Chicks for next year!

[Rose the Legbar]

Don’t go with Wyandottes, it is a major hit or miss with the temperament of them. I had one hen who was nasty all around and my other hen who is super sweet to me and loves sitting in my lap, but is a cranky thing to everyone else.
100% go with Easter Eggers. My one EE girl is the sweetest thing ever and loves to be held. Her beard and muffs are so fluffy too! Plus the variety in the colors of bird you can get is great! I personally love having a multi-colored and patterned flock. I can’t wait until she lays her first egg.

 

[GirlsHuntToo]

Don’t go with Wyandottes, it is a major hit or miss with the temperament of them. I had one hen who was nasty all around and my other hen who is super sweet to me and loves sitting in my lap, but is a cranky thing to everyone else.
100% go with Easter Eggers. My one EE girl is the sweetest thing ever and loves to be held. Her beard and muffs are so fluffy too! Plus the variety in the colors of bird you can get is great! I personally love having a multi-colored and patterned flock. I can’t wait until she lays her first egg.

I know, I have 8 Easter Eggers and love them very much. They are super sweet and they are just all around great chickens. And you can't go wrong with those green/blue eggs. Even if they lay brown eggs, I can't complain.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

I said Barred Rock and Easter Egger. Idk what traits you are looking for in chickens, but those two are pretty good staples to have around the chicken yard. Very hardy, friendly, and lay well.

I have an EE from Meyer and she is lovely. She is non-broody and lays about 6 turquoise eggs a week. My Barred Rock (got her from a rescue farm but I live near Meyer so she COULD be from Meyer) is extremely bossy and hilarious. I think she's getting up there in age but she still lays well, even through the winter. Meyer says their BRs are broody, but mine is not.

Meyer's website is pretty comprehensive. Think about the traits you are looking for (broody/non, good layer, cold/heat hardy, personality, etc.) and filter for those. And I know it may seem less exciting to stick with staple breeds, but I've had great luck with "staple" breeds such as Barred Rock, RIR, Australorp, Orpington, etc. I also have a Salmon Faverolles from Meyer who is a lot of fun, and a Buckeye who is really cool as well. Those are my two more unusual ones I guess.

Edited to add: make sure to get a mix of breeds so you can find out what you like.

 

[GirlsHuntToo]

My Delaware is just the best chicken ever. Smart, sweet, and get’s along with everyone.

I can't believe I forgot to add them to the poll. I will remember that you recommended these.

I choose Orpington and Easter Egger. The former is known to be friendly and have a calm temperament, along with going broody very often if you wish for them to hatch out their own chicks. They are also cold hardy. You could get practically anything with an Easter Egger, since they are a mixed breed, but the common ones with a beard and muffs and slate/willow legs are one of my top favorite breeds. They are friendly and smart, though they tend to get flighty when they grow up, so be sure to spend time with them! And of course, blue and green eggs are always a plus!

I know you can't go wrong with the both of these. I love Buff Orpingtons so much though.

I picked buff orpington (because they are the golden retrievers of chickens) and Black copper marans because they are just so cool

I love Buff Orpingtons! Any time I see them at Tractor Supply or any feed store, I just have to pick some of them up - as long as they are pullets!!

Green Queens are awesome!
I kept a couple of the bantams, and they were such a fun surprise.

And Of course, Buff Orpingtons, they're so sweet and friendly, I could never miss an opportunity to recommend them.

I love Buff Orpingtons and I have a Green Queen named Tina - she does Olive eggs that are sooo beautiful. I am really thinking about adding some more of those beautiful pullets to my flock.

 

[GirlsHuntToo]

I said Barred Rock and Easter Egger. Idk what traits you are looking for in chickens, but those two are pretty good staples to have around the chicken yard. Very hardy, friendly, and lay well.

I have an EE from Meyer and she is lovely. She is non-broody and lays about 6 turquoise eggs a week. My Barred Rock (got her from a rescue farm but I live near Meyer so she COULD be from Meyer) is extremely bossy and hilarious. I think she's getting up there in age but she still lays well, even through the winter. Meyer says their BRs are broody, but mine is not.

Meyer's website is pretty comprehensive. Think about the traits you are looking for (broody/non, good layer, cold/heat hardy, personality, etc.) and filter for those. And I know it may seem less exciting to stick with staple breeds, but I've had great luck with "staple" breeds such as Barred Rock, RIR, Australorp, Orpington, etc. I also have a Salmon Faverolles from Meyer who is a lot of fun, and a Buckeye who is really cool as well. Those are my two more unusual ones I guess.

Edited to add: make sure to get a mix of breeds so you can find out what you like.

I have had chickens for almost 5 years now and still love them. I have breeds that I like, such as Barred Rock, Buff Orpington, Light Brahma, and Easter Eggers. And breeds that are on my want list. And over the past few years, I have found some breeds that I dislike such as the ISA Brown. I will never get another chicken like that, they lay good for the first 8 months or so, and they only live to be about 2 years old. Then they just go up and die. Barred Rocks and Buff Orpingtons, also Easter Eggers are still laying at their best at that age for me.
I really don't recommend that breed to any chicken keepers.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

I have had chickens for almost 5 years now and still love them. I have breeds that I like, such as Barred Rock, Buff Orpington, Light Brahma, and Easter Eggers. And breeds that are on my want list. And over the past few years, I have found some breeds that I dislike such as the ISA Brown. I will never get another chicken like that, they lay good for the first 8 months or so, and they only live to be about 2 years old. Then they just go up and die. Barred Rocks and Buff Orpingtons, also Easter Eggers are still laying at their best at that age for me.
I really don't recommend that breed to any chicken keepers.

I'm with you on that! I had some Golden Comets/Golden Buffs (similar to ISAs) that got reproductive issues and I had to cull them. They were also from the rescue farm so I don't regret adopting them, but now I know I would never buy any super high production layer breed as chicks. Unless in the future I'm willing to cull on schedule, but if I were doing that I would probably just get a dual purpose breed.

 

[Ponypoor]

No silkies? Mine are some of my best layers when not broody, and that’s only a couple times a year, and generally lay even the winter.

Also barnyard mutts - nothing wrong with a nice mutt and they come in all sorts of colours and lay all sorts of egg colours

Having said that I do want a dark Brahma, French Cuckoo Marans and appenzeller spitzhauben. Oh yes I have thing for fuzzy legs and topknots

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

I kept a couple of the bantams, and they were such a fun surprise.

Bantams in general are always a fun surprise! I love them! They are a fun surprise even if you happen to have an Old English Game Bantam mixed cockerel named Jasper who flogs you a lot. At least most of the bantam males can rarely hurt you, Jasper feels like nothing, really, when he hits my leg or back.

 

[The Birb King]

I'm ordering Anconas, Biefelders, Leghorns, BLR Wyandottes, and I'm gonna hatch some Lavender Ameraucanas, Marans, Seramas, and Peafowl!

 

[RiDaGeckoGuy]

Easter eggers and barred rocks have big personalities and barred rocks are good layers