Can anyone recomend a few breeds to me that follow these criteria:

[ChickenCharmer]

-Must be an excellent egg layer (like white leghorn material)
-Ornamental, or pretty, interesting feather pattern
-non-broody
- small would be nice
- quiet, gentle, friendly disposition

I sell eggs and am in very high demand, but I would like a flock of beautiful ornamental chickens.

 

[Wifezilla]

Does it have to be chickens? India Runner ducks come in so many pretty colors

 

[SpringChickens]

Red sex-links
EEs?

 

[FrenchHen]

Silver Spangled Hamburgs lay very well, but their eggs are kinda small.

Welsh Harlequin or Khaki Campbell ducks!

 

[Wifezilla]

True...my Welsh Harlequins are very cute

I have one black & white and 2 brown and whites.

 

[ChickenCharmer]

Actually, I would like to get ducks, but it seems too much work. They need a pond, and they get the place all muddy, and they would have to mingle with the chickens. Do they get along with chickens, and do they roost at night? They will have to be free-range. If I ever get other poultry other than chickens, they will probably be Guineas or pheasants... maybe even chooks. But, like I said, they will be free range and must mingle with the chickens (and sleep with them).


And, FrenchHen, I've always wanted Silver Spangled Hamburgs!

 

[FrenchHen]

So far, ducks are just a different kind of mess, not messier than chickens. After meat birds, they're downright charming.

I'm rather enjoying them. I know (of) folks who keep them together.

 

[77horses]

I would definitely recommend Red Stars(a.k.a Red Sex-Links), because they match everything on your criteria. They are GREAT egg layers(they lay large brown eggs and, from my experience, start laying a little earlier than some other breeds). They are beautiful and have a pretty nice feather pattern. They rarely go broody. They are around medium-sized(not very small but not huge). And they are fairly quiet, they are very friendly, and they are gentle. But this also depends on how they are raised; for example, my Red Star hen, Cinnamon, is outrageously friendly and comes when I call her name(usually), while 2 other Red Stars that we bought from someone are more skittish and they can be a little mean to each other and other chickens. But that's because they were raised in a dirty place, with little to no handling by their owner, and were obviously not taken care of very well. They had scaly leg mites, feather mites, scabs and sores, etc. Now they are more tamed and more feathered out, but are bossy to other hens sometimes.
Other than that, I strongly recommend Red Stars...also, you may like Black Stars(Black Sex-Links).

 

[enola]

Leghorns come in many different colors.

Their feed conversion rate is excellent.

They don't go broody. They are not large birds.

Mine are relatively friendly.

But, they might be a little flighty !

 

[ChickenCharmer]

I love my white leghorns, they are the most friendly birds I have! I would normally have them for my egg-income, but they're just plain white, and the color gets so dirty. I would like to get other varieties of leghorn, but I heard they don't lay as well as the white ones. Would they lay as well as Red Stars?

I just want an ornamental layer, if that's possible.