Looking for recommendations of what breed of chicken to add to our flock!

[johndeerelover]

I currently have 3 golden comet (sexlink) hens. They are about 3 years old and we still get some eggs from them. They seem good and healthy. We used to have more but several died over the last year. (none recently) I've been reading that this hybrid type breed usually doesn't have very long lives. We have a pretty good sized fenced area and they roam around outside every day. We have wire fence mostly about 5 feet high.

I am thinking about adding welsummers, Ameraucana, marans or a combination of them. What do you think?

They do have room to roam, but in the winter months they are stuck in with snow etc. We have a pretty good size coop and run that covers with a tarp.

My main wants are that they won't be flying out of the fence. I know that can depend on the bird, but maybe you know that one of these breeds likes to fly a lot more?

We enjoy using the eggs. If possible we would like to get a few eggs in the winter. I do not use a light in the winter.

Thanks for any help!!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Nice coop, I'm dreaming of winter, grabbing a cup of coffee and going to see the chickens.

Comets lay well right away and tend to burn out early, those three breeds I have found to be not as good of layers, 3-5 eggs a week compared to your sex links, all three tend to be in between on the flying out ability.

I will make a few suggestions, if you want lots of eggs stick to sex links, if you are okay with less eggs a week, but a longer laying life look into more dual purpose birds, rocks, australorps, Orpingtons, RIR, they will give less eggs a week, but lay for many years, and the heavier the bird the less flying. Those you mentioned will lay pretty eggs but I haven't found them to be unreliable layers.

Any chickens you get will lay through the first winter than molt on the second, so in order to get eggs ever winter you must get a few chicks ever year, otherwise you have to wait for them to finish molting before they will resume, think of it as a vacation for your hard working hens, they are technically giving birth when they lay, it is taxing.

 

[johndeerelover]

Thanks for the reply. Are Orpingtons larger than the welsummers, marans & ameracauna? Also does anyone know how the golden comet compares in size to the breeds I mentioned?

 

[junebuggena]

Brahmas and Faverolles are very cold hardy breeds that lay well and are a bit too heavy to do much flying. Most hatcheries sell Easter Eggers labeled as Ameraucana. The only big hatchery that sells true Ameraucana is Meyer. Easter Eggers can be any where from 4 pounds to over 8 pounds. Their production abilities also vary quite a bit. The big, single combs of Welsummers and Marans might be a concern for frostbite during winter. Other cold hardy breeds are Orpingtons, Wyandottes, Chanteclers, and Buckeyes.
Gold Comets tend to be medium sized birds.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Orpingtons are a bit bigger than those breeds, a couple of pounds heavier, but they are fluffier so they look twice as big, comets are about the same size as the ones you are thinking about. I am a bit biased because Orpingtons are my favorite breed, I don't have any trouble with them, they are personable and lay well.

 

[ECBW]

I had mix flock because I like the different plumage. But I am going to focus of ROI. So leghorns and sexlinks for me,

 

[Peeps61]

I got a batch of chicks from Murray McMurray's hatchery, and I have been very pleased with all of them. I have 3 red sex links, and they seem pretty calm in comparison to some of the others. For egg production, the Black Australorps are good, but mine fly pretty well. (Which I like because I free range and I want them to get away from predators.) We live on 10 acres, but they stay pretty close to their coop.

My Silver Laced Wyndottes are beautiful - but they fly. Two of them have taken to roosting in the rafters of the barn. The others go into the coop. Oddly enough, my four white leghorns are my favorites! They are the friendliest out of the bunch, with the Speckled Sussex and Black Australorps right behind them. You won't beat a white leghorn for egg production. They are egg-laying machines.

 

[Mutt Farm]

Orpingtons are a bit bigger than those breeds, a couple of pounds heavier, but they are fluffier so they look twice as big, comets are about the same size as the ones you are thinking about. I am a bit biased because Orpingtons are my favorite breed, I don't have any trouble with them, they are personable and lay well.

^^^ X2 I'm not a breed eggspert at all. Sharing my experience with the breeds I keep. Orpingtons are noted for being good winter layers, cold hearty. Here in So Cal, my winters are shall I say "mild"

They are such sweet docile birds, IME they coop up very well and aren't the slightest bit flighty. They really struggle in hot humid weather. In contrast, I have 3 Easter Eggers (sold as mis-spelled Amerecaunas) They are quite lean and flighty. I found mine roosting on the rafters and resorted to clipping both wings to keep them in a 6" fencing. Don't discount them solely on that, as the "breed" varies tremendously. I have 4 Wyandottes, very pleasant good sized hens as well. Not flighty and also provide beautiful large eggs. I don't know about winter laying though. I also have Marans, also coop up well, docile not a bit flighty. Waiting for dark brown eggs from them. I ordered a couple of several breeds last spring so I could see which I'd be the happiest with.
Your coop is absolutely fantastic!

