Are these good egg layers? Newbee Question

[j_morgan76]

Newbee question...

My goal is to feed a family of 4 with nutritious organic eggs..

I originally had 2 barred rock chicks given to me but my dog killed one

Since I had built a huge coop capable of housing at least 6 hens I decided to go chicken shopping today. The feed store was almost out of hens. They only had 5 left. I brought home 4 Ameraucana Pullets & 1 New Hampshire Pullet (golden) and I was wondering if they were good egg layers. If not what are the best breeds for egg laying?

My Flock as of now...
1 Barred Rock
1 New Hampshire Pullet (Golden)
4 Ameraucana Pullets

Will this work for my needs? Not sure how my wife will feel about the blue eggs..

 

[bluere11e]

You've got a pretty good assortment there. all should begin laying in about 24 weeks.
You'll see eggs drop off as the days grow shorter and your girls moult. In my opinion, if your going for eggs.. You'll want to go with a production breed.. RIR's, leghorns, Californians, Sex links, Stars..all should lay over 200-250 eggs per year. But, there's a trade off. they tend to lay lots of eggs in the first year or two and then drop off drastically and look not so good in the process.. After all, their job is to produce eggs, not look beautiful for a show.
Some go after rare breeds.. and some of those aren't very good layers at alll.. It all depends on what the chicken was originally bred for.. meat, production of eggs, dual purpose.. or just a funky looking beauty queen for shows..

What you have is great and should give you a couple od dozen eggs a week or better. They're worth every penny as pets and give soething back
Good luck!
Oh, and welcome to BYC!
P.S.. Blue eggs taste the same as any other colour. I would be willing to bet your wife 100.00 if she could tell which egg, once cracked out of the shell was from a blue shell..

 

[j_morgan76]

Thanks for you reply.

I was wanting a RIR. Maybe I will keep my eyes out for one.

My local feed store doesn't have organic feed. Do you have a receipt or link to a receipt for organic feed? My wife is big into healthy eating. We started a organic garden this year too because the price of fresh fruits and veggies is getting outrageous.. especially organic foods...

 

[TK421]

My advice is wait on the organic feed until they start laying. My wife is HUGE into organic food and non-toxic toys, etc, and she loves the eggs that my chickens produce on laying ration. She knows that regardless of what goes into this feed, it's so much better than comerical egg production hens.

Regarding breed, I have 2 Barred Rocks and 2 gold-laced wyandottes. The Barred rocks are really good layers, but the GLW are kind of off-and-on. On another note, I have found that once my hens started laying, I couldn't keep enough eggs in the house, b/c we increased our consumption. With 6 laying hens, you should have no problem. I would recommend waiting until your birds start laying and then deciding whether you like the breeds you have. Along this same note, my chickens never "read the manual." I am supposed to get 3-5 eggs/week/bird. Now that the the cold weather is gone (in texas), I get 5-7 eggs/week/bird. If you have enough space and keep them fed/watered, you can expect to get more than you're supposed to!