If you live in the sizzling US south, it may be nice to know which chicken breeds tend to handle the summer days best and keep producing eggs when everyone else seems to slow down laying. This short article will suggest a few breeds that lay well in the heat and what body types you can look for in hybrid hens as you select them!
Chicken Breeds and Hybrids that Lay Well in the Heat
DISCLAIMER: I have not owned every chicken breed so I can only speak from my experience about those who have proven to be good layers through our scorching Texas heat!
Here is the quick list of breeds + hybrids that have performed well for me where I live in Magnolia, Texas a little over an hour outside of Houston. Every summer is nothing but months of over 100°F heat advisories and these girls have proven themselves to be fantastic egg layers:
Purebred Leghorns (also kept by my Great-Grandmother through the Great Depression)
Rhode Island Reds (not much slows down these powerhouse layers)
Whiting True Blues (has Leghorn ancestry)
Prairie Bluebell Eggers (Leghorn cross)
Leghorn Crosses (Includes Prairie Bluebells and “Easter Eggers” with Leghorn ancestry)
Olive Eggers (especially hens with clean legs and faces)
You may notice that most of the winners are hybrids, especially with Leghorn ancestry. Leghorns are a Mediterranean breed who were bred in warmer climates and are known for laying lots of eggs.
These breeds performed so poorly when it came to laying in the heat that they have earned a Dishonorable Mention from me:
Welsummers (I kid you not, these birds will take the August through January off)
Silkies (seemed to be broody in the heat constantly!)
Buff Orpingtons (extra large bodied hens seem to cease laying in mid-summer)
Breeds My Neighbors Said Lay Well in the Heat:
White Rocks, California Whites (a Leghorn cross), California Greys (a Leghorn cross), Delawares, New Hampshire Reds, and Red Sex Link hens (Red Star, Cinnamon Queen, etc) all seemed to lay well.
Breeds My Neighbors Were Disappointed With:
Large bodied Brahmas and some standard Cochins did not lay as well as other dual purpose breeds when temperatures climbed higher than 95°F.
Clean Faces (Not Bearded) Might Help?
Clean faced hens seem to have a slightly easier time dealing with the heat. The blood flow through their wattles is believed to help some body heat dissipate, keeping them ever so slightly cooler. Dipping their wattles into water while drinking also seems to help them. It is not true that every bearded hen is a poor summer layer. One of my bearded, pea combed, speckled olive eggers never seems to cease laying no matter the temps, but it has been a general observation in my coop that the bearded girls seem to pant a lot more and lay less. The birds with smooth faces seem to handle the heat slightly better and lay just a little longer than their bearded sisters.
Clean Legs, Not Feathered Might help, too?
I have only owned purebred Copper Marans and Olive Eggers with feathered legs. Marans are large bodied birds not prone to laying a whole lot of eggs any ways and by late August, mine have usually stopped laying completely and are beginning the autumn molt. My broody-all-summer Olive Eggers also tend to be feather legged individuals. All of them seem to favor the shady coop a lot more than their clean-shanked flock mates.
Other Breeds Who laid Okay in the heat
I’ve owned Barred Rocks, hatchery Easter Egger/Americanas, Crested Cream Legbars, Golden Lace Wyandottes, Blue Laced Red Wyandottes, and a few others I am probably forgetting. These breeds handled the heat just fine and were neither incredibly good nor noticeably bad about filling the nest box. They seemed equally prone to slowing down to an egg every other day, especially if they were over 18 months old.
Want to Keep Track of Egg Laying?
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Your Opinion Wanted!
Please share your experience in the comments below and let’s keep a list of what chicken breeds lay well in the heat!
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