Greenfire Farms Rare Breed or Rainbow Egg Layer Mix

[SlipsWife]

Has anyone ordered the rare breed or rainbow egg layer mix? What did you receive?

I'm mainly looking for colorful eggs so I'm leaning towards the rainbow egg layer mix but I'm curious if they sometimes include some of their more expensive 'rare breed' chicks in the special (not just rare/uncommon variations of more common breeds).

I would only hold back a few layers and then sell the others, I'm not sure if the market in our area would really be interested in 'special breeds'.


From Greenfire Farms website:

Rainbow Egg Layer Mix

For those looking exclusively for intriguing colors to fill your cartons with, we have put together an assortment of breeds that will give you a rainbow of color each time you collect eggs. Whether you are a homesteader that enjoys the novelty of a chocolate brown egg, or an egg vendor looking for that color pop that will set you apart at market, we have a diverse selection of chicks to fill your assortment.

For $249 plus shipping, we will send you a mix of straight run chicks selected for variation in egg color. Your assortment will include breeds that, combined, will yield at least three different egg colors. That means of the egg colors we offer (blue, green, brown, tan, tinted, and white) your order will be a selection of at least three breeds, none of which will lay the same color egg as the others included. For example, you could get an order with Isbars, Legbars, and Marans which would lay green, blue, and chocolate brown eggs, respectively. We cannot guarantee the sex of these chicks and therefore cannot estimate how many hens you will receive. However, if we ship you chicks from any of our autosexing breeds, we promise to send only hens and never any roosters.

Rare Breed Mix

For $249, we will send you a dozen various chicks selected from our hatch. Availability differs from week to week, so we cannot honor any requests and we cannot guaranteed which breeds you will be receiving. However, we do guarantee that you will receive at least four different breeds in your mix. This selection is perfect for beginners that are looking to get started with rare breeds but aren't quite sure where to start. You'll get an introduction to some of our favorites and the exciting part is getting to watch them all grow out together and see the comparisons of different temperaments, plumage, etc. This is one of our best sellers!




Available Breeds from Website




55 Flowery Hen
This unique auto-sexing breed was developed in Sweden and is great for dual-purpose needs.


Altsteirer
An excellent dual purpose breed that hails from Austria. Great free-rangers and exceptional meat quality!


American Bresse
Known as the queen of chickens and the chicken of kings. This remarkable French table breed is world-renowned for its flavor and unique, fat-marbled flesh.


Ayam Cemani
The most unique chicken on the planet! Revered for its striking, all-black appearance, this chicken is known for its black feathers, black skin, black comb, black flesh, black organs, and black bones!


Barbezieux
This leggy French breed is prized for its exceptional meat quality. Its giant stature makes it one of the most awe-inspiring table breeds in the Greenfire repertoire.


Barnevelder
A dainty, bantam Barnevelder with the most elegant silver double lacing. Truly, the most exquisite plumage.


Bielefelder
The most outstanding dual-purpose, auto-sexing breed around. This friendly, highly productive bird is one of our bestsellers!


Chocolate Partridge Wyandotte
This docile bantam combines an exceptionally rare color with an exceptionally astonishing pattern to create a one of a kind Wyandotte variety.


Cream Legbar
The most popular autosexing breed in the world! This blue-egg laying wonder bird has a rich heritage and was originally imported into the U.S. by Greenfire.


Deathlayer
As the name implies, this productive German breed has a much longer laying life than any other breed. They practically lay until DEATH!


Flarry Eye Grey
This striking game bird gets its name from its most incredible characteristic, its flaming red eyes!


Frisian Gull
This striking German breed lays tons of eggs. Its compact, athletic body lends itself well to free-ranging.


Isbar
A unique breed that hails from Sweden and is known for its moss green eggs.


Lavender Wyandotte
No other plumage coloring in the chicken genome is more breathtaking than the smoky, ethereal hue of lavender. These large fowl Wyandottes are stunning examples.


