Dark egg layers??

[Dixiedoodle]

I am going to add several new girls to my flock this fall. I am looking for both flock and egg color diversity. I would love to hear your experience with several different breeds or your ideas /suggestions for other breeds that I might want to consider.. I love the heavy breeds and am looking for standards not bantams (yet LOL)..

I have two EE that lay beautiful minty green eggs (one has spots)
I have two Buff Orpingtons that lay very pale tan eggs
I have two Barred Rocks that lay pinkish tan eggs'
I have two Rhode Island Reds who lay fairly dark brown eggs
and One Ameraucana who lays a beautiful aqua blue egg


Some on the breeds I am looking at:

Black Copper Marans -- I want some dark eggs, I like their shape and color
Brown Leghorn--I thought I might like some white eggs and these girls are really pretty--I would never even look at the white leghorns but saw these and thought they were nice..
More Ameraucanas..

So, do you have any suggestions that might help me in my search for the diversity that I am looking for that would 'fit' into my flock... Different breeds? Different egg color? Different breeds in other colors than the 'normal' old colors???

In other words "Sell me your breed" Thanks Dixie

 

[Akane]

Some other options aside from the marans... If you want something fairly common welsummers lay fairly dark eggs with speckles. While they aren't really dark they are all unique and not a solid plain brown like many brown layers. If you want something less common penedesenca lay very very dark eggs and are interesting somewhat unique birds but mature slowly and don't lay as well as welsummers and marans. I have some birds that are a mix of those 3 breeds with 50% being welsummer and they are really cool chickens. They mature a bit slowly not laying until 8months but they are huge meat birds and good layers of dark brown speckled eggs when they get started. Some of the colors are interesting too. I have one roo with a reddish breast and one with a black breast and then they have shiny black tail feathers and brown backs. The hens are various shades of chocolate brown to shiny black. I've been debating adding one of the 3 breeds back in to my flock for new blood but I don't want too many standards. I lean more towards the bantams for their space efficiency and easier handling so I don't know any other standard breeds to recommend aside from trying various EE strains to get more variety. I have some bantam EE with d'uccle that come out a rainbow of colors with feathered feet and lay perfect sky blue eggs. Here's all the colors of my starting stock http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v244/aqh88/chickens/EEs/bantam/ . I hatched 3 hens from them before they stopped laying at the end of last year and they are all 3 different colors from what I have. I like the one with speckled chocolate and white feathers. If you can find someone who is mixing their own standard EEs like my bantams you can get a very diverse flock.

 

[Dixiedoodle]

Thank you for sharing your ideas and pictures w/ me.. I do not really care if the birds are 'common' breeds. Since I am fairly new to chickens, I haven't been introduced to very many different breeds and I could always add more rare birds later... LOL