Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to join our flock. Raising chickens is a wonderful experience for children. Rhode Island Reds are a very hardy, excellent laying breed but a number of BYC members (including myself) have had issues at times with Rhode Island Reds being aggressive (especially hatchery quality ones). Since your children are going to be involved in the process, I would recommend getting one of the breeds that has a well deserved reputation for being calm and gentle (lap pets) such as Faverolles, Australorps, Orpingtons, Sussex, Cochins, or Brahmas. Of course there can always be an exception with any breed. If high egg production is a priority, Australorps are the best layers on this list. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Cheers.