Light Sussex
This rotund, dual-purpose breeds is one of the first Greenfire Farms ever imported. And to this day, it remains a favorite. If you're looking for a gentle, productive breed, the light Sussex will outperform.


Lyonnaise
An adept free-ranging bird from France. This mid-size bird is known for its flavorful meat and gentle disposition.


Malines
This gentle giant lays an enormous number of eggs. Its one of our most popular dual-purpose breeds, and for good reason!


Marans
If you're looking for a hen that will lay exceptionally dark chocolate eggs, then you have found it! This fine, dual-purpose French breed is known for its exceptional egg flavor.


Marsh Daisy
This sturdy, free-range breed originated in the wet meadows of Lancashire, England. It's practical qualities make it an excellent homestead breed!


Merlerault
This crested, dual-purpose French breed is known for its mothering skills. If you're looking for a broody hen, this is your best bet!


Niederrheiner
These gorgeous, lemon-cuckoo birds are incredible examples of the 'dual-purpose' moniker. Their lovely, warm-hued plumage and gentle dispositions make them an excellent backyard attraction.


Olandsk Dwarf
What this tiny Swedish landrace breed lacks in size, it more than makes up for with boldness and charm. Once exceptionally rare, this breed has gained a cult following in the U.S.


Orust
This exotic, Swedish landrace breed survived on the formidable coast of western Sweden where it scavenged fish to survive. You won't find a more tenacious free-ranger.


Pavlovskaya
This incredibly unique Russian breed is especially cold-hardy. If you're interested in a breed with a really intriguing history, read on!


Queen Silvia
This exceptionally productive breed possesses regal good-looks and a certain commoner hardiness that make it an indispensable homesteading breed.


Spitzhauben
A rather small large fowl bird, the Spitzhauben packs a punch in the originality department! Its distinctive crest and bustling little personality have gained this breed quite a bit of popularity.


Sulmtaler
Touted by the Germans as having the finest quality meat, the Sulmtaler is an excellent dual-purpose breed!


Swedish Black Hen
A sturdier, more cold-hardy version of its distant cousin, the Ayam Cemani, the Swedish Black Hen is an utterly captivating bird. Combining practicality with bewitching good looks, this breed is definitely a conversation starter.


Swedish Flower Hen
Hands down, Greenfire's most popular breed to date! This beautiful, Swedish landrace breed possesses all the splendor and diversity of a field of wildflowers.


Twentse
This fierce looking Dutch breed has a gentle disposition and lays tons of tinted eggs. Their upright station and muscular physique make them excellent free-rangers that are vigilant against predators.


Yamato Gunkei
This exotic, ornamental breed is nothing short of impressive. The wrinkles in their comb, face, and wattles lend to a dramatically fierce appearance. But don't be fooled, this is one of the gentlest breeds on our farm.

 

[cgmccary]

If I was wanting varied, colorful egg colors & that was the goal, I would order sexed Easter Eggers from one of the hatcheries. You'll get white, pink, brown, green and brown. Also, it will be $2-$3 a chick and because they're sexed, you will get all pullets (on rare occasion a male will trick them but likely all be females). They will also grow up all different color birds.

However, Greenfire sends straight run so likely 1/2 males, more or less and for $249.

A no-brainer.

 

[SlipsWife]

If I was wanting varied, colorful egg colors & that was the goal, I would order sexed Easter Eggers from one of the hatcheries. You'll get white, pink, brown, green and brown. Also, it will be $2-$3 a chick and because they're sexed, you will get all pullets (on rare occasion a male will trick them but likely all be females). They will also grow up all different color birds.

However, Greenfire sends straight run so likely 1/2 males, more or less and for $249.

A no-brainer.

I have 2 Easter egger pullets that just started laying and both are laying the EXACT same shade of green. We have chickens for a few years and sold them all a little over a year ago and are starting over (I regret selling them! We had a great flock started). In our first group we had legbars and I really miss the blue eggs. I don't know when I'll be able to make the trip to the breeder we got our first legbars from so I looked into Greenfire.

