Good Chick Breeds?

[talkinboutchickens]

i know there are already a lot of posts here...but I have decided to give my 2 cents anyway lol!

Since you already have light blue and tan layers, I suggest:

Darker brown eggs---
Marans, welsummers, barnevelders, penedesencas

Olive eggs---
Isbars, olive egger hybrids

White eggs---
Leghorns, polish, etc etc...I came up with this list a while back.

More tan eggs---
My favorite tan egg layer is the sapphire gem. Not cold hardy, but they are the sweetest.

Faverolles lay pinkish eggs, and croad langshans lay eggs with a purple-ish bloom. I doubt you'll find these unless you order online.

 

[NatJ]

What other breeds should we try to target? (Though, who knows what we'll be able to get, cause we were barely able to get sexlinks...most of the stores sold out.)

If you are stuck buying breeds from whatever is in the store, without time to research the breeds they list, and you want females that will be reasonable layers, you could try this:
--avoid tiny chicks (bantams are less likely to be good layers)
--avoid chicks that are white or yellow all over (this avoids Cornish Cross meat chickens, the most common kind of chicken that would be horribly unsuitable for your purpose)
--do get chicks from bins labelled "pullets," but recognize that the label may be wrong

None of that requires you to recognize whether the label matches what is in the bin (the "pullet" label is either right or wrong, but you will not be able to tell by looking at the chicks anyway.)

Avoiding the white ones will unfortunately mean you miss out on White Leghorns and White Rocks and a few other nice breeds, but it could be worth that to be sure you avoid Cornish Cross broilers. White chicks with fuzzy feet will not be Cornish cross, but may not be very good layers (example: Cochins).

 

[Windy Wings]

Thanks for all the responses! Can't wait to get some chicks!
When do chicks start arriving at the store?

 

[NatJ]

When do chicks start arriving at the store?

Ask the store, because it varies. Different stores in the same area may get chicks at different times, and the same store chain will get them at different times in different areas. (Example: the best month to raise chicks will be very different in Texas than in Maine.)

Some hatcheries are already shipping chicks, so some stores could already be getting chicks, if they think that is appropriate for their area.

 

[Windy Wings]

I was looking on

https://valleyhatchery.com/ctl/bycad/
to see what they had, and there are some funny-looking chickens out there. I have also discovered what a Bantam was.
You know, it's pretty amazing how many different kinds of chickens there are. Quite incredible.

I checked online, stores in Portland will start getting shipments in February. Not too much longer to wait. There might be a better selection the earlier we get the chicks. Last time, we were getting them in summer, so not a lot of options. We called this one store, and they said, "yeah, we're going to get the shipment at around 10 o'clock. They won't be unloaded until 10:30. Come around that time."
We came at around 9:45. Not only was the shipment already there and unloaded, but more than half the chicks were gone. All that was left were male chickens, meat chickens, and 7 black sex-links. We got all seven. That is the story of how we ended up with only 7 chicks when we were looking for red sex-links and Rhode Island Reds. Now we know for next time.