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Bee
I've followed this thread since you started it and really appreciate your and the other OT's wisdom and experience. Over the years I'm sure you've had many different breeds and have probably found what breeds work best for your type of husbandry/management style. I'm curious what breeds you've chosen to stick with and why? Also, you're always commending your dogs, who seem to do a fine job guarding your flock. What kind of dogs are they? Thanks
I've only ever had Lab or Lab mix dogs with the best LGD combo being my GP/Lab mix female who passed away last year. They are amazingly easy to train, extremely loyal and tuned into a pack leader and have gentle, sweet attitudes towards smaller animals. Good prey drive, hardy to the max in all climates, great with people and kids.
Somewhere back in this thread I gave my fave breeds and why, but I'll do a brief rundown. Any flock I've had that had Black Aussies has benefited from their presence, hands down. This is a no- fail bird for egg laying, hardiness, medium heavy build and just sweet dispositions. They are good on feed, forage well and seem to like being near humans but still have a good wariness on a range situation. Made my latest flock's yearly culling and are still going strong at age 6+. If I could only choose one breed for a flock, this would be the breed I'd choose.
RIR. A little lighter weight but still excellent layers, hardy to the max, quirky and sweet dispositions, good on feed and great on forage/range. Don't have any in my current flocks(they all finally got too old and had to die) but will be getting them again in the next one. They are an old standby that my granny and my mother raised and you just can't fault their traits...they truly are a classic. If you cross a RIR over any of my fave breeds, you have a great hen to carry on the traits.
White Rocks: Supreme heavy build, hardy x10, egg laying is superlative considering their big size but it isn't fat, it tends to be heavy muscle. Good mothering, yearly broodiness from one or the other of the WR hens but immediate return to laying afterwards. All my WRs of this last flock made the yearly egg cull and are still going strong at age 5-6. I'll never have another flock without including these great birds.
New Hampshires: A big surprise for me in the past several years because these were a breed I'd not had previous to 5-6 years ago. They made the cut each year of the current/last flock, huge and meaty builds, occasional broody but not excessive, extra hardy, and are still going strong right beside the WRs into their 6 th year of life. Both of these breeds recover from molt strongly, still lay in the winter but on slow mode, and ramp up long about right now into egg laying fools. A good, sturdy bird that delivers year after year.
White Leghorns: An oldy but a goody. Light builds like the RIR but make up for it in hardiness, egg laying, feed thrift and foraging. Don't go broody much, if at all, but they lay for many years.
Breeds I've also tried a few times over the years but don't have as long history with, still great birds for the time I had them: Barred Rocks, Partridge Rock, Speckled Sussex, Sussex, Mixed layers of the above breeds.
My roo breed of choice thus far has been a Partridge Rock, as I find them to be intelligent, gentle with the hens, vigilant and respectful to humans...and very quiet. I love a roo that only crows when he is expected to~mornings. The rest of the day they call warning calls but not much crowing going on.
Breeds I've tried and didn't keep: Black and Red Production(burn out before the 2nd year, scraggly and not hardy, small builds, no broody), Wyandottes(nasty birds each time I've tried them in the flock, too fat, not good laying), Orpingtons of any color(same as the Wyandottes but without the nasty dispositions, eat too much, carry too much fat for good laying production, too docile with the roo which makes for bare backs), EEs(limited experience with them but the ones I had were too broody, wouldn't fight for their place in the order, loners in the flock, not even close to good laying), Dominiques(this surprised me because my Granny always had them and they were great. They didn't make my cut past the 2nd year of this last flock...maybe because they were hatchery birds and their natural traits are long gone since the old days, but they were not hardy, not the best layers)
If you are wondering why I've kept some of these hens for so long, I set out to see how long a bird can conceivably lay one egg per day in peak season or at least lay every other day into their old age. I wanted to find a chicken that was suitable for sustainable flocks and wouldn't have to be culled after a couple of years. I've found that frequent replacement of the flock doesn't leave much room for replacement breeding of good traits to carry on to the next flock. The top picks I've given you are these breeds. I'm going to keep adding to that breed list, God willing and the creek don't rise, down through the years with other old-timey breeds I've not tried, just to see if I can add to my list of hardy, self-sustaining, high producing breeds.
If any of the OTs have a breed they've had good experience with on the long term that suit my homesteading flock goal, please give us a description and tell us why those birds should be given a try. The traits I look for in a good self-sustainable flock are dual-purpose(if possible I'll trade a meaty build for superlative laying ability but I want standard size breeds), hardiness, occasional broodiness(I'll trade this also as long as I have one or two of another breed that I can load up with eggs), good survival and foraging skills on free range, flock mentality, excellent laying in peak season with a normal slow down in winter months, even disposition(doesn't have to be a lap chicken but no bully breeds, no birds that can't recognize the authority of human), feed thrift(birds that overeat generally don't lay well and they waste feed).
Other OTs may have breeds they like and their setups may be more similar to what you want in a flock. I only speak from a frugal, self-sustainable viewpoint that many serious chicken farmers do not embrace for one reason or another. It doesn't make their husbandry wrong or mine wrong, it just makes us both right for our different styles/needs. I urge you to poll the other OTs if your setup isn't like mine so that you can get a more realistic(for you)breed recommendation.
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