We currently have 4 Australorp hens in our backyard pen. I'm sure they'll be laying in no time. Then we'll be enjoying home fresh eggs right from our own backyard.

The Australorp Breed was developed in Australia at the end of the nineteenth century with Black Orpington stock from England. The breed also has genes from Rhode Island Red, White Leghorn, Langshan and Minorca crosses.

The purpose of the breed was as a “utility” chicken for both high egg production and meat. It was originally known as the Black Utility Orpingtons. The breed was standardized after World War One and admitted to the Standard of Perfection in 1929 in England under the fitting name Australorp.

By the end of World War Two, Australian poultry breeders wrote up their own breed standards, which have been accepted worldwide. Historically, Australorps have been egg-laying champions: an Australorp hen once laid 364 eggs in 365 days