Are you looking to start or expand your backyard flock? Here are the 12 absolute best choices for friendly chicken breeds that lay A LOT of eggs.
Most of us start raising chickens for their eggs. Raising your own hens is one of the only ways to ensure access to fresh delicious eggs pretty close to every day of the year. But you may be surprised to learn that not all chicken breeds are created equal.
Some breeds are superstar layers and will give you more eggs than you know what to do with, and some will only lay once a week. Some breeds are more prone to illness or going broody, and will give you less eggs because of it.
All of the chickens on this list are excellent egg layers, which is important, but more importantly, they’re friendly and personable. Many of the best egg layers, such as White Leghorns, Easter Eggers, and Rhode Island Reds didn’t make this list because they can be flighty, territorial, and unfriendly toward humans and other chickens in the flock.
Now I know this is a generalization of these breeds, and there are outliers in every stereotype, but why risk it? Why not go with a breed that is well known to be friendly and prolific egg layers?
Why does it matter if your chickens are friendly?
You might be saying, these birds are for making eggs only, not pets, so it doesn’t matter whether they’re friendly or not, but I’m here to tell you, having a friendly flock makes all the difference in raising chickens.
No matter what, there will come a time where you need to handle your chickens. You’ll need to do regular health inspections of their feet, vents, and feather shafts to make sure they’re not harboring parasites or have an illness.
After years of raising chickens like Leghorns and Ameraucanas that would bolt if I even thought about picking them up, I started choosing only friendly breeds and it made all the difference. No more wasting precious time chasing chickens all around the chicken run. All of our chickens tolerate being held and picked up, and some of them clearly enjoy it!
Finally, having friendly chickens is good for your whole flock. Unfriendly chickens bully the other chickens in the flock, which can cause more even tempered birds to cower in fear, or get injured in fights. Two breeds in particular, the New Hampshire Red and Rhode Island Red, that pop up on almost every list of best egg laying breeds, are both well known to be bullies to other breeds. I’ve seen it first hand with these breeds and it’s hard to handle.
A peaceful flock is the goal, for the health of your birds and for your own sanity.
If you’re specifically looking for the friendliest chickens on the planet, don’t miss this post to help you pick out your new pets with benefits!
Our 12 Favorite Sweet and Friendly Pet Chicken Breeds
Three popular egg laying breeds you won’t find on this list
While most of the other best egg laying chicken posts out there will point you toward the Leghorn, Rhode Island Red, and New Hampshire Red, I can’t stand behind these breeds.
I firmly believe that egg laying should not trump health of the bird and health of the flock when you’re choosing chicken breeds. Most Leghorns are flighty, unfriendly, and tend to have reproductive issues. Rhode Island Red chickens and New Hampshire Reds can be aggressive toward people and toward other birds in the flock.
The goal of the backyard chicken keeper is not purely to fill the fridge with eggs, it’s in the joy of raising chickens, and that joy can quickly disappear when your hens are fighting each other, suffering from health issues, dying early deaths, or causing harm to you and your children.
The chickens that did make this list are all good egg layers, AND have the personalities for a peaceful, joyful flock.
The Top 12 Friendliest Chicken Breeds that Lay Lots of Eggs
1. Australorp
Eggs Laid Yearly: 250-300
The Australorp tops this list for very good reason. They’re good layers, and they’re one of the sweetest, most docile chicken breeds out there. I’ve honestly never met a friendlier chicken than the Australorp.
The only real downside to this breed is their tendency to go broody, and quite often. Our three Australorps spend much of the summer sitting on nests, and while they do tend to be good mothers, if you’re not intending to hatch chicks, this can be a detriment to your egg supply.
Excellent Pets
On the other hand, Australorps are wonderful pets with benefits, and a perfect choice if you have little kids who will be helping with the chicken chores.
2. Dominique
Eggs Laid Yearly: 230-280
Dominiques are one of my favorite breeds, and practically every one I know who has taken on the breed has also fallen in love with them. They’re wonderfully friendly and sociable. Our Dominique, Dee Dee, used to always help me in the garden, following my trowel and eating every bug she found, chatting in her chicken talk the whole time. This breed is a wonderful egg producer, and excellent pet as well.
