Having trouble deciding what breeds to get!

[ChickenCrazy8]

Hi All, I have had a number of breeds in the past, and so have been able to figure out what I am looking for in a breed:

- Cold Hardy
- Small combs
- Relatively friendly
- Is not a bad layer

My two favorites breeds have been Ameraucana/EE and SLW (are the personality's of all wyandottes the same? Or do they change between strains SLW, GLW, etc. . .)

So, my questions are:
- Does anyone have other breeds that have what I would like in a breed?
- I have two EE and 1 SLW, do you think that if I had 3 Wyandottes and 3 EE's that the wyandottes would pick on the EE's? Should I have more EE's then Wyndottes?
- What do you think are the pros/cons of having a mixed flock? Would you suggest that I just get Wyndottes or just get EE's/Ameraucanas?

Thanks! Hope everyones flocks are surviving the winter

 

[bobbi-j]

Not knowing what other breeds you have had in the past, I don't know how to suggest any. I have a mixed flock, and the only con I can think of is, if you want pure breeds of any chicken, you will have to separate that breed from the rest to be sure that you get what you want. Right now my flock has an EE/Brahma cross rooster (he's 8 months old and so far has behaved himself quite nicely - son of the Brahma rooster I had for several years), 5 Buckeye hens, a BLRW, some EE's a Minorca, a Welsummer, a Jersey Giant, and some mutts. I loved my Brahma rooster and would get another one if I were to find myself in a position to replace my current one. It's hard to say if your EE's and Wyandottes would get along or not. They should, if they have plenty of room, food, water and shelter so they don't have to fight over anything. Of course, if you add new chickens to your flock you will have some squabbles to establish pecking order, but things should settle down once hat happens. There really is no way to say definitively that your chickens will or will not fight. Some do, some don't. Personality of each bird, how much space they have, and other factors come into play with every flock.

 

[ChickenCrazy8]

Thanks for replying!! The breeds I've had are Australorp, RIR, BPR, Production red, black plymouth rock, and as I mentioned before, EE/ Ameraucana and SLW. Not tons but an assortment of breeds. I don't have a rooster because I don't think my neighbors would appreciate it. If I move out to a farm, as I hope to someday, I will!

 

[lazy gardener]

I have the same breed criteria as you do. Live in Zone 4. My flock of 5 includes EE, (plus 1 each RIR and BSL courtesy of incubated eggs.) This spring, I am adding Dominiques (they were my first choice, unfortunately the hatchery had a bad sexing day. I love the Dom personality). I am also planning to add BLRW and looking seriously at Rose Combed Brown Leghorns. Hoping that the Leghorns will offset the Wyandottes as one is an early layer, and the other is slow to mature. Between the pea and rose combs, I'm thinking that if I ever did get a short term rooster (down the road) so I could do a barn yard mix hatch, these breeds would provide some intersesting chicks. I love my EE. One of them has provided me with an egg every other day throughout this bitter winter without added light, that in spite of a partial molt. None of my girls read the manual re: not molting in the first year.

If you enjoyed RIR, you might want to look at Buckeyes. They have RIR in their background, but have the rose comb. There's also a rose combed RIR.