Ideal Flock for Laying?

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Are RSL & RIR's pretty similar in personality?

Tetra Tints are a LH cross aren't they? I know there was a lot of those available around here last year so that may be an easy choice for me. Does anyone know if they're calmer than Leghorns?

Only one person suggested Barred Rocks, would anyone else suggest them?

I LOVE my sex links, and vowed to never again have Rhode Island Reds. My RSL are so calm and easy going, and lay WAY better than the hatchery RIRs I've had. My RIRs were nasty, and they panicked easily, and would fly into the glass of the windows when I went in the hen house. I really disliked those birds. I know many people love them, but in a contest between RIR and RSL, the RSL would win every time. Heck, my RSLs are even prettier than the RIRs. I keep a RIR rooster because I like him and he can help me make sex links, but I won't have any RIR hens.

Tetra Tints are a proprietary cross between white Leghorns and RIRs. I bought mine because they were older chicks at TSC that hadn't sold, so they were half price AND already starting to feather, so that meant someone else had fed them for a couple of weeks. Anyway, I think they are ugly, but they lay well and their eggs are a lovely cream color. I find them to be about the same as my white Leghorns, temperament-wise. Now, I like my Leghorns and they aren't too flighty, but I also don't pick my hens up or expect them to want to be touched, so your mileage may vary. I just want mine not to panic when I walk among them. I'll have some homegrown "Tetra Tints" next year--crosses between my RIR rooster and white Leghorns--we'll see how that experiment works out.

I love all Rocks, no matter what the color. I think I'll always keep some. Right now I have a buff Rock and two silver penciled, but I've had barred Rocks before, too. They are very heavy birds--good dual purpose, if you're planning to eat some. They're also very pretty.

 

[dreamcatcherarabians]

I love the EE's, SLW's, Buff Orps, and though not the most prolific layer, certainly one of the hardiest birds my Sebright. I've had 3 flocks and she's the sole survivor from the first one. She's getting older so I only get 2 or 3 eggs/week from her but I figure she's probably earned a retirement just for being so hardy. I also LOVE LOVE LOVE my Cochins. They lay ok, not stupendously, but they are beautiful and sweet. I have a couple of Welsummers too, they lay well and are pretty nice birds. If you want the kind that will sit in your lap and actually act like they like it, I'd throw some Cochins in the mix.

I don't really handle the ones I bought strictly for egg production too much but I do keep a few of the Cochins around for eye candy and the pleasure of being able to handle a fairly calm and friendly bird.

 

[Bleenie]

The only handling I would need to do with the layers is checking them for mites or being able to pick them up if someone got injured... without being ripped up or beat to death with their wings, lol.

My wyandottes I have now tollerate me messing with them when they're roosted at night but otherwise run if i get within touching distance & that suits me just fine. I just don't want any really crazy-acting birds.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

The only handling I would need to do with the layers is checking them for mites or being able to pick them up if someone got injured... without being ripped up or beat to death with their wings, lol.

My wyandottes I have now tollerate me messing with them when they're roosted at night but otherwise run if i get within touching distance & that suits me just fine. I just don't want any really crazy-acting birds.

I think you'd be fine with Tetra Tints and/or Leghorns, then. I do all my flock work at night, too. I can pick everyone up off the perch at night.
The real difference between my Leghorns and RSL is that I can pick the RSL up off the floor during the day and they won't beat their wings. The Leghorns will.

Those RIR I used to have--I'd walk into the hen house and they'd try to fly through the (glass) window. I got mine from Murray McMurray--don't know if other hatcheries would have birds with better temperaments.

Now, all this being said, i'm talking about adult birds. Since I don't handle my birds much, all my pullets are flighty. Then they all sort of magically calm down when they get to laying age.

 

[nok13]

my leghorns were really flightly but a/ we clipped there wing feathers and b/ i always go in with feed, and encourage them to take some from my hand while i stroke their backs. if i have to catch them, i do it slowly and gently, one hand under their body holding the feet, the other holding their back and pinning the wings to prevent that flappignsquawking dance... i also am used to moving among animals of all sorts so i always move slowly and surely, with eyes ont eh back of my head *from working with donkeys, and carnivores, and horny rams /// even at night when i go in to close the coop door when im back from work, i do it slowly, and quietly, and i check the coop with a small flashlight to be sure the girls are in side (head count) and nothing else is int here that shouldnt be , take eggs if there are any, and quietly close the door. my coop sits on a rock so i have to climb up on the rock, and do a certain amount of maneurvering , but the girls jsut wake up a bit and cheep at me. when they sleep is the best time to get them to do any thing, like removing them to somewher else , or checking them.