Welcome to BYC! Glad you decided to join our flock. I would suggest Black Australorps. They have all of the same great qualities of the Orpingtons; very hardy, calm and gentle temperaments, but they are better layers than the Orpingtons; not surprising since they were originally bred from Orpingtons with the intended goal of increasing the laying rate of teh Orpingtons. The Australorp program was so successful that a Black Australorp set the world egg laying record with 364 eggs in 365 days, a record that stood for several decades until it was finally broken by a caged White Leghorn in 1979 (It's still the brown egg laying record). I have both Australorps and Orpingtons and they are both great birds. Whatever breed you decide to go with, good luck with your flock.
