BEST LAYER, BROWN EGGS (HERITAGE)
AUSTRALORP
Australian poultry fanciers developed Black Australorps in the late 1800s using Black Orpingtons from Britain as the foundation stock. A typical Australorp hen lays about 250 large, light brown eggs per year.
Australorps come only in black. They’re hardy, moderately early maturing, and some hens become broody. Roosters weigh around 8 ½ pounds; hens, 6 ½, so they’re meaty enough to qualify as dual-purpose birds. Bantam versions are available, too.
BEST GENTLE ROOSTER FAVEROLLES
If you’d like to add a rooster to your flock but don’t want one that will chase you around the yard, try a Faverolle. These cute, fluffy chickens have beards, muffs, feathered legs, and five toes on each foot. Exceptionally docile and friendly, they love attention.
Developed near the French village of Faverolle, they came to America in the early 1900s. Hens lay 180 to 200 medium-to-large tinted-to-light-brown eggs per year. Roosters weigh 8 to 10 pounds and hens, 7½ to 9 pounds, so they make a meaty, dual-purpose breed.
BEST FOR CONSERVATORS HOLLAND
The Livestock Conservancy states that Hollands are the rarest living breed of American chicken. That, along with their stellar dispositions and fine laying and meat qualities, makes them the perfect bird for anyone who’d like to help preserve critically endangered poultry.
Developed during the 1930s in New York, Hollands originally came in Barred and White, but the White variety appears to be extinct. Hens lay 200 to 250 large white eggs per year. Roosters weigh around 81⁄ pounds;
2 hens, 61⁄ 2. Bantam are available, too.
Hollands are calm, friendly and cold-hardy, and hens make good brooders. They free-range with ease and