You’re independent. You do what you want to do. Backyard chickens are one of your things. You put in the time, did the research, and created a healthy, happy chicken haven for your little flock. Do you ever wonder how unique your flock is? Each individual chicken is completely unique, but is the breed or breeds? It’s time to explore the most common backyard chicken breeds.
Facing Facts
One enormous hurdle looms when trying to determine which chicken breeds are the most common. Namely, no census exists for backyard chickens. Despite this, we can get some clues from various sources about the breeds likely to be most common.
The Chicken Survey Says!
In volume 93, issue 11 from November 2014 of the publication “Poultry Science,” a survey of backyard chicken owners was analyzed. People who answered the survey most often mentioned the breeds Rhode Island Red, Plymouth Rock, Ameraucana, Orpington, Wyandotte, Easter Egger, Marans, and Welsummer. All of these are egg-laying breeds producing colorful eggs. None of them lay white eggs.
These results seem to indicate that egg laying is likely the main reason people keep backyard chickens. Is it also your reason?
Another survey from 2021 run by Heritage Acres Market LLC reveals that the Easter Egger was the most popular breed of backyard chicken, followed by the Rhode Island Red, Orpington, Barred Rock, and Wyandotte.
Poultry Show Entries
The American Poultry Association holds or sanctions poultry shows throughout the year. The number of each breed registered for shows can be another indicator of common or popular backyard chicken breeds, although numbers will favor breeds that are bred for show. The breeds with the highest registered showings in 2022 are: Bantam breeds (all breeds), Old English (for show), Silkie (mostly show), Wyandotte (eggs, meat), Modern Game (for show or meat), Cochin (meat, show), Plymouth Rock (eggs, meat), and Rhode Island Red (eggs, meat).
Best-Selling Backyard Chicken Breeds
Checking in with a couple of random hatcheries online offers insights, too, although breeds are limited to those offered by each hatchery. Frequently mentioned best-selling chicken breeds include: Easter Egger, Black Copper Marans, Salmon Faverolles, Barred Plymouth Rock, Welsummer, Buff Orpington, Olive Egger, Ancona, Rhode Island Red, Red Star, and Jumbo Cornish X Rock.
Chicken Breeds Back From The Brink
The Livestock Conservancy is a nonprofit organization working to prevent heritage livestock and poultry breeds from going extinct. Because of this, it has tracked these breeds since 1977 on its Conservation Priority List. Two heritage chicken breeds graduated from that list in 2016, meaning they are no longer endangered. Those are the Orpington and Wyandotte. Breeds that are recovering and, hopefully, heading toward graduating off the list are: Australorp, Brahma, Cochin, Leghorn, Plymouth Rock, and Sussex.
By graduating from the list or heading toward graduation, this means population numbers are increasing. Perhaps this means that the breeds are also more common.
Ask The Internet
When searching for information, the internet is a great resource, as long as you keep in mind results can be random and incorrect. Use your best judgment. The following backyard chicken breeds were mentioned in quite a few lists tallying best backyard chicken breeds, top backyard chicken breeds, common backyard chicken breeds, etc.: Rhode Island Red, Plymouth Rock, Orpington, Brahma, Maran, Wyandotte, Cochin, Australorp, Dominique, and Jersey Giant.
Overall U.S. Backyard Chicken Population
Although it doesn’t get into chicken breeds, the American Pet Products Association runs a survey every two years about many aspects of the pet industry. This reveals interesting facts about backyard chickens. It notes that in 2020, the number of U.S. households owning backyard chickens increased from 8% in 2018 to 13% in 2020. Two-thirds of backyard chicken owners consider them pets. Almost 50% keep them for eggs.
Common Or Not?
Were any of the breeds you keep mentioned? One good thing about a flock is that it’s uniquely yours. Even if someone else has the exact same breeds and numbers of chickens as you, the individual birds in your flock make it unique.
