Chicken Breeds: Dual-Purpose

Dual-purpose chicken breeds are usually great family-friendly birds and tend to be the most cold-hardy. They are used both for egg laying and for meat.

Although they typically require more feed than strictly laying breeds, they have the added benefit of making good meat birds, too. That means that excess male chicks don’t have to be culled, but actually have a use!

This is a work in progress and this list is very much incomplete, but we are adding new breeds every week!

Note: Breeders come up with new colors every year, and many are not recognized by the APA. The colors listed for each breed are often just a few of the many colors available!