Hearty Birds
The Dominique is a heritage breed, which means they were bred and raised 100 to 200 years ago and have been unchanged since. We started raising them 13 years ago because they were in danger of being wiped out, but they’ve since recovered.
Dominiques are excellent in cold winters due to their large bodies, rose combs, and tiny wattles. We raised Dominiques in the brutal winters of Northern NY and they always thrived. In fact, on of our Dominiques lived to be 12 years old!
3. Plymouth Rock
Eggs Laid Yearly: 200-250
When you think of idyllic country scenes with chickens pecking in the dirt, you’re likely picturing the Plymouth Rock amongst them. This classic breed of chicken comes in a variety of colors, but the most common is the barred Plymouth Rock, a black and white striped beauty with a stunning personality.
Plymouth Rocks are very popular for good reason, they’re great egg layers, and they’re friendly to humans and other chickens. They make great mothers, should you choose to hatch chicks, and they tend to live long, healthy lives.
This heritage breed is also dual purpose, as they grow to be quite large at 7-8 pounds, they can be raised for meat and for eggs.
4. Buff Orpington
Eggs Laid Yearly: 200-280
The Buff Orpington is well known in the chicken world for their friendly dispostion. They’re affectionately called “the golden retrievers of the chicken world” and for good reason. Many chicken keepers enjoy raising these lap chickens.
Dual Purpose
If your goal in raising chickens is to have homegrown eggs and meat, the Orpington is a great dual purpose breed. Their egg-laying capabilities are on par with their meat production.This heavy breed weighs between 8-10 pounds when fully grown and make excellent meat birds.
5. Faverolles
Eggs Laid Yearly: 150-200
Faverolles can’t boast the egg laying numbers that many of the other breeds on this list can, but they still make the list for several reasons. At 150-200 eggs per year, they are GOOD egg layers. They’re one of the friendliest breeds on this list, both with people and with other chickens in the flock. These sweet birds will eat right out of your hand and happily give you chicken cuddles.
They’re also quite interesting to look at, with big beautiful beards and unique tan and brown mottled feathers. And did I mention, they have feathered feet?! These chickens remind me so much of little muppets, I can’t help but smile every time I look at them.
6. Sussex chickens
Eggs Laid Yearly: 250-300
Sussex are a popular breed due to their beauty and wonderful personality. The most popular variety, the speckled sussex, are mottled in red, white, and black spots. They’re good foragers, should you choose to free range your flock, and they tend to be extremely friendly.
Noisy birds
One thing to note about the Speckled Sussex is that they’re not the best choice if you live in the suburbs or the city and have neighbors that are easily annoyed. Sussex are friendly but chatty birds, they can make quite a racket all day long, and while you as the chicken keeper may enjoy their noise, others may not.
7. Cream legbar
Eggs Laid Yearly: 150-200
Cream Legbar chickens lay 150-200 eggs yearly. Not only are they a good choice for an egg laying breed, but their egg color is stunningly beautiful. Legbars are one of the few breeds that lay blue eggs. And their eggs aren’t the only thing of beauty, these chickens are quite gorgeous as well. This breed has a crest of feathers on top of their heads and gorgeous coloring.
Legbar chickens do well in all climates, as they’re both cold hardy and heat hardy. They’re also able to be sexed at only one day old, so there’s very little chance you’ll accidentally end up with a rooster if you choose this breed.
8. Easter Egger
Eggs Laid Yearly: 200-280
Easter Eggers are not recognized as a pure breed by the American Poultry Association, but they certainly are good egg layers and CAN be extremely friendly, if raised right.
In my own personal experience, and from that of several friends, Easter Eggers tend to be flighty and don’t love being handled. However, lots of handling when they’re chicks and young birds can turn them into perfectly friendly birds. Just make sure if you add this breed to your flock, you’re getting them as day old chicks, and putting in the effort to handle them daily so they’re accustomed to you.
The fun thing about Easter Eggers is the huge variety in colored eggs they lay. While there’s no way to know what color egg your specific birds will lay ahead of time, it’s a fun surprise to see so many different shades of blue, green, and even pinkish tan that come from these birds.
