10 Grey Chicken Breeds

Many different sizes and colors of chicken breeds are available worldwide. Grey is one of the most popular chicken colors among commercial and domestic chicken keepers today.

Grey chickens include chickens with grey feathers, ranging from pale silver, black grey, and blue grey.

Most grey chickens result from breeding chickens with different grey color variations. These are some famous grey chickens in the modern poultry world.

1. Grey Silkie Chicken

The grey silver chicken is perhaps the most favorite grey chicken breed among chicken raisers. The breed gets its name from its grey, fluffy plumage, smooth like satin and silk. Grey Silkie chickens have several unique qualities.

For instance, they have black bones, skins, five toes, and blue earlobes. These chickens are pretty small and ideal for show or ornamental purposes. Roosters weigh around 1.8 kg, with their female counterparts weighing approximately 1.4 kg.

Grey Silkies have a calm and friendly temperament. They make exceptional pet birds, especially for children. They are easy to confine, and they also tolerate human handling.

Grey Silkies aren’t decent layers since these chickens don’t lay many eggs annually. Furthermore, their eggs are smaller than the average egg size.

Grey Silkie chickens are also unreliable for meat production because of their minute size. Nonetheless, they are a wonderful breed to raise in your backyard.

2. Sapphire Gem Chicken

The Sapphire Gem chicken is another grey breed to keep, especially for eggs. The breed comes from the Czech Republic, a crossbreed between the Barred Plymouths and Blue Plymouth Rocks.

Sapphire Gem chickens have upright appearances. These chickens can have lavender or blue feathers. Male Sapphire Gem chickens have white patches on their foreheads and wings.

Females and young chickens have blue feathers. Roosters weigh approximately five pounds, while Sapphire Gem hens weigh around four pounds. Sapphire Gem chickens are amiable birds, although they are noisier than most breeds.

They are terrific foragers that make excellent free-range birds. Furthermore, these chickens are alert, making them warier of potential predators than other breeds.

They are fantastic layers because hens can lay around 300 eggs annually. Furthermore, hens from this chicken breed are passionate about caring for their chicks. Hens aren’t broody and can lay a batch of eggs before sitting on their eggs.

3. Blue Australorp

The Blue Australorp is another wonderful grey breed to raise for eggs and meat. The breed boasts a unique blue plumage, making it an excellent backyard chicken to raise for eggs.

They also have black feet and legs with white toenails. Besides being prolific layers, these chickens can thrive in cold and hot weather. Blue Australorps have light lacings across their blue-grey feathers.

They are wide varieties of Blue Australorps, courtesy of modern chicken breeding techniques. For instance, you can expect to see some Blue Australorp with splash shades. These grey chickens have red earlobes, combs, and wattles.

These chickens can be reasonably large. Full-grown roosters weigh approximately ten pounds, while Blue Australorp hens weigh about six pounds.

That means Blue Australorps are suitable for meat. Furthermore, Blue Australorps are great layers producing about 300 plus eggs annually.

They have a calm demeanor and are pretty easygoing. They also coexist well with other breeds.

4. Lavender Cochin

Lavender Cochins are fluffy, beautiful, and friendly chickens. These medium-sized chickens have Lavender feathers with silvery-blue shades.

Roosters weigh around 6.5 pounds, while hens around 4.5 pounds. They are also bantam Lavender Cochins, which weigh below 3 pounds.

Because of their puffy appearance and color, these chickens look like cute, grey clouds strolling around your yard. These chickens are good-natured.

Although they aren’t as dependable as other terrific layers, Lavender Cochins can produce over 150 brown, medium-sized eggs. They are great birds for beginners. Children will love these birds because they are friendly and tolerate cuddling.

They can withstand confinement, although Lavender Cochins love free-ranging rather than living in captivity.

These mild-mannered and placid chickens produce tasty meat. Hens go broody occasionally and make fabulous mothers.

5. Lavender Pekin

Lavender Pekins are true bantams and some of the tiniest grey breeds. Because these chickens have fluffy, thick feathers, they practically look as if they have an additional layer of grey plumage, making them appear like grey walking balls.

Their beautiful appearance is enough to melt your eyes.

Lavender Pekin roosters weigh around 600 grams because they are true bantams. Hens weigh about 400 grams. These chickens aren’t only about their looks but also their pleasant personality.

They are beginner-friendly and easy to handle. Whether keeping them in your cage or free-ranging the birds, these chickens won’t give you trouble. They are gentle and calm and will let their owners handle them.

Because Lavender Pekins are ornamental birds, they aren’t the best layers around.

