Which Chickens – Pure Breed or Hybrid?

Evans Chickens have been asked many times what to purchase – hybrids or pure breeds. Each has it’s pros and cons. Here is what we think, summed up and for you to consider:

HYBRID – Specific Commercial Cross Hybrid Layer

PROS	CONS
More affordable & available Fast maturing (Point of lay 20 weeks) Heavy Layers Usually friendly Available as sexed day old 300+ eggs per hen per year Fully vaccinated Ideal starting chickens Generally lay thru winter	Shorter life span Susceptible to some health issues due to fast growth and high egg output Limited breed use – eggs only Quality feed required 16% or 17% layer crumble Vulnerable to predators due to friendly nature (dogs) Not usually good mothers (less likely to be broody) Limited colours: brown, white or black More active foraging (more holes)

We generally stock hyline browns, hybrid leghorns & hybrid australorps.

PURE BREED -Heritage or Old Breed Chickens

PROS:	CONS:
Long lived Long life of egg laying Variable egg colours Some capable of being both meat/egg birds Variety of size and plumage types Predator aware and active Often excellent mothers (become broody) More robust (e.g. extreme weather conditions) More feed tolerant as carry body reserves	More expensive Can be difficult to source Egg output dependent on breed Slow Maturing (Point of lay average 6 months) Difficult to determine sex until maturation Can tend to be broody and do not produce eggs when broody May not be vaccinated unless purchased from a breeder who vaccinates May be more perplexing as first time chickens due to broodiness Molt each year and do not lay when molting

We breed australorps, light sussex and dark barred plymouth rocks and generally have a variety of ages available. We are starting to breed cream legbars but are still developing our stock. We vaccinate for mareks, fowl pox, coryza & MG.

Check our pages on breeds we keep and in stock now for more information.