What Breed of Chicken Has the Best Rooster?

Determining the breed of chicken that has the best rooster is a personal decision rather than a technical choice. Develop expectations for the rooster before selecting a breed. Will he be used to breed hens? If so, are the chickens for meat, eggs, or both? Will the rooster be entered in livestock shows to compete with other roosters on confirmation? Will he be a child's pet? Once expectations are confirmed, study characteristics of the various breeds and then select the rooster that meets your criteria.

  1. Dual-Purpose Birds

    • Dual-purpose chickens are found in flocks maintained for personal use. These chickens are good egg-layers and produce tender meat. Roosters ensure that the flock will multiply and the older hens can be replaced with younger ones. Popular dual-purpose breeds include Australorp, Barred Plymouth Rock, Delaware, New Hampshire, Orpington, Rhode Island Red, and Wyandotte. All these breeds produce brown eggs.

    Broilers

    • Broilers are chickens raised specifically for meat and they produce a small number of eggs. The primary meat breed is the Cornish chicken. It is a chunky bird with a large breast and thighs. The standard weight for a male is 7.5 pounds and a female usually weighs around 6 pounds. These chickens eat large quantities of feed and grow rapidly. A Cornish's skin is yellow and the feather color can be white, white laced with red, brown patterning on a dark blue-green background or dark-brown patterning on a light wheaten background. Most commercial broiler producers raise a cross between Cornish and white Plymouth Rocks.

    Laying Chickens

    • Laying chickens are primarily used for egg production. Breeds include Golden Comet and Leghorn. The world's top breed for egg production is the Leghorn, because they lay approximately 280 white eggs per year. They are less popular as a homestead breed due to nervousness around people and their ability to fly. The Golden Comet is a modern commercial hybrid strain composed of white roosters and brownish red hens. They have a quiet disposition, produce brown eggs and are well-adjusted to close confinement.

    Range Chickens

    • Range chickens include breeds that are well-adapted to running free in pastures and farm yards. They are hardy, good foragers and can withstand warm and cold temperatures. These breeds include Andalusian, Brahma, Cochin, Hamburg, Java, and.Sussex. These breeds are dual-purpose chickens, but normally produce less and smaller eggs than pen-raised chickens. Their meat quality depends upon what they eat and how much.

    Show Roosters

    • Breeds of roosters raised primarily to compete at livestock shows are Faverolles, Frizzle and Polish. Faverolles are a large breed with a beard, muffs, feathered feet and five toes per foot. The roosters have either black, brown, or straw colored feathers. Feathers of the Frizzle rooster frizzle outwards instead of lying flat. Their color is blue, black, white or buff. Polish roosters are very showy with a beautiful crest of feathers that is often a contrasting color to that of their body. Bearded Polish are golden, silver, white or buff, laced in color; whereas non-bearded are white with black crests, white with blue crests or black with white crests. They are laced in either gold, silver, white or buff.

    Pet Roosters

    • Silky roosters make great pets for kids. This breed is well-known for its calm friendly temperament and is among the most docile type of poultry. The name comes from their white and silky feathers. Wyandottes have the same temperament as silkies, and also make good pets.