Story Thyme Farms · The Flock
Choosing chickens
by what you actually want.
Find your flock, one good question at a time.
11breed guides
to explore
90breeds in the
comparison tables
Start with what matters
Your yard.
Your kind of flock.
Nobody picks “a chicken.” You pick blue eggs, or a hen quiet enough for a suburb, or a bird that shrugs off a Missouri winter. Each guide answers one of those from our breed database — and leads with the breeds a hatchery will actually sell you, not the landraces.
Choose a direction
Eggs for the basket
The Best Laying Chickens: 300+ Eggs a Year
The breeds and hybrids that actually lay an egg nearly every day.
Chickens That Lay Blue Eggs
The true blue-egg breeds, and how they differ from the green-egg crosses.
Chickens That Lay Dark Brown Eggs
The chocolate-egg breeds — Marans, Welsummer, Barnevelder, Penedesenca.
Chickens That Lay Green and Olive Eggs
Olive Egger, Whiting True Green and the crosses that fill the green basket.
Choose a direction
A flock that fits your life
The Best Chickens for Beginners
Forgiving, friendly, hardy breeds that make a first flock go right.
The Friendliest Chicken Breeds for Kids
Gentle, pick-up-able hens that make good birds for a family with children.
The Quietest Chicken Breeds for a Suburban Yard
Calm, quiet hens that tolerate a run without complaint or a noise ordinance.
The Best Cold-Hardy Chicken Breeds
Breeds built for a hard winter — small combs, heavy bodies, steady winter laying.
The Best Chickens for a Food Forest
Cold-hardy foragers that earn their keep ranging under fruit trees.
Choose a direction
The next generation