle Bantam: tiny, speckled and friendly
Golden Sebright Bantam: striking laced feathers

Chicks by goal

Ducks, geese, turkeys and more

Looking beyond chickens? Browse ducklings, goslings, turkey poults, guinea keets and meat chicks, or read our guide to the best duck breeds for eggs.

How ordering works

Chicks are pre-ordered by hatch date. Shipped chicks travel by USPS Priority Mail to your local post office for pickup, with a 6-chick minimum for most breeds that you can meet by mixing breeds on the same hatch date. Breeds marked Free local pickup can be picked up in Preston, MD, with no minimum. See shipping rates and times and when to order baby chicks.