I'm kinda thinkin some barred rocks and australorps from cackle, I know their not sq but will be just fine for my laying flock And hoping for some black orp hatching eggs from hinkjc. those would be for eye candy.
1) 10 speckled sussex,
2) 5 barred rock,
3) order more silkie eggs and hatch them
4) Gold Laced Cochins (if I can find them from a good source).
5) Large Fowl Cochins (if I can buy them from a good breeder).
6) Maybe some dark Brahmas (Large Fowl).
I've noticed that most hatcheries do not have good quality Large Fowl Cochins. I saw some at the poultry shows, and the show quality ones are really round and ball like. Photos from hatcheries don't show them to be true to type. I've read reports of others who also ordered them from hatcheries and they don't seem that good, so I'm going to try breeders instead.
I have never ordered though the mail, I get mine from the local feed store. I restarted the flock last year, told my wife I would stop at 25, 75 chicks later the flock was officially restarted. We have mainly Barred Rock, Production Red, Rhode Island Red, Buffs, and a couple Polish just for decoration. A couple Cochin Bantams slipped in there somehow and I think we'll get somemore this spring.
Part of me wants to order 2 EEs and something sensible (like a Rock or a Leghorn; something that's going to get my numbers up a bit).
And part of me just wants to skip chicks next year so I don't have to worry about culling. I don't think I can keep 11 birds in what I've got now, and I just cant' keep throwing money at them to expand.
Whatever I do, I need to decide soon. I don't want to start them later than the first week of April.