adding to the flock - what breed would YOU recommend??

[Brick243]

I really like my dark Rhode Island Reds. They are friendly and lay good. I haven't had a mean roo out of the two lines I have. That is important because I have young grandkids that are around them and also help me feed.

 

[delawaregirl09]

Delawares are great. Cold hardy, friendly, good layers, brown eggs, not funky colored, lol. They are amazing birds.

ETA: 40 Breeds? Wow. What are your options? Also, its seems you have a good 3,3,3 thing going on there. 13 chickens, 3 roos, 3 dogs, lol.

 

[lurky]

What are your 40 breed options???

 

[Mahonri]

Black Sex links... egg laying machines.

 

[Bedste]

Easter Eggers are not a pure bred but they would be a great addition to any flock. I have just added Wheaten Ameraucanas to my flock and it is very exciting to watch them grow. This is a website that shows what they look like FULL grown.

http://www.greenerpasturesfarm.com/AmeraucanaChickens.html

 

[Pathfinders]

I've said it before, I'll say it again. My favorite large fowl breed is the Buckeye, (and they also come in bantam.)

They are a nice dual purpose bird. They lay a good amount of medium sized brown eggs. They forage very well (even hunt mice!), get along with each other and humans (not flighty, almost too friendly, underfoot a lot!), and the extra males, with their wide breasts, dress out nicely.

They are the only breed of American chicken created by a woman (yay!), and the only American breed with a pea comb, which means no frostbite in winter (unless you live in Saskatoon or someplace like that.) They tolerate heat and cold well, some will go broody (if you prefer them to raise their own babies) but are not excessively so, and are just an all around perfect farm chicken, IMO.

I have some pics of Buckeyes on my website:

http://www.pathfindersfarm.com/services

I like Buckeyes so much that I created a Yahoo Group for those who wish to learn more about them, or just talk about them. See it here:

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/AmericanBuckeyePoultryClub/

I also recently started a fully fledged breed club for them, the American Buckeye Poultry Club:

http://www.americanbuckeyepoultryclub.com

And you can see a great website devoted to the breed by a member of the ABPC here:

http://www.buckeyechickens.com

Let me know if I can answer any more questions about them.

 

[Goose and Fig]

Quote:
Agree- especially if you want some interesting eggs

 

[call ducks]

chantecler IT is the canadian breed of chicken , and was created in oka ( SP) may be easy to get in QC , this is coming from NS mine are bantams but LF are relly nice

 

[technodoll]

Wow thank you for all the answers!!

I'm still not sure what I want but I do know sexlinks are not in the running (I have 11 of them LOL) and I had a bad experience with the Barred Rock so that is also off the list...

I will get a list of available breeds (they surely don't have all 40 ready to go at this time of year) and then the decision is ON! I do love the white sussex and the chantecler, but wanted black copper marans for the dark eggs and of course EE's for the colored eggs, but I think friendly, gentle and docile chickens are higher on my list of priorities... mind you within each breed there are individuals so it's a crap shoot anyways!

I should hear back from the breeder today

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Cochins are the most layed back, easy going chickens we have. Great sitters (their fluffy butts can cover a bunch of eggs), good mothers. They would do fine up north.

Steve in NC