Our chicken breeds chart includes the most common chicken breeds available in Australia with a guide to the characteristics of each breed. Find out which backyard hen is best for you.
Breed | Good layer | Meat chicken | Easy care | Can fly | Broody tendency | Good mothers | Roost in trees | Easy to breed | Large eggs | Friendly | Heritage breed | Warm climate | Cool climate | Bantam available# |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ancona | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | |||||||
Araucana | X | X | X | X | X | Blue eggs | X | X | X | X | ||||
Australian Game | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | |||||||
Australian Langshan | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | |||||
Australorp | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | ||||||
Barnevelder | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | ||||
Belgium | X | X | X | True bantam | ||||||||||
Cornish Cross | X | X | X | X | X | X | ||||||||
Frizzle | X | X | X | X | X | X | ||||||||
Indian Game | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | |||||||
Isa Brown | X | X | X | X | X | X | ||||||||
Japanese | X | X | X | True bantam | ||||||||||
Leghorn | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | ||||
Old English Game | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | ||||
Orpington | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | ||||||
Pekin | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | True bantam | |||||
Plymouth Rock | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | ||||
Polish | X | X | X | X | X | |||||||||
Rhode Island Red | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | ||||
Rosecomb | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | True bantam | |||||
Sebright | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | True bantam | |||||
Silkies | X | Black meat | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | ||||
Sussex | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | |||||||
Transylvanian Naked Necks | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | |
Welsummer | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | ||||
Wyandotte | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
This table was collated by Tabitha B. Zarins of Tabandy Farm and featured in Pip Magazine Issue 7, our chook themed issue.
Characteristics of different chicken breeds
Ancona
Good layer, easy care, can fly, roosts in trees, heritage breed, warm climate, bantam available.
Australorp
Good layer, meat chicken, good mothers, large eggs, friendly, warm climate, cool climate, bantam available.
Barnevelder
Good layer, meat chicken, easy care, good mothers, easy to breed, large eggs, friendly, warm climate, cool climate, bantam available.
Belgian
Friendly, heritage breed, cool climate, true bantam.
Cornish Cross
Good layer, meat chicken, easy care, large eggs, friendly, cool climate.
Frizzle
Good layer, large eggs, friendly, heritage breed, warm climate, bantam available.
ISA Brown
Good layer, easy care, large eggs, friendly, warm climate, cool climate.
Japanese
Heritage breed, warm climate, cool climate, true bantam.
Leghorn
Good layer, easy care, can fly, good mothers, roost in trees, easy to breed, large eggs, warm climate, cool climate, bantam available.
Orpington
Meat chicken, broody tendency, good mothers, large eggs, friendly, heritage breed, cool climate, bantam available.
Old English Game
Meat chicken, easy care, can fly, roost in trees, easy to breed, large eggs, heritage breed, warm climate, cool climate, bantam available.
Pekin
Good layer, meat chicken, broody tendency, good mothers, friendly, heritage breed, warm climate, cool climate, true bantam.
Plymouth Rock
Good layer, meat chicken, easy care, good mothers, easy to breed, large eggs, friendly, heritage breed, cool climate, bantam available.
Polish
Good layer, can fly, heritage breed, cool climate, bantam available.
Rhode Island Red
Good layer, easy care, good mothers, easy to breed, large eggs, friendly, heritage breed, warm climate, cool climate, bantam available.
Rosecomb
Good layer, easy care, can fly, good mothers, easy to breed, friendly, heritage breed, warm climate, true bantam.
Sebright
Good layer, can fly, broody tendency, good mothers, roosts in trees, friendly, heritage breed, cool climate, true bantam.
Silkies
Good layer, black meat, easy care, broody tendency, good mothers, easy to breed, friendly, heritage breed, warm climate, cool climate.
Sussex
Meat bird, good mothers, large eggs, friendly, heritage breed, cool climate, bantam available.
Transylvanian naked necks
Good layer, meat bird, easy care, can fly, good mothers, roosts in trees, easy to breed, friendly, large eggs, heritage breed, warm climate, cool climate, bantam available.
Wyandotte
Good layer, meat bird, good mothers, friendly, heritage breed, cool climate, warm climate.
Welsummer
Good layer, meat bird, easy care, can fly, good mothers, large eggs, friendly, cool and warm climate.
Want to know more about backyard chickens?
We’ve got loads of great content about keeping backyard chickens.
Issue #7 of Pip Magazine is our dedicated “chicken” issue, with articles on:
- How to keep your chicken flock healthy.
- A guide to the different backyard chicken breeds.
- Information on how to raise meat chickens.
- Plus, a troubleshooting guide, where we answer all of your questions and dilemmas around backyard chickens.
You can access these articles online here as part of our digital subscription offering.
Also check out our article on designing chickens into the vegie garden from Issue #6 of Pip here.
And don’t forget we have loads of chicken-related content online, including these articles:
- Keeping chickens: A beginner’s guide
- The perfect backyard chicken setup
- How and what to feed chickens
- Animal care: Summer chook care
- A guide to coloured chicken eggs
- Chicken breeds chart
- 7 alternative chicken feed ideas