Thoughts on this list....

So, I recently acquired a large cotton trailer that I will be converting into my coop. The extra space will allow me around 40 hens. I plan on ordering from one source to maintain simplicity and, since Ideal is an hour from my location, I will be picking up there in the spring. So far, my list is as follows:

1. White Leghorn
2. Blue Andulusian
3. Buff Minorca
4. Buff Catalana
5. Norwegian Jaerhon
6. White-Faced Black Spanish
7. Silver-Spangled Hamburg
8. Silver Lakenvelder
9. Gold Lakenvelder
10. Black Australorp
11. Mottled Java
12. Black Langshan
13. Cuckoo Marans
14. Welsummer
15. Black Jersey Giant
16. Golden Laced Wyandottes

Egg production is the main focus but, with 40 hens, it won't be a huge priority. I just wanted a mix of colors and temperaments and thought this would provide that. Does anyone have any bad experiences with these varieties?

The list looks good to me. All of the breeds you selected are generally great egg layers, are beautiful birds, and are hardy in heat (which is good if you live in a hot state like Texas). If you lived in a colder area, I would be concerned about the combs of some of the breeds (Leghorn, Minorca, Catalana, Spanish, etc.) getting frostbitten, but in your case, I don't think that will be a problem.

The only breed on your list that I have personal experience with is the Wyandotte. I currently have 2 large fowl Wyandottes and several Wyandotte Bantams. All of them have great temperaments. My large fowl Wyandottes have been wonderful layers, still averaging an egg nearly every day (in summertime) despite the fact that they are 4 years old.

Your list looks great to me. All of the breeds should be decent layers with varying temperaments, and should be able to survive your hot summers easily.

Of the breeds, the ones I've had the most experience with are the Wyandottes. Mine have been excellent layers, sweet, personable birds, and quite hardy. They have lived peacefully with several other breeds. I'd recommend them to any new poultry person.

I've never actually kept Australorps, but I do have some experience with them, as I used to volunteer at a place that had two. They are usually great layers, and many people say that they are good "lap chickens" that tame easily. With that said, the two that I knew weren't exactly gentle or tame. But, they could have been the exception rather than the rule.

Thank you. Here in Texas it rarely gets much colder than the 20s and it usually isn't that cold for very long. My birds will also be able to get inside out of the cold.

My experience is with
1). Golden Lakenvelder-- not very good layers and wild as a deer.
2). Mottled Java-- late maturing slightly better layer than Golden Lakenvelders.
3). Black Jersey Giants-- mine were not from Ideal they were heritage Giants. These were fairly good layers. Had 5 hens and averaged 2 to 3 eggs a day. They to are late maturing breed. Mine were 8 months and three days old when they started.

The first 2 breeds were Ideal stock.

My wife and I were both raised in the great state of Texas (Blue Ridge for her, Greenville for me). In 50 years of raising chickens, I have at one time or another most of the breeds on your list. The Mediterranean breeds on your list (White Leghorn, Blue Andalusian, Buff Minorca, and White-Faced Black Spanish) are all good layers (White Leghorns are egg laying machines), but they are all high strung and flighty. All the Mediterranean breeds that I've ever had screamed bloody murder when I handled them and my children hated them (it's why I don't have Mediterranean breeds any more). The two continental class birds on your list, Silver Spangled Hamburgs and Silver and Gold Lakenvelders are very good layers, but they are as high strung and flighty as they Mediterranean breeds. Also, if you plan on free ranging your birds, the Hamburgs are as likely to roost in trees as in your coop. Black Australorps are my favorite standard breed. They are extremely hardy, calm and gentle (my children, and now my granddaughter, made lap pets of them), and the best layers of the standard, brown egg laying breeds. A BA holds the brown egg laying record with 364 eggs in 365 days, and while none of mine have ever reached that kind of production (and likely never will), I've still had a few of them lay over 300 eggs in a year. Javas and Langshans are generally docile birds (although not quite the lap pets that Australorps are), and they are decent layers producing 3 eggs per week. Cuckoo Marans and Welsummers are normally pretty docile although I had a few wild ones, particularly among my Marans. Both are also decent layers (3 eggs per week for the Marans, 3-4 for the Welsummers) of beautiful chocolate (very dark brown) eggs. Golden Laced Wyandottes are generally docile. I have had a couple of aggressive Wyandottes, but they were the exception rather than the rule, and they are good layers (3-4 eggs per week). I've never had Buff Catalanas or Norwegian Jaerhons, so I cannot comment from personal experience on those. I hope this helps. )