Help me narrow down breeds?

[AmeliaBedelia]

I'm gonna throw out a vote for Easter eggers. Noting for point #9 that most all lay through the first winter but will molt and take a break from laying by their 2nd winter. Many of us add in a couple new layers each year to combat this lull in production, selling off a couple older (least favorite) layers earlier in the year while still productive (with disclosure) if needed to make space.

Also including a couple of comparison charts..

http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html

https://www.canr.msu.edu/uploads/234/69325/Chicken_Breed_Chart_to_Help_Choose_Your_Chicken.pdf

https://www.cacklehatchery.com/chicken-breeds/

Thanks so much! Going to check out those links. I think the ameraucana-style easter eggers may be one of my favorites. Liking they come in different colors, and didn’t know about the winter eggs! Thats a plus!!

 

[AmeliaBedelia]

I'm a first time chicken owner. I had trouble narrowing down what breeds to get myself. I ordered 16 chicks from Meyers, of 10 different breeds. I did want other breeds, but I had to choose from what was hatching on that particular day. I ordered 15 hens and 1 rooster. But 1 of my Frizzled Easter Eggers were born with a deformity and passed away at 6 weeks of age.

For hens I have:
1x Blue (BBS) Ameraucana
1x Buff Orpington
1x Cream Legbar
1x Rhode Island Red
1x Black Jersey Giant
1x Frizzled Easter Egger
2x Fibro Easter Eggers
2x Black Copper Marans
2x Buff Brahmas
2x Cookies & Cream
And my rooster is a Blue (BBS) Ameraucana.

Out of all those breeds, my Buff Orpington is by far the friendliest. Next would be the Buff Brahmas, but you specifically said no feathered feet, so those would be ruled out. And coming in at 3rd friendliest, would be my Frizzled Easter Egger. The cookies and cream, which are black and white, are friendly as well, but they're also the smallest chickens on that list. They aren't bantam, they're just small. The Black Copper Marans are also friendly. My rooster is very friendly so far at 18 weeks. But the matching Blue (BBS) Ameraucana is on the skittish side.

Never heard of cookies and cream - I am intrigued. My main issue with bantams was not being able to order females. Rehoming one or maybe two roosters I could handle. Not half my chicks

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Aw, sorry. Was not trying to “diss” any breeds, just sharing how we had narrowed down so far.

I would LOVE araucana, but likely out of our price range…but maybe an ameraucana?

Nah, I know you're not trying to diss on the ones I have. I just dint have any you're looking for. Ice only ever had one ameraucana, and that was years ago. He was nice, but I don't remember much about how he was other than he wasn't trying to attack me

 

[ShaunJ421]

Never heard of cookies and cream - I am intrigued. My main issue with bantams was not being able to order females. Rehoming one or maybe two roosters I could handle. Not half my chicks

I don't have any really good pictures of them right now. And the ones I do have are from weeks ago. They've gotten more of a black and white patten on their chest now. You can see one of them behind my rooster. If you zoom in the picture of all of them, they're all the way in the back, in the middle.

 

[NatJ]

Here are our criteria. Looking to have about 5 hens:

1. Friendly/docile (these will be “egg laying pets”)
2. Relatively quiet (we have neighbors nearby)
3. No bantams (straight run not a great idea since we have to rehome or cull any roosters )
4. No feathered feet - our back garden tends to get muddy during summer rains
5. Son loves golden/buff or black and white hens, so one that is one of those colors
6. My husband thinks all black chickens “look creepy” (I think it’s the all-black eyes), so those are out
7. I don’t think we want hybrids since they seem to develop more health issues
8. Good egg-laying, a variety of colors, etc is a bonus
9. I would love to get a couple that tend to lay closer to year-round
10. We definitely get hot weather (90s F), usually our winter lows are only slightly below freezing (occasionally a night will dip below 20F), rarely get snow but a light snow is possible. So heat tolerant is a must, but thinking all-around temperature tolerance is best.

Anyway, thanks in advance to anyone willing to share a breed that comes to mind! We are debating doing a catalogue order and selling the extras vs going to a local feed store that carries different breeds each week. The number of options is pretty overwhelming though!

