Ideal Cjicken Breed

I need a list of chicken breeds that do not eat alot and lay lots of brown eggs and can survive the winter without any heat lamp.

Any imput is much apricated.

Not sure you can get all that in one bird. LOL
The Chantecler comes to mind or the Wyandotte, they lay nice sized brown eggs, can adapt well to our cold winters, and well, they eat about as much as any dual purpose bird. I find they lay ok even in the cold, but you are going to either feed more if they are cold or sacrific a decline in eggs when they are cold.
The best feed conversion bird would be the white leghorn, they are smaller in stature so consume less feed, they do not tolerate cold well though with their floppy combs and they lay white eggs. I find that I need to keep my coop no colder than -10 or these guys will stop laying.

okay thanks and how much food per week do the wyandottes eat in a week

okay thanks and how much food per week do the wyandottes eat in a week

There are a lot of variables in this question such as numbers, age, sex, temperature. I feed about 200 kgs of lay pellets per month to about 60 chicks, hens and roosters. I have about a third Isabrowns and the rest are mosts Wyandottes. The BLRWs are bigger than the GLWs and CWs.

Rhode Island Reds would be a good choice , they lay a very nice large brown egg and can handle the cold very well as well and they are a medium sized bird so there food consumption isn't that bad ....only draw back would be if you get a aggresive rooster , I normally keep a few rosters and pick the one that wants to behave and then teh rest gotta go on the gravey train

Hidden River wrote:Not sure you can get all that in one bird. LOL
The Chantecler comes to mind or the Wyandotte, they lay nice sized brown eggs, can adapt well to our cold winters, and well, they eat about as much as any dual purpose bird. I find they lay ok even in the cold, but you are going to either feed more if they are cold or sacrific a decline in eggs when they are cold.
The best feed conversion bird would be the white leghorn, they are smaller in stature so consume less feed, they do not tolerate cold well though with their floppy combs and they lay white eggs. I find that I need to keep my coop no colder than -10 or these guys will stop laying.

The Chantecler and the Wyandotte can be very broody. Just something to think about cause that cuts the egg production down.
You may just want the production hybrids like ISAs. Really they only produce really well for 2 seasons and then you need new ones. They may need a bit of heat if you get real cold though. It all depends what is most important to you. Lots of eggs at low cost of production doesn`t usually mean a heritage breed.

I agree with Coopslave on that one, if you just want lots of eggs and are not worried about a heritage breed then go with the ISA browns, they lay like crazy, tolerate the cold pretty good, and the feed conversion would be the best. They have bred them to not go broody, although I always get a couple a year that do.
I was thinking of the combs more than anything if you are not providing any heat.
My best layers are my Australorps, but they do tend to get frozen combs, just like the Rhode Island reds, great layers but are a bit more prone to frostbite.

I've never had a chicken that stopped laying after two years ? The last RIR's I had were with me for five years ( and they gave eggs every day ) and then I sold them to my brother in law who had them for some time as well , not sure how long ? but a few years .But most of what you get around here is now a production RIR and not at all what the true Reds were

Prairie dog, they do not stop laying after 2 years but often those high production hybrids have such compromised reproductive systems after the heavy laying that they start to have problems. Egg bound, prolapses and others things often happen to them and they die or can become nonlayers. It doesn`t happen to all of them, but after 2 years of laying they seem to be more predisposed to it than the heritage birds that will go on laying for years.
I had an Australorp hen in Australia that was still laying gang busters at 5 when I left. I hatched her eggs when she was 5 as well and fertility was amazing. Almost 2 years have passed and she is still laying well from what I hear.

okay i have decided to get some Rhode Island Reds. I just need to find some body that has some and could sent some sexed chicks to me. I just need to convince my parents