There’s a pleasant diversity amongst chickens. You can choose a chicken breed that will give you a lot of eggs or one that’ll give you great meat.
You can even choose a breed that has a certain type or color of plumage.
So, if you are thinking of starting your own poultry, and you are looking to get chickens with black and white feathers, you have many options to choose from.
Here are 7 black-and-white chicken breeds, the purpose they are most suited for, their estimated cost, and some fun facts.
Table of Contents
Barred Plymouth Rock
Barred Plymouth Rock is the oldest and most common member of the Plymouth Rock family.
Chickens of this breed are full-breasted with long and broad backs, and they are commonly kept on small farms.
Barred Rocks have full, loose feathers with distinct and well-defined black and white strips. Their skin and legs are yellow, and they have single combs with five points.
On average, they lay about 280 large brown eggs per year. However, the number of eggs they lay depends on the strain they come from.
One good thing about this breed is that the weather has little effect on their egg production. So, you can expect eggs from them even in winter.
Barred Plymouth Rocks are friendly, and they get along with other pets.
These large birds weigh between 7.5 and 9.5 lbs.
The cost of a Barred Plymouth Chicken may depend on the quantity you want to buy. But their price will usually be between $2 and $4 per chicken.
Black Laced Silver Wyandotte
The Black Laced Silver Wyandotte is a breed of hardy chickens with black tails.
This breed was created by 4 people in the U.S. around the late 1800s. These people were L. Whittaker, John Ray, Fred Houdlette, and H.M. Doubleday.
Birds of this breed are fairly large and rounded, with weights between 6.5 to 8.5 lbs. The ear lobes, face, and wattles of a Black Laced Silver Wyandotte are red.
Wyandotte is a dual-purpose breed. They are broody and lay medium-sized brown eggs with an average of 180-260 eggs annually.
Wyandottes are docile, calm, and unsuitable for tropical climates. They have beautiful feathers, so they sometimes serve ornamental purposes too.
A single chicken from this breed goes for about $5.
Dominique Chicken
Dominique Chickens are also called Domineckers. They look quite similar to the Barred Rock breed, with the distinguishing feature being a v-shaped color pattern in the Dominique.
Dominique Chickens have a rose comb with a flattened cushion. The wattles, comb, and earlobes are red.
Chickens of this breed are usually well-rounded with a medium length back.
They are also full-breasted, have large wings, and short legs that are feathered and yellow.
Dominique Chickens do well in conditions that allow them to forage. They are generally calm and independent.
Domineckers do well in poor weather conditions, and their combs are resistant to frostbite.
You can get one at $3-4.
Dark Brahma Chickens
Dark Brahma Chickens are a large breed with unique silvery-white and black feathers.
This breed is quite old; it originated in Asia but was imported into the United States around the mid-1800s.
Roosters and hens of the Dark Brahma breed have notable differences. While the roosters have black tails and black underbellies, the hens have a dark gray and black penciled coloration.
Dark Brahma Chickens are dual-purpose chickens.
Meats from these chickens are pot-filling. In fact, this breed was one of the main meat breeds in the US from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s.
Besides being great for meat, Dark Brahma Chickens are fairly good layers.
They produce about 3-4 eggs per week. So, in a year, you can get around 200 eggs from them.
Dark Brahma Chickens are non-aggressive.
On average, the cocks weigh 12 lbs. while the hens weigh 9.9 lbs., and because of their size, they do not fly well.
Dark Brahma Chickens are hardy, and they will do well in winter.
You can get a Dark Brahma Chicken for between $3 and $7 depending on the sex and quantity you intend to buy.
Cuckoo Maran
Cuckoo Marans are large birds that originated from France. On average, the standard types weigh 7-9 lbs. while the bantams weigh 2-2.4 lbs.
Cuckoo Marans look like the Barred Rock chickens. But unlike Barred Rocks, Cuckoo Marans have clean, pinkish-white legs, white soles, and orange eyes.
Cuckoos are fairly good layers and an excellent source of quality meat. They lay about 150-200 large-sized eggs per year, and the eggs are usually dark brown.
Cuckoo Marans are not suitable for a warm climate. However, they are hardy in winter.
If you want to get one, you may have to pay between $4 and $7, depending on the sex and quantity you want.
California Gray
The California Gray is an American breed created around 1930 in California, USA. The man credited with the creation of this breed is Professor James Dryden.
The creator was also aiming for a bird that would maintain egg production for over 2 years.
The breed is auto-sexing. Male California Gray chicks hatch from eggs with colors relatively lighter than those of the females.
California Gray males weigh 5.5-6.6 lbs, while the hens weigh 4.4 lbs.
As already stated, California Grays are dual-purpose – you can get meat and eggs from them.
On average, they will give you about 300 white eggs per year, with each egg weighing about 58 g.
There’s a distinction in the plumage of the roosters and hens of this breed. Albeit they both have black-and-white feathers, the hens have a darker shade of black.
If you plan to get the California Gray, you may have to spend between $3 and $4.
Sussex Chicken
The Sussex Chicken is one of the first breeds to be exhibited at the poultry show in London, 1845. The bird is thought to have its origins in Sussex, England.
Sussex Chickens come in different colors, and one of those colors is black-and-white.
The variant of the Sussex Chicken with black-and-white plumage is the Light Sussex Chicken, and they come with a Columbian pattern (neck and tail).
In the past, they were reared mainly for their meat, but these days Sussex Chickens have become dual-purpose.
They commonly lay 180-200 eggs per year, but some strains may give as high as 250 eggs per year.
Besides being used for eggs and meat, some people use them for the purpose of exhibition.
On average, the males weigh around 9 lbs., and the females weigh around 7 lbs. Sussex Chickens are quite expensive, and you may have to pay as much as $25 for a chick.
Resources
- https://farmhouseguide.com/black-and-white-chicken-breeds/
- https://thehappychickencoop.com/plymouth-rock-chicken/
- https://animalhype.com/chickens/black-and-white-chicken-breeds/
- https://thepoultryguide.com/top-20-black-and-white-chicken-breeds-for-backyard/
- https://www.cacklehatchery.com/product/barred-rocks/
- https://www.chickensandmore.com/silver-laced-wyandotte/
- https://www.chickensandmore.com/dominique-chicken/
- https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/dark_brahmas.html
- https://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGA/CalGray/BRKCalGray.html
- https://www.domesticforest.com/california-gray-chicken/
- https://www.strombergschickens.com/product/california-grey-chicks
- https://www.purelypoultry.com/california-white-chickens-p-1257.html
- https://www.chickensandmore.com/11-most-expensive-chicken-breeds-in-the-world/
- https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/sussex-chicken/