Look forward to hearing what you choose! Best of luck.

 

[aart]

Nice looking coop!

Not many birds will lay in the winter without supplemental light after the first year.
I've found brahmas to be not such great layers per week.

 

[Ridgerunner]

How well are your Golden Comets staying inside the fence? Since that is so high on your priority list I’d think not really well. That will give you a pretty good indication as to how likely the others are going to stay in, though as you said, it depends on the individual bird a lot too. Practically any chicken can fly over a 5’ fence if they are motivated but most won’t as long as they have sufficient room to roam inside the fence. Heavier chickens tend to fly less than lighter chickens. There are two cases where I’ve seen them get out though.

Chickens like to perch. If the top of your fence has places that look like good places to perch they might just fly up there to enjoy looking around and who knows which side they might hop down on. That could be a solid top rail or just a solid post sticking up above your wire fence. If the top of your fence is wire they won’t be flying up there to perch.

Another time is when there is conflict and a chicken is trapped against the fence, especially in a corner. The chicken goes vertical trying to get away and might come down on the wrong side of the fence. I’ve seen this happen with cockerels going through puberty and having their dominance/pecking order fights or hens trying to get away from an amorous rooster. Some individuals learn that they can escape from any of these things and start doing so daily but most don’t.

Golden Comet is just a marketing name meaning they are sex links. They might be the commercial hybrid layers, smaller birds about the size of a leghorn that regularly lay a lot of fairly large eggs. These are bred to lay really well for two laying seasons then be replaced. Since they are not bred for longevity they tend to have more medical problems the older they get. Some people have these that lay very well for several years since it does depend a lot on the individual but longevity is not their strength.

The other type of Golden Comet is a cross of two dual purpose breeds. These tend to be larger in size, similar to hatchery dual purpose birds that are their parents, and generally lay really well since the parents are from hatchery flocks that normally lay well. They aren’t as good at feed to egg conversion as the commercial types though because their bigger bodies use more food for body maintenance. You can still have some medical problems with these but you tend to have a lot less.

If you can tell us which hatchery you got your Golden Comets from we can perhaps tell you which type you have.

Some hens lay pretty well in winter, some less so. It’s pretty normal (though certainly not guaranteed) for pullets to lay throughout their first winter and skip the molt. But since you don’t provide lights they are practically guaranteed to molt and stop laying the following fall when the days get shorter. Some will start laying without lights pretty soon after the molt is over but others will wait until the days are getting longer and maybe warmer in spring. It is an individual chicken thing.

There are some things you can do to improve your odds of getting eggs in winter, at least after the molt. Different chickens molt at different speeds. It’s genetic and based on how fast the feathers fallout, not so much how fast they grow back. Production breeds generally are faster molters and decorative breeds tend to be slower molters though you can always find exceptions. Since they have been specially bred to lay eggs, production breeds and hybrids tend to lay when the weather is bad. You tend to get less eggs when the weather is severe, either really hot in summer or cold in winter. Production breeds are more likely to ignore those temperature extremes. Some specific production “breeds” are Rhode Island Reds, some White Rocks, the commercial hybrid egg layers, Production Reds, chickens like this. Black Australorp have a reputation of being good winter layers.

Many hatcheries have had their base flocks for decades and tend to hatch more eggs from hens that lay more because there are more eggs available to hatch. Even if they don’t consciously breed for good egg laying, just by hatching more eggs from good egg layers and picking flock replacements from these chicks they tend to have flocks that lay pretty well. While breeds do have tendencies I don’t see that much difference in productivity and such from different hatchery dual purpose breeds. You will probably do OK with any of the hatchery dual purpose breeds but the production breeds are a little more likely to return to laying after the molt. Eggs are likely to be a bit larger too.

After they molt a hen needs to build up a certain amount of fat before she starts to lay. This fat is what a broody hen mostly lives off of while incubating eggs. Even if a hen will never go broody she still needs a certain reserve of fat before she will start to lay. Feeding a bit of extra protein might help the feathers come back a bit faster (though it will not make them fall out faster) and will make the feathers look a bit nicer too but it will also help her add that extra fat she needs to start laying. Don’t go overboard on the extra protein but don’t cut back either.

Since you are dealing with behaviors of living animals none of this comes with any guarantees. There is some luck involved. Hopefully you will have good luck.