Help me withthe kinds of chickens

[FF]

Hello. I am ordering from hoover hatchery for delievery in march. I dread the hassle of getting the little squeakers and raising them but it feels good to look back and say you raised them. Oh well. I realloy don't know what breeds to choose. I have had Barred rocks and don't like them. Hoovers has the breeds available...

Silver Laced Wyandottes
White Leghorns
California Whites
Black Australorp
Rhode Island
Sex link- black and red
White Rock
Buff Orp.
Ameracauna




I definetly want some Ameracacunas so I can tell people I raise green eggs. Working on the ham but it's a working progress. I would like some that lay very good sized brown and white eggs. I would like to go ver no more than 4 breeds. I need them to lay in 10 degree weather and 100 degree weather. Docile and the best layers on the market.Make me out a list of how many and what kinds if you want to. I don't care. I just need to get them ordered and I can trust you all to point me in th eright way when it comes to this stuff. My order needs to total to 25 please. Thank you very much.

 

[ShysCreations]

SL Wyandottes are a docile, quiet breed with good sized eggs. I really liked the Wyandotte hens for our back yard. These can be flighty--- White Leghorns
California Whites. Had an Ameracauna from a hatchery who was very flighty too

 

[schmije]

Leghorns are excellent white egg layers, but they aren't friendly. Our favorites have been RIR and Buff Orp, because they lay almost every day, and they're the most friendly - although the Orps. do have a tendency to go broody. Our experience with White Rock and Black Austrolorp have been good too. I've heard really good things about the Wyandottes and the Sex Links, but I don't have any personal experience. If I had to pick, I'd say 6 Rhode Island Red, 6 Sex link (black or red, doesn't matter), 6 Buff Orp., 7 Ameraucana. No white layers on my list.

 

[alicefelldown]

Hoovers Hatchery does not sell 'Americanas' - they are selling what almost all hatcheries sell - Easter Eggers.

From their site:

http://hoovershatchery.com/html/colored.html#araucana :

Colored Eggs - Americana

Chicks can be assorted colors, white, brown, red or black. Eggs are shades of blue, green and light brown.

True Ameraucanas would never lay a brown egg. That's a big clear sign that they are not telling the truth. (Also the misspelling of the name and the entirely different breed listed in the URL) The Easter Eggers you get from them would indeed add some pretty colors to your egg basket, and are usually very friendly birds.

http://www.apa-abayouthprogramsite.org/Edu_Material/Easter Eggers vs.pdf :

The EASTER EGGER OR AMERICANA as people like to call them are actually a mish-mash of mixed breeds, with definitely some of the lethal gene of the Araucana or Ameraucana mixed in. This is what causes them to lay eggs of several different colors. The eggs can be anywhere from light tan, dark tan, blue, pinkish or even a pale yellow.

These chickens are actually very pretty, with a mix of color in their feathers and they are often found in the backyard flock that farmers use for egg layers. Of course with all of the beautiful colors they became known as the Easter Eggers because they look like eggs we color for Easter.

Being these Easter Eggers are a cross breed type of chicken their feathers can be as colorful as a painting with every color imaginable on one bird, whereby the two standard breeds have very definite colors indicative of their particular breeds. The AMERAUCANA and the ARAUCANA are both fancy purebred breeds that are listed in the American Standard of Perfection published by the American Poultry Association and the Bantam Standard that is published by the American Bantam Association.

The EASTER EGGER/AMERICANA is a cross breed that hatcheries sell to fill the need of the hobby farmer that wants a colorful backyard flock and beautiful eggs. If you don’t wish to show your birds, the Easter Egger is the perfect bird for you.

If you want actual Ameraucanas (or their harder to hatch rumpless "cousins" the Araucana) please take some time to go over the BYC Sellers Guide - Breeder List to find fellow members selling their true breeder stock.

Best of luck!​

 

[FF]

Hello Everyone. I believe I will go with the list that schmije gave. And instead of the 7 amerracaunnas i will get the liver laced wyandottes like sackman said. And thank you alicefelldown for the EE problem. I sure do thank you very much and This is going to be my order! Have a good day and thanks s whole bunch.

 

[alicefelldown]

FF, you can still get the Easter Eggers - and you should!! Even though they aren't fancy-schmancy pure breeds, they will still give you really cool egg colors and are super friendly and fun!

Just look at fellow BYC member CottageGarden's basket of EE eggs:

 

[FF]

ok. Thank you. So hoovers EE will be ok for what I am needing them for?

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

yes definately

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

I would suggest some Black Australorps - going by your list of desireable qualities. They have very nice personalities, lay large brown eggs and hold the record for most eggs laid in a year. All of my experiences with them have been positive. I like Wyandottes as a bird but they tend to lay a little les requently and eat a lot. Orps also have a higher feed to egg ratio.
I would go with 5 AM, 5 Sex link, 5 Black Austrolorp, 5 leghorns, and 5 RIR

 

[slightlyscrambled]

I have two red sex links and they are the sweetest, race to me for food, sit in my daughters lap and have never stopped laying since August of 09. Lay beautiful big brown eggs.