I could use some breed suggestions or a reality check.

[Folly's place]

About caution and predator awareness: As mentioned above, 'flighty' is part of what helps! And birds who have survived a bad experience tend to learn caution, at the expense of loosing flockmates.
Chickens tend to have two behaviors when threatened, and individuals tend to repeat the same thing when frightened. Flying up in panic works well if it's a ground predator, while crouching under cover is good against raptors. Flying up will help that hawk, and crouching on the ground is great for four legged critters.
We've had experience with both behaviors and both predator types, and chicken is on everyone's menu...
Mary

 

[Folly's place]

And do look at Henderson's Handy Dandy Breed Chart, easy to locate on Google.
Mary

 

[Winderdear]

Welsummers tick some of your boxes, but not all. If you live in a cold climate I wouldn’t recommend them. Even the hens have large combs that get frostbite, and the roosters must be much more prone to it. Honestly, they don’t seem to be great for hot weather either, as mine get surprisingly stressed in summer. They want a mild climate I think.

You could look into Cuckoo Marans maybe. They’re clean-legged at most hatcheries. Mine is a big girl, 7lbs+. She doesn’t eat a ton either, but though her eggs are large, she doesn’t lay as often as my other hens of different breeds. Her first laying year she laid about 180 big eggs. Her comb and wattles are small, unlike my Wellies’. She’s a smart, predator aware bird, but she isn’t afraid of humans. She is often the first to see danger and signals to the others to take cover. I have a Blue Cuckoo Marans and a Splash Marans as well who are similarly predator aware, so I believe it’s a breed trait. They are all great foragers too.

 

[NatJ]

Hey everyone! I’ve been thinking a lot about what breed of chicken I want to try next

Is there a reason you want just one breed?

You could get a few hens each of several breeds, and see how they do. If you don't like any of them, try some other breeds the next year. If you do like them, either buy more from the same source, or start breeding your own barnyard mix from your favorites (start with some rooster, keep a son from one of your best hens, breed him to another of your best hens and keep a son: at that point you have a male with 3/4 of his genetics coming from the best of your hens, so it doesn't matter as much what rooster you started with.)

Alternatively, if there is a breed that sounds attractive, maybe get them from several sources and pick out the ones you like best from each. I would probably try birds from several hatcheries, in addition to any private breeders you can find.

Almost of those are up to the individual bird, a certain breed that meets all those standards, would be a unicorn.

Agreed. So the best way to have good birds is to start with quite a few, and remove the ones that aren't right (predators may take some, and other not-right birds can be sold, given away, or eaten.)



Thoughts on some of your other points:

- Not broody. After having Orpingtons, Australorps, and broody Rhode Island Reds, I am DONE with broody hens.

Did you have any non-broody examples of those breeds? Breeding from them might be a good start.

- Small to Medium single comb. Large single combs always get frostbite, and I cannot heat my coop. I don’t want the fertility problems of rosecombs, and other types trigger my anxiety and gag reflex if I look too long (I don’t know why). Buttercup or v-shape would probably be okay if they can handle hot and cold weather, but I don’t know anything about them.

Have you looked at the pea combs on many Easter Egger chickens? Are they the ones that cause trouble? Pea combs are nice for avoiding frostbite, but if their appearance bothers you, then ruling them out makes sense.

V-combs are usually found on breeds that have crests, although if you want to mix breeds you could have non-crested ones within two to three generations. (Assuming hens with single combs and no crests: a Polish rooster with crest & V-comb could breed with those hens, giving chicks with v-combs and smaller crests. One of those sons could breed with the original hens, and about 1 in 4 chicks should have a V comb with no crest. Breeding a V-comb/no crest rooster to your hens would give about a 50/50 split of chicks with V combs or single combs, with no crests on any of them. You could go on to have some V combs and some single combs, or work toward a flock with just V combs.)

 

[Not-so Slick Chicken]

The list kind of cuts out everything.
I think you may have an easier time if you choose what's MOST important to you, and then everything else can go on a "bonus" list.

As far as heat/cold hardy breeds... A lot of that is dependent on you. As long as your coop, run, and free range provide what they need to be comfortable year round... most chickens are going to do okay.

There are several birds that I'm personally interested in. They may fit some of what you're looking for.

- Buckeye
- Rhode Island Red (exhibition type)
- Appenzeller Spitzhauben
- Penedesenca
- Ameraucana (I have a couple, and like them. I'm interested in the other colors available but harder to find.)

I LOVE my two Mottled Ancona pullets. They're smaller, flighty, but the most adventurous and curious birds in my whole flock. They're the first to check out everything, and the first to come see what I'm doing. It feels like they lead the whole flock at times. I'd love more like them.