I was mainly hoping that the 'rare breed' might include something awesome, then it would be worth it 'for fun' but it might be better to stick with what we have and get a blue egg layer when I can make the trip. I have other Easter eggers in the brooder, along with a couple of other breeds (a few other breeds are also about to start laying). I just want it all...now...lol

The legbars are sex-links so I had planned to order a couple to make sure I got them in whichever mix I picked. Darn chickens are addicting...

 

[dekel18042]

If I was wanting varied, colorful egg colors & that was the goal, I would order sexed Easter Eggers from one of the hatcheries. You'll get white, pink, brown, green and brown. Also, it will be $2-$3 a chick and because they're sexed, you will get all pullets (on rare occasion a male will trick them but likely all be females). They will also grow up all different color birds.

However, Greenfire sends straight run so likely 1/2 males, more or less and for $249.

A no-brainer.

I thought the same thing. Theoretically half should be cockerels which would leave you 12 or 13 pullets but I've known people in similar situations who got 5 of 25 pullets or 3 of 15.
What are your plans for the extra roosters? For a fraction of the cost you could go to My Pet Chicken or another hatchery and order sexed chicks. I've dealt with several hatcheries and you can get one of each breed you want. EE's for a little over three dollars a chick. Mine lay either a beautiful blue or teal. My cream legbar eggs were greenish. (So much for blue there.) I had very dark chocolate Black copper marans eggs and speckled cuckoo marans and blue splash marans and terra cotta speckled welsummer eggs. Then I made my own olive eggers so technically they were free and I get beautiful olive eggs or speckled olive eggs and one lays a greyish olive (That was a surprise.) and I get cream eggs and pinkish (Jersey Giants or Jersey Giant X's. and white and tinted white, and I didn't pay anywhere near what GFF wanted and I had the fun of making many of them myself. My most expensive pullets were $10.00 for the black copper marans and splash marans and everything else was $4.50 or less apiece. So you could get a dozen different girls for less than $100.00 and that would include your shipping and no extra roosters.

 

[SlipsWife]

I thought the same thing. Theoretically half should be cockerels which would leave you 12 or 13 pullets but I've known people in similar situations who got 5 of 25 pullets or 3 of 15.
What are your plans for the extra roosters? For a fraction of the cost you could go to My Pet Chicken or another hatchery and order sexed chicks. I've dealt with several hatcheries and you can get one of each breed you want. EE's for a little over three dollars a chick. Mine lay either a beautiful blue or teal. My cream legbar eggs were greenish. (So much for blue there.) I had very dark chocolate Black copper marans eggs and speckled cuckoo marans and blue splash marans and terra cotta speckled welsummer eggs. Then I made my own olive eggers so technically they were free and I get beautiful olive eggs or speckled olive eggs and one lays a greyish olive (That was a surprise.) and I get cream eggs and pinkish (Jersey Giants or Jersey Giant X's. and white and tinted white, and I didn't pay anywhere near what GFF wanted and I had the fun of making many of them myself. My most expensive pullets were $10.00 for the black copper marans and splash marans and everything else was $4.50 or less apiece. So you could get a dozen different girls for less than $100.00 and that would include your shipping and no extra roosters.

How much did my husband pay you to talk some sense into me?

Our first cream legbars laid a very light blue, we had different shades of green from our EE and then browns/tinted from turkens/sexlinks/partridge rocks. Our current group that are just starting to lay or should be soon are 2 EE (both laying the same color green) a leghorn, a barred rock, 2 sexlinks (or possibly new Hampshire reds). I have 10 EE pullets, 2 cuckoo marans, 5 turkens, 2 sexlinks and 2 leghorns in the brooder right now with plans to only keep a few. I might just have to hang onto the EE longer than planned to see what colors they lay.

