good layers w/good personality???

[playswithfowl]

I was trying to decide if I would rather have two more bantam hens, or two standard sized egg layers. I finally have come to a decision, and I want to get two different standard breeds that lay fairly consistently throughout Oregon winters, which are wet but not particularly cold and usually only snows once every four years in my part of the state. I don't want HUGE hens, so none over about 6.5 lbs. I would guess. I don't want two breeds that are known for being consistently noisy, and I do want them to be fairly easy tamed. The breeds I have been thinking about are: Black Austrolorp, Rhode Island red(not very original I know), Some color variety of Wyandotte, New Hampshire Red, Naked Neck ( how well do they lay?), Delaware, EE, Salmon Faverolle, and Dominiques.

Does anyone have any experience with these breeds, or any suggestions for other breeds, or any comments in general.
Thanks, AJ

 

[rooster-red]

A Rhode Island Red and a Barred rock.

 

[RyanAndMeri]

Holy cow I hated our rhode isle reds, especially the rooster. They are mean pecking fighting machines.

My wife and I are absolutely in love with our Buff Orpingtons. They don't peck at us, they're very pretty and they give hugs! I hear they're great layers but ours aren't that age yet (4 months.) They have amazing personalities, they are very vocal and make some very interesting noises I've never heard chickens make (cooing and little quiet chatter that has amazing fluctuations.) They're great pets - we love our buffies!

 

[ksacres]

Cochins, one blue and one black. And one white, one buff, one partridge, one birchen. Oh, and one splash. Oh and one golden laced...

If I were to have standards it would be cochins! But they are BIG. Not noisy, but very friendly. Also not particularly good layers.

So, not really what you are looking for. But cochins are one of my favorite chickens.


Perhaps two EEs? They usually are all different color patterns, fairly quiet, and good layers.

 

[peepkeeper]

Dominiques are great personality wise and lay large brown eggs. Or how about sex links? Egg laying machines and supposed to have a nice personality, though I have no personal experience with them. RIRs are aggressive, to people and other chickens. I myself wouldn't want the hassle. Someone mentioned Orpingtons, which are great but tend to be big.

 

[Chirpy]

My (4) Australorps, (1) RIR and (1) Red Sex-links are very, very friendly (our kids pick them up all the time and they follow me around whenever I'm out there.) and are all very good egg layers. My Red Sex-link is probably my best layer and also the mostest friendliest (how do you like that for English?) She also started laying eggs a month before the rest of them. (Which, I've learned here, is normal for that breed.)

At this point I'm still getting between 3 and 7 eggs everyday from my nine hens (two are leghorns and one's a SS Hamburg). The leghorns are also laying very well but are much more timid and don't want to be handled. However, they are not nearly as flighty as my SS Hamburg.

We only have daylight for about nine hours here right now and the temps have been in the single digits at night and teens or 20sF during the day so they are being really good girls giving me this many eggs still. We do not use artificial light nor heat in the coop.

Isn't it fun trying to decide which breed(s) to get?

 

[patandchickens]

What do you want the chickens for, pets or pets-plus-eggs? If the latter, how many eggs per week do you hope for? If you are looking for pets-plus-eggs, production sex link types are probably best for you - and most seem to have very good 'pet' personalities although I am sure there is the odd exception. Regular breeds of chickens will mostly not lay anywhere as regularly as sex link layer strains.

One thing to consider is whether 3 might be better than 2, on account of what if heaven forbid you lose one. This was why I got 3 last spring instead of just 2, and as it happens it was a good thing since we lost Matilda last month from internal laying. It would have been much harder to have 1 lone chicken and have to scramble around to find her a compatible friend. This way, while Marigold and Maryanne *were* weirded out a bit by Matilda's absence, they "still had each other" and so it was not too big a deal for them. I think a single chicken would get really unhappy.

Just a thought,

Pat

 

[FutureChickenMan]

Have you considered a speckled sussex?

http://www.mypetchicken.com/Sussex-B106.aspx

Plymouth/Barred Rock

http://www.mypetchicken.com/Plymouth_Rock-B85.aspx

I'd go with a speckled sussex or a plymouth/barred rock. (have them both on order as a matter of fact)

 

[speckledhen]

My vote is always with the Barred Rocks. I do have wonderful RIRs, but their personality varies more than the BRs. All of my Barred Rocks are always friendly, curious, funny, and excellent layers. The eggs get to be extra large to jumbo as they get older, too. I adore my Barred Rock girls. I have four of them with 13 more eggs in the bator. And I agree with Pat about getting at least three of them, too.
I also have three Silver Laced Wyandottes, all sweet girls, and all great layers as well, but they don't seem to have the curiosity about the world that my BRs do nor are they underfoot, always wanting my attention like the BRs. I love that about them!

 

[AtRendeAcres]

I think any kind of Rocks are great I have had barred & I have buff rocks & will be getting white!

They are great foragers which saves on food, they are always interested in what I am doing!

they have really great personalities (my buff stand in line for my lap)