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Hi Lisa, welcome to BYC, and Merry Christmas to you!
Easter eggers are generally full of personality. I don't have any silkies. They seem to high maintenance for me, but if you decide to get some there are a couple of things to keep in mind. Silkies don't do well in a free-range environment. Also, they aren't as well insulated as easter eggers, so they aren't as hardy in cold or wet weather. If you do get them, get more than two, so they have their own little group.
Good luck!
 
Hello and welcome to BYC! :frow

Congrats on purchasing land! Its always fun to start up a new homestead. Looks like you are building a nice coop! If you have any questions along the way or run into trouble building, definitely stop by our Coop and Run Construction forums here on BYC. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/coop-run-design-construction-maintenance.9/

Easter Eggers are a wonderful breed, docile and fun colored eggs. Buff Orpingtons, Black Australorps and Barred Rocks make great pets too, great layers as well.

Enjoy this new journey, make yourself at home here and welcome aboard!
 
Fuchsia said:
Hello Lisa, welcome to BYC. I’m glad you joined us. Merry Christmas to you too! ☺️
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Thank you!
FunClucks said:
Welcome to BYC! Great coop view!

I'm from North Alabama, close to TN, similar weather, except I'm jealous of your mountains.

As far as recommended chicken type, it all depends on what you want them for. How important are eggs to you? Will these be pets only, or livestock, or both? Do you want dual-purpose birds, meat birds, or eggers, or some mix of the above? The answers drastically change the recommended chicken types.

I bought a mix of dual-purpose/heritage breeds (buff orpingtons and a RIR mix), colored eggers (prairie bluebell and starlight green eggers), and production red eggers (ISA Browns, Golden Comet). First I thought egg production was most important, and then I realized there were such things as colored eggs, and having a colored egg basket became a big deal to me. Now that I'm 7-8 months in, the ISA Browns and Golden Comet are actually my favorites, followed by the Starlight Green Eggers, because of how regularly they lay and their egg size. The ISA Browns and Golden Comet lay me a large/extra-large egg every single morning. I love this. The Starlight Green eggers lay me one medium/large green egg every day. I wish they were larger, but the color is very pretty. Even my Starlight Green egger that lays tan instead of green gives me one medium/large egg every day. The reliable production is a big deal for me. Chickens that lay every day tend to only live for 2-4 years, and tend to die of reproductive issues, but I figure, okay, I'll give those hens the best life ever, regardless of how long it is.

The Prairie Bluebell eggers give me a small to large egg (depending on the chicken's age) every 2-3 days. The one PBB that lays tan only does it every 2 days or so. I don't know how many blue eggs I'll get today, who exactly laid it, or when the next one will be. My six PBBs lay about three blue eggs a day, size small or medium depending on the age of the chicken. Also, some of the PBBs eggs are such a light blue that they're practically white, and I was hoping for more baby blue and darker. My darkest egg is very light blue. Several of them have taken forever to come into lay. They'd probably be great foragers, and great at avoiding/escaping predators, but we don't free range here, so that ability is not super useful in my flock. I wish I'd gotten easter eggers instead of the Prairie Bluebells - if they're going to lay every other day, at least I could have some brighter egg colors, like teal or bright blue or something.

When you get easter eggers, it's worth asking what the parent stock egg production is like, if eggs are your goal. Also, what they look like physically, and temperament, if those are important to you. There's a wide range of easter egger physical appearances, egg production, and egg colors, and it's worth it to look around a bit so you have a much higher chance of being happy with what you end up with.
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such great information. Thank you! The green eggers sound awesome.
I think for now we just want eggs but maybe next year we’ll do another coop and do meat chickens! I honestly just want to see if I’ll be good at this!
 

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