HI all I don't have chickens yet but love the idea of them! Still deciding on what breed(s?) to keep
Whatever breeds you decide on my experience is not to mix aggressive assertive combative breeds with gentle non-combative breeds. Decide on whether you want chickens for a lot of eggs/meat or chickens just for pets that will give you the benefit of a few eggs.
Bantams of all breeds are generally broody often and you'll get a lower egg output because of broodiness - but most bantams like Silkies or Cochins are very sweet pets and give a decent sized egg for bantams. Smaller sized bantams will obviously give peewee eggs.
Straight-combed or dual-purpose breeds will be the heaviest of large fowl, will generally give good egg production, but we've found them too aggressive to mix with non-combative gentle breeds. If eggs are your goal then stick with the known egg-laying breeds and don't mix them with ornamental birds, gentle breeds, or bantams.
The breeds we decided to keep are the gentles who mostly have some or most of the following characteristics: crested, bearded, tassled, muffed, tufted, feather-footed, vulture-hocked, 5-toed, pea/walnut/rose-combed, or no comb (like Breda). The gentles IMO are Ameraucana, Araucana, Barthuhner, Brahma, Breda, Cochin, Crevecoeur, Dorking, Easter Egger, Faverolles, Houdan, Lincolnshire Buff, Pavovskaja, Polish, Russian Orloff, Silkie, Sultan, and possibly some Eastern European crested breeds I'm not familiar with? Dominiques, Hamburg, Jersey Giant and Sussex have been reported mellow but I hesitate to mix them with the timid breeds. Our Silkies were bullied/attacked from Leghorns and Marans which we had to re-home and now there's peace in our flock.
The straight or floppy-combed egg layers and production hybrids are great together but I hate to see these more assertive breeds mixed with the non-combative gentles above. Many people toss EEs or Ameraucanas into their egg-laying flocks but these breeds are generally non-political and avoid conflict at all cost so I don't recommend mixing them with assertive Leghorns or dual-purpose, but that's just me.
Research and read the reviews in the breeds sections of BYC and other sites to see if you like what other owners are saying about breeds that catch your attention. If I had known about BYC before mixing my Silkies with LF I would've saved myself a lot of grief from the wrong addition of breeds in my flock. Ultimately you will love whatever breeds you decide on but advanced research will help you enjoy them even more.
