Geez - you're going to get a lot of opinions here, since a lot of chicken breeds are excellent egg layers. I say for somewhat friendly hens, go for Rhode Island Reds or Black Sexlink. My favorite is Barred Rock and Australorps for egg consistency and sparkling personality. All lay brown eggs. My parents don't give a fig about personality in clucks, and they raise white leghorns - those are good layers of white eggs.
Isa browns are a type of sexlink. You have a special rooster of one color gene and a hen of another. When the babes are hatched you can tell whether they are male of female by color. Sort of like redsexlinks, black sexlinks or comets. They will not breed true if you hatch their eggs. They are breed to lay lots of large brown eggs and from what I have heard they do. Jean