9. Wyandotte
Eggs Laid Yearly: 150-200
Wyandottes seem to know exactly how gorgeous they are. All of the Wyandottes we’ve had in our flocks have enjoyed slowly strutting around the yard, showing off their beautiful colors. And while they may be some of the most beautiful chickens in existence, they’re not all looks, they’re nice too!
Wyandottes are sweet and docile, they get along well with other breeds and love people. If you’re looking for a good egg layer with the looks and personality to match, this is your breed!
10. Delaware
Eggs Laid Yearly: 180-260
Delaware chickens are friendly, inquisitive, and docile. They’re an excellent pet breed and while they’re not at the top of the charts for egg laying, up to 260 eggs per year is nothing to sneeze at!
Delawares are a heritage breed that were developed in the 1940’s. They’re dual purpose, so if you’re looking to raise chickens for both eggs and meat, the Delaware is a great choice.
These beautiful birds are also very cold hardy, so if you live in a climate with freezing, snowy winters, Delaware is the bird for you!
11. Chantecler
Eggs Laid Yearly: 200-220
Chantecler chickens are best known for being excellent in colder climates. This breed was developed in Canada to withstand the brutal winter months. They have a pea comb and practically non-existent wattles, which protects them from frostbite. This hardy bird is also a dual-purpose breed, they can be raised for both eggs and meat.
If you live in a climate with cold and snowy winters, you can’t go wrong with the Chantecler.
We randomly chose two Chantecler chicks in our first ever batch of chickens and found them to be extremely hardy and long living. Both of our Chanteclers lived for over 11 years. They were also some of the friendliest birds in our flock, they got along well with all the other chickens and loved being held and sitting on our laps. They had funny and exciting personalities.
12. Barnevelder
Eggs Laid Yearly: 175-200
Barnevelder chickens are known for their friendly dispositions and docile nature, and they lay upwards of 200 eggs a year.
In my opinion, this breed is totally undervalued, I can’t understand why they’re not more popular. They’re truly one of the most beautiful breeds, with dazzling laced brown feathers similar to the Wyandotte and iridescent neck feathers. They are true stunners and their sweet nature will make them a favorite pet in your flock.
Barnevelders are coveted for their beautiful dark brown eggs, which are similar in color to that of the Black Copper Marans, but not quite as dark.
A note about hybrid breeds
Hybrid chickens are cross-bred from purebred chickens with the goal to create a new breed with desired characteristics, usually to lay a ton of eggs. These chickens go by many names, Production Red, Red Star, Black Star, White Star, Isa Brown, Black Sex Link, Red Sex Link, Golden Comet, and the list goes on.
Hybrid chickens top most of the lists out there for best backyard chickens. Hybrid hens do indeed lay an incredible amount of eggs per year, but I don’t include many of them on this list because their prolific egg laying tends to come at a cost.
I have personally bought many hybrid birds and none of them lived longer than 4 years, some of them inexplicably died within 2 months of adulthood.
These breeds are specifically bred to produce huge numbers of eggs yearly, but it tends to be at the expense of their health. Their egg laying is fast and furious, but doesn’t have longevity. They burn out fast, have reproductive issues from their bodies being pushed too far, and they don’t have the intelligence to keep themselves safe while free ranging and get along with fellow chickens.
Not only are hybrid breeds more likely to die young, they also tend to be unfriendly, flighty, and in my experience, terrible free rangers. Our Isa Browns had to be re-homed because they were such big bullies and no matter what we did, they kept harming the rest of our flock. Our Red Star chickens used to wander very far from the safety of home and we’d have to hike through the woods to bring them home.
Egg production is important, but it’s not the only thing that matters when choosing the right breeds for your flock. Long term health is equally important, and personality matters too.
Whenever possible, try to choose heritage chicken breeds, or breeds that are well known for their great health. There’s nothing worse than losing chickens too young.
Want to read more about hybrid vs heritage chicken breeds? This article is a great one!
The only hybrid breed that I do think is a good one for egg production and friendliness is the Easter Egger, and that’s with the understanding that you will need to put in the work of handling them daily as chicks to make them friendly.
I hope this list was helpful for you in choosing the right chickens for your flock. Please keep in mind, this is not the end all, be all of chickens that are friendly and good layers. Use this is a foundation and please continue your research, it’s so important to go into adventures in chicken keeping with as much knowledge as you can.