I really do miss our beautiful legbar rooster and the light blue eggs from the cream legbars. I might just wait it out until I can make a trip to the breeder of our original stock. I haven't been able to find a hatchery with availability for cream legbar pullets anytime soon. I'm also thinking about an Isbar. I really need to slowly down and 'build' my flock but I miss our colorful basket so much I want them now...lol

I was really hoping that I might get a couple of random chicks from the more expensive/exotic breeds that they have in a mix so paying so much would be 'worth it' and fun, like finding a good sale on something. I would never be able to justify spending $100-$500 on a single chick. I would order hatching eggs but I've tried hatching a few times and only had 1 chick ever hatch so I need to 'practice' some more (I think I need a different incubator) before investing in eggs.

 

[Weehopper]

GF charges way too much for their birds. You might check your local fairs which are starting up nationwide about now. You can usually get some very good deals from reputable breeders who are showing. The 4H'ers usually do outstanding work raising their birds, and will be having some for sale. Even if you don't buy any, you will have fun looking at the various breeds.

 

[MeepBeep]

My cream legbar eggs were greenish.  (So much for blue there.)

Most of the generic US Cream Legbar stock lays a slightly green tinted blue egg, there are breeders like myself working to clean the egg color up and get a more true blue color but it takes time, especially for me as my goal is to breed out a nice looking White Legbar line that lays a more true blue egg, so two things at once for me to work on... I'm also working on my own blue laying line, focusing on trying to get a unique looking breed that eventually breeds true...

GF charges way too much for their birds.

One has to remember that Greenfire is the sole reason many of these breeds exist in the US, they take on a huge risk as well as investing a lot of money and time into importing birds that no one else will, that is why they charge what they charge...

Back to the OP, if it was my and I was just after colored eggs, I would not roll the dice at GF prices, sure you might get a bird that justifies the price, but you very well might not, or you might get a heavy load of roosters as well... If all you want is colored eggs you should be able to find someone local that can hook you up with some barnyard mixes that toss different colored eggs, or simply order from a hatchery and pick and choose a mixture of breeds...

For example if anyone was to buy hatching eggs out of my general population coop they would likely get a rainbow basket of layers...

And if you have the time and space you can easily breed your own variety of egg colored offspring with just a few starter breeds...

 

[SlipsWife]

Most of the generic US Cream Legbar stock lays a slightly green tinted blue egg, there are breeders like myself working to clean the egg color up and get a more true blue color but it takes time, especially for me as my goal is to breed out a nice looking White Legbar line that lays a more true blue egg, so two things at once for me to work on... I'm also working on my own blue laying line, focusing on trying to get a unique looking breed that eventually breeds true...
One has to remember that Greenfire is the sole reason many of these breeds exist in the US, they take on a huge risk as well as investing a lot of money and time into importing birds that no one else will, that is why they charge what they charge...

Back to the OP, if it was my and I was just after colored eggs, I would not roll the dice at GF prices, sure you might get a bird that justifies the price, but you very well might not, or you might get a heavy load of roosters as well... If all you want is colored eggs you should be able to find someone local that can hook you up with some barnyard mixes that toss different colored eggs, or simply order from a hatchery and pick and choose a mixture of breeds...

For example if anyone was to buy hatching eggs out of my general population coop they would likely get a rainbow basket of layers...

And if you have the time and space you can easily breed your own variety of egg colored offspring with just a few starter breeds...

Thank you for your reply. I need to stop trying to build my flock back overnight!

 

[MeepBeep]

Thank you for your reply.  I need to stop trying to build my flock back overnight!

Yes, the slightly longer plan has it;s perks...

If you buy a few seeder birds or hatching eggs now, you do have the hassle of broodering over winter, but they will be ready to breed come spring, meaning by this time next year you could have bred out a collection of multiple colored egg layers of your choosing for cheap...

 

[SlipsWife]

Yes, the slightly longer plan has it;s perks...

If you buy a few seeder birds or hatching eggs now, you do have the hassle of broodering over winter, but they will be ready to breed come spring, meaning by this time next year you could have bred out a collection of multiple colored egg layers of your choosing for cheap...

My few attempts at incubating have been massive fails, I think I need a better incubator.