In my ignorance of all the breeds of chickens, I see the langhan, leghorn and OE as similar in the spectrum of chickens.
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I am reminded of my uncle that raised racing pigeons-- an excellent breeder according to his dtr. He started at 16 and continued for the rest of his life. I'm sure his daughter helped in the later years but he sure had a reason to get up in the morning, to exercise and feed his birds. He won a lot of races, knew how to train them and how to breed them. No sick birds in his flock-- they didn't stay long. He would sit on his bench every afternoon while they flew and exercised .
I think Bob was right-- when starting out, go for the easier birds like a solid ie white, and the hurdles are lower and easier and then raising good birds are more pleasurable. I have 2 that are difficult colors and it can be very frustrating bc/ too much to learn right off the bat. Start simple, avoid complex colors.I learned my lesson the hard way.
Oh, ok. No worries, just confused. Actually all three fill different niches (although all are expected to produce, and all are expected to hold their own in show room). The Langshans are a dual purpose bird, that when bred properly should be able to hold their own meat and egg wise with some of the more common breeds, also a brown egg layer for folks that care about brown vs white. The Leghorns are my egg laying specialists so when folks are looking for just eggs from their birds, thats what I can offer them. The Old English Game are bantams, and are purely ornamental, always the biggest class in the show room and most competitive, also great for kids in 4-H and such. Seemed like good ways to fill the three most common needs of poultry since I had room for 2 large fowl breeds and 1 bantam breed, although I suppose in retrospect only the egg laying spot was not pre-determined since natural bias meant Langshans, and the fact that one of my best friends is a top OEGB breeder meant the Dual Purpose and Show slots were going to be filled. LOL
Bob was right on that. The more complex the breed the harder it is to breed. Things newcomers might want to avoid, feathered legs, extreme tails, challenging personalities (i.e. large game fowl), crested fowl. Then when it comes to varieties, Black and White are good. Patterns can be very challenging, "solid" colors like Blue and Buff can be very challenging as well.
HOWEVER. I'm a big believer that you have to absolutely love what you raise, and be super dedicated to them. Otherwise you won't last. Breeding and raising poultry properly is a lot of work, a lot of time, and a lot of money. If you absolutely must have Speckled Sussex? Yes the pattern is a pain in the rear, but do it. Black Wyandottes (or any other yellow legged Black bird)? Go for it, you'll be banging your head against the wall trying to get proper leg color on females but it's worth it. Red Shouldered Yokohama? Tough pattern, long tails that drag on the ground are big challenges, but you can do it.
