About to place late winter/ early spring order - help on which type

[cluckingham_palace]

Looking for a flock of 6. Ordering from Meyer. My kids would like (in addition to the 3-4 we get strictly for large, brown eggs) they would love blue, green, or pink eggs.

Contemplating if I should order 7-8 in case of loss. Technically my township is 6 or less, but I am not concerned about the #.

I want at least 3 or 4 non-broody very good large egg layers with a nice, kind personality, so getting Golden Buff for those.

For the remaining 4 or so, I am trying to choose between, or choose a mix of:
1. Buff Orpington (light tan eggs, seem so sweet, but read they can be broody, but Meyer reviews didn't mention this.)
2. Cream Legbar (blue eggs)
3. Eater Eggers (blue, green eggs)

We are in Michigan, so need cold hardy since our winters get cold. I don't want to deal with a broody hen, whew - we had a barred rock who stole and hid eggs, and a silkie that just sat on eggs all day. Didn't love either experience

Would love any input on the options above- or any additional considerations. Thanks!

 

[50-45-1]

If you absolutely want to avoid broody hens, ( any hen of any breed can go broody) stick with leghorn or production hens.
Downside of leghorn or other mediteranian breeds is they tend to be flighty. But great egg producers and they eat less.
Production hens tend to be prone to egg binding and are short lived. But they lay huge brown eggs for 2-3 years.
Have fun!

 

[Cloverfluff]

Personally, I'd go with the easter eggers. I want some color layers for my flock eventually. I have a contact that said she had some pink layers from her barnyard mixes.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Are you asking about the 3-4 for large brown eggs as well as the colorful eggs or is this question only for the colorful eggs?

Contemplating if I should order 7-8 in case of loss. Technically my township is 6 or less, but I am not concerned about the #.

I've ordered about 80 chicks from three different hatcheries. About 1/3 of those chicks came from Meyers. Every chick arrived alive and healthy. When dealing with living animals it is always possible you have to deal with a dead one, but the odds are really good that unless you have a problem with your shipping all will arrive alive and healthy. If you want to order 8 then order 8 but do not expect any to arrive dead. Certainly do not count on getting down to your number because of shipping losses.

1. Buff Orpington (light tan eggs, seem so sweet, but read they can be broody, but Meyer reviews didn't mention this.)

Orpington tend to lay a light brown brown egg, not all that colorful. While not every hen will go broody Orpington is a breed people tend to chose if they want a broody hen. I would consider this a bad choice for you.

2. Cream Legbar (blue eggs)

Should lay blue or green eggs. Fairly cold hardy, should be OK for you. Might go broody but probably not.

3. Eater Eggers (blue, green eggs)

I strongly advise against the Silked Easter Eggers. They have Silkie ancestry so they may or may not have Silkie feathers which would make them not cold hardy. And Silkies are notorious for going broody. Most of the other Easter Eggers or Ameraucanas would suit you well. If you have and specific ones ones in mind I'll try to look at them but there are too many to comment on now.

 

[CoopBoots]

Easter Eggers are not guaranteed to lay blue or green. Plenty still lay brown which can be quite disappointing if that was not the plan. In the numbers you will be keeping them, I'd definitely get the Legbars or a breed that is more reliable for non-brown eggs.