What breed do you recommend??

[KVG0908]

Hi all!
I'm currently incubating some BBS English orpingtons. Only 4 eggs are developing and they will be my FIRST chickens. So.... I'm thinking I would like to purchase some day old chicks close to hatch day so that they have some friends ( and we don't end up with one or two very lonely chicks in our giant 8x12 coop). I would like to be able to distinguish the eggs between the breeds so was looking into breeds that do NOT lay a light brown egg like my orps will.

Whatever breed I get must be friendly, cold hardy, a good layer, and be able to hold their own around the 8-10lb mammoths that my orps are going to grow into.
Thanks for any suggestions! Looking forward to learning about other breeds!

 

[1muttsfan]

It may depend more on what is available to you nearby - have you checked at any local farm stores to find out what kind of chicks they have available?

 

[KVG0908]

That's the frustrating part. It seems that most of the farm stores in my area aren't getting chicks in. Which seems really strange! Maybe it's "late" in the season? Idk... It's weird. So I'm hoping for some suggestions of breeds so I can do a narrower search of area breeders and if I have to, some hatcheries (which I would like to avoid). I think I'm leaning towards black copper marans but I've heard that their eggs can get lighter towards the end of the season which wouldn't be good for distinguishing them. Easter eggers are my other thought... But my luck they would end up laying light brown eggs...