New to Chickens -- Breed Suggestions?

[Guavacoop]

We are just building our first urban-backyard coop and want to get 3 hens. We know NOTHING about breeds yet. We will do some reading, but to get started can people suggest easy-to-find breeds that have these qualities:

Hens that are on the quiet side (coop will be under our bedroom window!)
Good layers of good-sized eggs
Ideally, we'd like to get a couple different colors of eggs, including an interesting color like green

Also, since we want only hens but would like to get young chicks, can the chicks be sexed reliably early on? (My daughter would be heartbroken if we had to send one back!) Are there breeds or colors that are easier to sex?

Thanks!
Guavacoop

 

[aran]

buff orpingtons from ideal poultry we got 3 of them...sexed for under $3/chick...awesome gentle, fuzzy cute chickens.

 

[lurky]

I agree.....Buff orpingtons are the best. They are smart, friendly and like people. Good layers and are cold hearty.

 

[wren]

Ameracanas lay green eggs. So one of those, a red sex-link that makes two. Last a speckled sussex for a brown egg. They should be easy to find, and yes chicks can be sexed early on. Typically hatcheries quarantee their sexing to be 90% accurate. The only way to be certain that you have females is to buy sex link chicks. Hope this helps!

 

[TreyClark281]

Ameracanas are great! i have a chick and she is sweet! and black sex links are nice too. and just gave me a egg!! lol

here are mine. and i have pics.

 

[SeaChick]

We had the same considerations (quiet, docile, friendly, good-excellent egg production) with the addition of "cold-hardy" "doesn't go broody too often" and "accepts confinement well"...

We had to make some compromises about the broodiness, but the list narrowed down to:
Black Australorp
Silver Laced Wyandotte
Sex-Link types (red Star, golden Comet, etc)
Barred Plymouth Rock
Rhode Island Red
Buff Orpington

 

[CarriBrown]

I looooove Wyandottes! I have Blue Laced Reds and they are such fun birds.

 

[aran]

I have RIR, RIW ( i think...may be white giants..gottem at the feed store), production blacks ( barred rock crossed with something), salmon favs, SS hamburgs, white cochins and buff orps with buff laced polish and mixed colour silkie eggs in the bator currently...the RIR are awesome but i still think the buff orps are our friendliest girls. THey are just crazy friendly...at 5 weeks they run up to be picked up when everyone else is trying to run for the food.

 

[Guavacoop]

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I guess I should have added "Friendly" to my list, since we have little kids. But cold-hearty isn't critical since we live in Northern California where it rarely gets below 50, but occasionally will get to freezing.

I'd love to hear any more input, especially if other people want to "second" any of the suggestions.

THanks so much!

Guavacoop

 

[Guavacoop]

SeaChick,
Did you get any of the ones on that list, and how have they turned out? Do some meet your criteria more than others?
Thanks,
Guavacoop


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