Help me pick a new breed!

[Xtina]

Hi guys,
The breed selector tool appears to be down, and I feel like a community discussion might be more fun for me anyway!

Long story short: I lost a hen about a month ago and want to replace her. I was going to buy some buff/sexlink mutts from a friend of a friend, until someone offered up some Wyandottes for sale. I got more excited than I should have and when she didn't show up for our meeting, I was more crushed than I ought to have been. Turns out, I don't want mutts, even if it means having to make a drive or waiting until spring to get some purebreds. And while right now, all I want are some pretty gold-laced Wyandottes, I thought I'd open the floor to more suggestions. Here's what I'm looking for:

Standard
Cold-hardy
FRIENDLY - both with me and my other ladies
Great egg layer
Beautiful!

And I do mean beautiful. I want nice puffy looking ladies with stocky bodies who have interesting patterns. No solid colors seem to appeal to me at this point. Let me hear your ideas!

 

[Tuffoldhen]

Blue or Splash Orpingtons!

 

[gryeyes]

SLW and GLW sure are pretty birds! (I have one of each.) I particularly like it when they show their pantaloons or petticoats - that just makes me laugh.

Any of the Brahmas, light or buff or dark - nice patterns and chunky chickens.

Delawares, although lots of white, the "necklace" and tailfeather tips of black are really pretty. And they're SO friendly!

Speckled Sussex, maybe?

EEs could be ANY color, and the cheek muffs make their little faces so adorable. Plus the green eggs are charming. Not as great a layer as the Brahmas and Delawares, though.

 

[Xtina]

Quote:
It is my Buff Orpington that I'm replacing, but I have to admit, she was my least favorite. She was the least friendly of my birds and she was the egg-eater. Although I will give credit where it's due, the pictures of blue orps are really beautiful.

 

[Tuffoldhen]

I love mine, very freindly group of girls and boys even! There always has to be one in every crowd that causes trouble! LOL

 

[Xtina]

Of course. And I don't want to act like she was a bad chicken. Just compared to my other two, she was the least able to be caught and the one who enjoyed it the least. In fact, I don't think I got to hold her once in the last year! And if she got into an area she wasn't supposed to, trying to catch her to get her out was downright impossible. And the egg-eating...now that was a serious problem.

I really love how easily handled my barred rock is. She lets me pick her up every single time. Sometimes my RIR protests. The only reason I don't want to go for another barred rock is because I've only owned three breeds to this point and I don't think that's enough breed experience.

 

[ninjascrub69]

Standard cochin? They're not great layers, but are still decent layers, and (in my experience) lay well into the winter without artificial light.

 

[Xtina]

Those are pretty! I do want great laying capabilities, but I guess my first concern is those feet feathers. Do they need any care or maintenance on my end?

 

[Raen]

I don't have any chickens (yet!) but I'm also looking at breeds and my requirements are the same as yours. A couple that seem good to me, that you haven't mentioned, are Sussex, Wellsummer, and Australorp. Here's the chicken breed chart from this site, if you haven't seen it:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/breeds/breed-chart

 

[Raen]

Sorry, double post