Advice on breeds please. Raising chicks for the first time in Utah!

[cmom]

You can get mean birds from about every breed. Just because the bird is a Rhode Island Red doesn't mean it's going to be a mean bird.

 

[Little Chicken Lady]

I appreciate the insight. Very helpful! Sounds like RIR is the more aggressive of the bunch. Would you recommend keeping Maran AND Java? Both seems to be unique birds.

If you want both then go for it! They both have their own beautiful characteristics.

 

[VeryHappyHens]

Are the whitish colors easier target for aerial preys? Maybe they all are, but somehow I thought white just stands out that much more.

Not really my delawares good at hiding. speckled susex blend in the forest and Autsrloprs are black so hawks mistaken them as crows. Lakvelnder are very alert and will act the leader of the flock and warn the whole flock. If you want a protective chicken than warns the flock get a lakevelnder.

 

[cmom]

I also raise Rhode Island Whites and White Leghorns. They are both my best layers. I don't think color plays a part. Opportunity does though. A hawk got into one of my grow-out pens. It didn't kill any the the young Rhode Island Whites but did kill several Rhode Island Reds pullets that weren't far from starting to lay.

 

[cmom]

Mine were not a hatchery stock they were from a Heritage breeder that only sales heritage breeds and extinct heritage breeds. Including exotic breeds.

Maybe I know the breeder. I know most of them. I can say having birds for around 50 years that If you got a mean one doesn't mean that all Rhode Island Reds are mean as was implied in previous posts. Good luck and have fun...

 

[VeryHappyHens]

Maybe I know the breeder. I know most of them. I can say having birds for around 50 years that If you got a mean one doesn't mean that all Rhode Island Reds are mean as was implied in previous posts. Good luck and have fun...

All my experience was bad. Even the heritage one I was a bit distressed giving this breed another chance. They are very bossy to my flock. They hate being held and very aggressive. Once being held and if the OP wants to handle her or if an emergency do something that birds gotta be calm. RIR might be nice to chicken in the higher pecking order but very bossy to new chicken and content with the lower order but a bit bossy and a little mean to lower flock members. They are not as humble as other breeds they will keep on attacking the new chickens they will never invite them over unless they are longer with them higher than them. Thats just my experience so no hate.

 

[VeryHappyHens]

So I have taken care of chickens before, both grandparents' when I was little, and landlord's when they were gone, but this will be first time raising my own!
My city has a permit approval process, which I am scheduled to go through next Tuesday.

In the mean time, I went to the local feed store (IFA), and here are all the available pullets:
Speckled Sussex
Delaware
Mottled Java
Barred Rock
Sex Links (Black, Red, Golden)
Silver Lakenvelder
Rhode Island Red
Buckeye
California Gray
Leghorn (Brown, White)
Golden Laced Wyandotte
Jersey Giant
Production Red
Black Australorp
Blue Copper Maran
Dominque

I am hoping to buy 5-6 and eventually end up with 4 hens. I like to have some colors and varieties in my flock, and moderate egg production would be great. I hope to just let them free range during the day with my toddler while I watch in the yard. Here are what I am thinking:
2x Speckled Sussex
1x Mottled Java
1x Rhode Island Red
2x Dominque

What do people think? Any recommendations on chicks that get along better as a flock and growing up with a toddler?

RIR are mean with todler. The kids are gonna want to hold them. The RIR is gonna scratch them and flap there wings.

 

[VeryHappyHens]

They were probably from a hatchery stock. Mine are lovable but they are pure (heritage).
One of my RIR hens that was a champion at a show waiting to get her picture taken.
View attachment 2553184

Okay the RIR might be calm but the ones they sell at her store are not.

 

[topochico225]

I have an RIR pullet, 10 months old, and she's a big gentle giant. Love her! Her name's Dionne. Her laying is off and on, but when she does lay, I get lovely tan eggs with amazingly yellow yolks. I got her from My Pet Chicken.

 

[topochico225]

I have an RIR pullet, 10 months old, and she's a big gentle giant. Love her! Her name's Dionne. Her laying is off and on, but when she does lay, I get lovely tan eggs with amazingly yellow yolks. I got her from My Pet Chicken.

Also, I'm in Louisiana, so we get HUGE fluctuations between cold/hot in winter/summer, and Dionne's always been fine. Thought you might want to know because our average temperatures are about the same as Utah's.