I would probably go with:
--two or three Easter Eggers (often listed as "Americana" by hatcheries)
--one buff or golden hen, likely a Buff Orpington who will lay brown eggs
--one black & white hen, maybe a Mottled Ancona or Silver Spangled Hamburg because they will lay white eggs, or maybe a Silver Laced Wyandotte or Delaware because they are probably calmer than the white eggers.
--one Red Sexlink (sold as Red Star, ISA Brown, Golden Comet, and many other names). They tend to lay really well, and the eggs may be a darker brown than what Orpingtons or Wyandottes will lay.

That would make 5 or 6 in total, and would probably give a variety of egg colors with a reasonably good rate of lay.

My main issue with bantams was not being able to order females. Rehoming one or maybe two roosters I could handle. Not half my chicks

It sometimes works well to order more chicks than you want (2 pullets of each breed, or 4+ straight run), then pick the favorites and rehome the rest. That means a lot more rehoming, but it also provides a backup if one chick dies, or is mis-sexed, or is otherwise unsatisfactory.

 

[Beer can]

Naked neck turkens are about the best breed there is. Good in super hot temps and super cold, lay great, calm, and they just look cool most exotic bird out there IMHO and I ain't the least bit biased

 

[AmeliaBedelia]

Naked neck turkens are about the best breed there is. Good in super hot temps and super cold, lay great, calm, and they just look cool most exotic bird out there IMHO and I ain't the least bit biased

I will take a look!

 

[AmeliaBedelia]

I would probably go with:
--two or three Easter Eggers (often listed as "Americana" by hatcheries)
--one buff or golden hen, likely a Buff Orpington who will lay brown eggs
--one black & white hen, maybe a Mottled Ancona or Silver Spangled Hamburg because they will lay white eggs, or maybe a Silver Laced Wyandotte or Delaware because they are probably calmer than the white eggers.
--one Red Sexlink (sold as Red Star, ISA Brown, Golden Comet, and many other names). They tend to lay really well, and the eggs may be a darker brown than what Orpingtons or Wyandottes will lay.

That would make 5 or 6 in total, and would probably give a variety of egg colors with a reasonably good rate of lay.


It sometimes works well to order more chicks than you want (2 pullets of each breed, or 4+ straight run), then pick the favorites and rehome the rest. That means a lot more rehoming, but it also provides a backup if one chick dies, or is mis-sexed, or is otherwise unsatisfactory.

So I think I could get a decent number of those from our feed store, especially if it would work ok to get two batches (they get chicks twice per week, different types).

Or I could do a hatchery order, but the first couple I looked at had pretty sparse availability already . And price per chicken would actually be a bit higher than the feed store charges. BUT I could do more unusual breeds, like bieldefleder (sp?) or a New Hampshire instead of Rhode Island Red. But buff orpingtons were not available the week many of the others are, so would have to do the buff version of the plymouth rock if we wanted a “blond” hen. But at least we have a good starting point!

 

[3KillerBs]

One option when you don't know what you want is to get the hatchery choice assortment. Get more than you want, keep the ones you like, and sell the rest.

Since your husband doesn't want black birds but Australorps are good layers and well suited to the heat, try some Blue Australorps. I just love mine.

 

[Iluveggers]

Here are a bunch of suggestions for you, as your criteria were very similar to ours when we started our flock (& adding to it)! There are more than 5, but wanted to give you a bunch!

Ones we have that I can answer questions about:
Brahma
Easter Egger
Barred Plymouth Rock
Orpington
Speckled Sussex
Salmon Faverolles

Ones we are adding based on recommendations:
Bielefelder
Cochin
Naked Neck
Australorp

Friendly birds you might not want:
Welsummer (I love ours, but she is the LOUDEST chicken I have ever heard!) After researching, they are known to be a super loud breed.

Mt Healthy has a small minimum order and lots of availability. Ideal has about an 8 chick minimum and lots still available. McMurray has very limited availability for 2023 but worth checking. Meyer has lots of availability but $50 shipping on a small order, which is much higher than the rest I listed.

Hope that helps! Please come back to the thread & share what you decided on & where they are coming from!