Hybrid layer
ISA Brown
The ISA Brown is a commercial hybrid brown-egg layer from ISA (Hendrix Genetics). Hens are calm and lay heavily, about 300-320 eggs a year in a backyard setting. Like other high-production hybrids, they tend to have a shorter productive life.
At a glance
300–320eggs a year
4.3 lbhen weight
Traits
- Egg colour
- light brown to brown
- Temperament
- calm, docile
- Origin
- Commercial hybrid from ISA (Hendrix Genetics)
- Bantam size
- No
- APA standard
- Not recognized
- Purpose
- eggs
Good for
- beginners
- maximum egg production
Watch out for
- hybrid: will not breed true
- high-production hybrids have a shorter lifespan than heritage breeds
- breeder performance figures come from commercial housing and nutrition
Looks and feathers
Commercial brown-egg layer. Breeder data (cage housing, 18-100 weeks): 476 eggs per hen housed, average egg weight 62.5 g, 50% production at 145 days, hen body weight 1,950 g.
Our drawing shows the most common US variety; colours vary.
Similar breeds
All breedsSources
- 1ISA Brown product page (performance table)ISA / Hendrix Genetics
- 2Managing Chickens From Chicks to Peak Egg ProductionUtah State University Extension (J. Okoh, E. Perry; October 2025)
- 3Accepted Breeds & VarietiesAmerican Poultry Association
Hatcheries often disagree on eggs a year; ranges span every source we read. How we check the facts.