Breed suggestions for a chicken newbie

[Hodawg]

Howdy Gang,

Next week I should finish up our coop (3' x 5' raised off the ground about 3 feet) and the week after that I should finish the adjoining 3' x 5' run. So if all goes well, we should be ready for some hens in about 3 to 4 weeks. We live in northern Florida in the Panhandle area in a suburban community outside of Panama City.

We want some hens (no roo's) that are:
1) Reasonably low maintenance (we are noobs, after all)
2) Good layers (eggs are our objective, not meat)
3) Social (we would love to interact with our new hobby/passion)
4) Not tooooo loud (we do live in a subdivision)
5) Tolerant of the heat and humidity of Florida. I don't think that we'll ever encounter any real problems with the cold down here as the temps rarely fall below freezing.

Yes, I've used the search function, and I find all sorts of opinions on breeds but it is hard to decipher which information is just passionate opinion vs. which information is actually germane to our situation.

Any info on a good starter breed for we noobs in our locale? We are going to be limited to 3 hens for now, and are not in the market at this point for raising a yard full of chicks. Thanks for any and all advice.

Beers y'all,
Ken

 

[Mommy 2 Wee Ones]

If it were not for the eggs, I would say Silkies are your best bet, sweet, gentle, quiet, friendly.

My Barred Rocks were my first layers at 18 weeks and have not stopped since Sept. 1st. Very friendly, but can sing an egg song like nobodies business. My Buff Orp. are noisy egg singers too. Never got pullet eggs from them, went right to medium size.
Am waiting on my Easter Eggers to start laying next week, she got ambushed by our roo tonight, so it should be soon.

 

[Davian]

As you live in Florida, I will only say DO NOT get the following breeds as they won't care for the heat too much:

Wyandottes
Orpingtons
Plymouth Rocks


All 3 are hearty cold weather birds. Otherwise, they're everything you're looking for as they're all very friendly, easy going and good egg laying breeds.



Good luck and welcome!

 

[Davian]

Leghorns are great egg layers...though they can be somewhat flighty depending on the bird.

 

[LT]

I would highly recommend Golden Comets. We have two, and they were our first two layers. One of them even started laying in August when it was 110º for two weeks straight. They are very friendly and excellent egg producers. One of ours is very noisy before egg laying (I mean the whole valley hears her) and the other one is only noisy for a short time during the victory song.

 

[Hodawg]

Quote:
Ahhhhh! See, that's the kind of input I was hoping for. Out of all of the stuff that I have read over the last several months on-line, these three breeds seemed to stand out for all of the characteristics that we were looking for. But no source mentioned the adaptability of these breeds to hot/humid conditions. Thanks for the knowledge, Davian. Anybody have any suggestions on breeds?

Beers y'all,
Ken

 

[Stephanie739]

My first two breeds were leghorns and golden comets. They are great and lay a lot of eggs. I do recommend these too.

 

[Hodawg]

Wow!!! This is what makes this forum such a great asset. Y'all are answering faster than I can reply on a scale of 4 to 1! This is ONE ACTIVE FORUM. Thanks folks. Keep 'em comin'.

Beers y'all,
Ken

 

[Little One]

I was going to recommend a red sex link (golden comet), also. By far my friendliest girls and best layers, and they aren't loud, but they do quietly talk to me. They were tolerant of our humid summer here in VA this year, highs to 100 on some days. But so were the rest of our flock, so I still want to recommend a barred rock. Very good layer and people friendly. She does have an occasional outburst, but still isn't our loudest. Out of all the birds listed in my signature below, those are the two breeds I would recommend for your situation.

 

[Stephanie739]

I think I will probably breed the leghorn. They are small, quiet, and fantastic egg layers. Mine are very sweet. They are also better suited for the warmer temps (Mediterranean)