Neither do these chickens lay good eggs because their eggs are much smaller than the average chicken eggs. Mothers are regularly broody, and they are excellent sitters.

6. Blue Orpington

Blue Orpingtons have bluish-grey feathers, making them look strikingly rich. These chickens have thick feathers, giving them the protection they need to keep warm, particularly during wintertime.

Blue Orpington chickens have short, sturdy legs. They also have strong struts, giving the impression that these chickens are on a serious mission while walking around.

They have full tail feathers that look like dusters at their ends. Blue Orpingtons have compact heads that seem to be smaller for their bodies.

Like other Orpington varieties, Blue Orpingtons are large-sized chickens. Blue Orpington roosters weigh approximately 10 pounds. Hens weigh around 8 pounds, although some Blue Orpington hens can be heavier.

Blue Orpingtons are great birds to raise in free-range or confinement for meat and eggs. Hens are incredible layers because most of them can lay over 200 eggs annually. Blue Orpington chickens are social, curious, and outgoing.

They are also interactive compared to other breeds. The chickens are docile and gentle, making them easy birds to handle. Because they aren’t independent, they can live peacefully with other breeds.

Roosters are friendly as their female counterparts, although they can be somewhat territorial. Because Blue Orpingtons are relatively large, these chickens are superb meat producers.

7. Grey Ameraucana

The Grey Ameraucana is another extraordinary grey breed to add to your flock. It’s known for laying light blue eyes.

The breed is a crossbreed of the Araucana and other chicken breeds to remove complex genetics. Grey Ameraucana chickens are indeed pretty birds.

These chickens have pea combs and red wattles. Both Grey Ameraucana hens and roosters have almost non-existent wattles. They have distinct faces, thanks to their beards and muffs. Thus, these chickens have a fluffy sweet look.

Grey Ameraucanas have U-shaped bodies that are compact. They have beautiful upright tails. They have no feathering on their feet, and these chickens have four toes. Grey Ameraucana chickens have white skins.

The leg color in these chickens depends on their plumage. It can either be black or slate blue. Grey Ameraucana chickens weigh around 6.5 lb. for roosters and 5.5 lb. for hens.

Grey Ameraucanas are curious and friendly. These chickens have a laid-back and cheery temperament. They constantly avoid trouble and may not get along with aggressive breeds.

Although they tolerate human interaction, Grey Ameraucana chickens aren’t your typical cuddly lap birds. Hens are efficient layers because they can lay around 200 eggs yearly, which is suitable for small families.

While the main reason for raising these birds is for meat production, Grey Ameraucana chickens also produce quality meat.

8. Wyandotte Chicken

The Wyandotte chicken is a big and beautiful grey breed. These large-sized chickens have plenty of feathers, making them look solid. They have large combs and wattles, making them unsuitable for colder climates due to frostbites.

Wyandotte chickens have yellow legs and four toes. They weigh approximately nine lb. for males and seven lb. for females. The chickens are reserved and don’t like mixing with other breeds.

Hens lay between 3 and 4 light brown or cream eggs. They have large eggs than most breeds, with some hens laying jumbo-sized eggs. Wyandotte chickens are excellent for quality meat.

9. Plymouth Rock

Plymouth Rocks are large-sized birds with long and broad backs. These grey chickens have yellowish toes and shanks.

Their beaks can have different colors. They have bright red earlobes and wattles. These chickens have single upright five-pointed combs.

Because they are heavyweight chickens, Plymouth Rocks are decent meat producers. The hardy breed can lay about 200 eggs yearly.

Therefore, Plymouth Rocks are some wonderful dual-purpose chickens to raise in confinement or free-range.

They weigh about 9.5 lb for roosters, while hens weigh approximately 7.5 lb. Plymouth Rocks have a calm, adaptable, and friendly temperament.

10. Grey Brahma Chicken

The Grey Brahma chicken is among the oldest grey breeds. Famed for its large size, the Grey Brahma chicken is a calm and docile breed suitable for eggs and meat.

Grey Brahma chickens have U-shaped bodies and grey, buff to dark grey feather patterns. Because of their thick feathers, these chickens are cold, hardy, and suitable for colder regions.

The chickens can tolerate confinement, although they thrive as foragers. They are calm, friendly, and docile.

They aren’t flighty, so it’s easy to contain these birds. Males weigh around ten lb., while females weigh approximately eight lb. Hens lay between 3 and 4 eggs weekly.

Conclusion

Grey chickens are pretty appealing. Most of them are great eggs and meat producers. They are also hardy and capable of thriving in almost any region.

Because there are too many grey breeds, it is good to look for a breed that suits your needs, whether you want a grey breed for eggs, as an ornamental pet, or for meat.