I personally am not fond of birds that are too fluffy, if only because there's a higher risk of them getting poopy bum feathers...

 

[la dee da]

Reality check on this. They are essentially opposites. Like wanting to have a large bird that is small. Or a fluffy bird that is sleek.

Flighty birds are the ones that are reactive enough to have a much, much, much better chance of surviving while free ranging. Part of being reactive is being aware of surroundings - like hawks on fenceposts.

I have to disagree with this one. I know it’s possible to have a calmer bird that isn’t stupid and is good at free ranging because I’ve had them. My heritage Black Javas and heritage RIR were raised in the same yard as my sexlinks, but when I saw a hawk, they hid so well I didn’t know where the were until I chased the hawk away and they popped out from the bushes. My sexlinks were more flighty than my heritage birds, and way dumber. I suspect it was their breeding, since my hatchery orpingtons had some brains.

This is a little the same. Food efficiency is most closely related to body size. Activity level is also a factor. And quirks of body chemistry but I don't think that has been selected for in any heritage type breeds so it will vary within breeds more than most traits.

Yeah I was worried that would be the case. I get really torn between wanting a large breed and wanting better food efficiency. How does one choose between such things? It’s like my heart and my head are at war!

 

[la dee da]

About caution and predator awareness: As mentioned above, 'flighty' is part of what helps! And birds who have survived a bad experience tend to learn caution, at the expense of loosing flockmates.
Chickens tend to have two behaviors when threatened, and individuals tend to repeat the same thing when frightened. Flying up in panic works well if it's a ground predator, while crouching under cover is good against raptors. Flying up will help that hawk, and crouching on the ground is great for four legged critters.
We've had experience with both behaviors and both predator types, and chicken is on everyone's menu...
Mary

Hmmm. Well, maybe in the future I’ll want a flightier bird, but so far I haven’t had predator issues even with less flighty birds. I just really don’t like my chickens being constantly scared of me; my Orpingtons were, and I ended up hating them (for more reasons than that, but always being avoided and panicked over secured their fate).

And do look at Henderson's Handy Dandy Breed Chart, easy to locate on Google.
Mary

I found it, thanks! Do you know if it’s referring to hatchery or breeder stock?

 

[la dee da]

Welsummers tick some of your boxes, but not all. If you live in a cold climate I wouldn’t recommend them. Even the hens have large combs that get frostbite, and the roosters must be much more prone to it. Honestly, they don’t seem to be great for hot weather either, as mine get surprisingly stressed in summer. They want a mild climate I think.

You could look into Cuckoo Marans maybe. They’re clean-legged at most hatcheries. Mine is a big girl, 7lbs+. She doesn’t eat a ton either, but though her eggs are large, she doesn’t lay as often as my other hens of different breeds. Her first laying year she laid about 180 big eggs. Her comb and wattles are small, unlike my Wellies’. She’s a smart, predator aware bird, but she isn’t afraid of humans. She is often the first to see danger and signals to the others to take cover. I have a Blue Cuckoo Marans and a Splash Marans as well who are similarly predator aware, so I believe it’s a breed trait. They are all great foragers too.

I didn’t know Welsummers combs were so large, thank you! I’ll look into the Marans.

 

[Folly's place]

Henderson's chart has been around a while, and it does generalize about breeds, so there will always be exceptions to 'average' individuals. Show breeders often favor looks above egg production, for example.
The chart is a good place to get ideas, and consider breeds that have been off your radar so far. Also the Livestock Breed Conservancy, if trying to help keep genetic diversity matters to you.
Mary

 

[la dee da]

Is there a reason you want just one breed?

No reason in particular. I just haven’t been particularly happy with the breeds I keep picking. I really liked my Black Javas, but I’m bored of black, and they took a long time to mature. The RIR I had were constantly broody, and the roosters were aggressive to each other (I’d like to eventually have two roosters, so that’s a problem). The sexlinks were dumb as bricks and kept dying of egg problems. The Orpingtons ate a lot and laid only a few small eggs, and also wouldn’t stop being broody—whenever I broke one, another went broody; same broodiness with the heritage Australorps, though they lay much better. The Partridge Rocks don’t like me and always avoid me, like the Orpingtons did.

I keep thinking about getting BJ again, but their long time to maturity and boring black color puts me off. Maybe I should try mottled, but I don’t care much for black-and-white chickens, either.

Did you have any non-broody examples of those breeds? Breeding from them might be a good start.

Not really. Every time I broke one Orpington hen, another went broody. If I wasn’t quick enough, I’d have four broody hens in two nest boxes. All it took was skipping gathering eggs one night to get a broody. My current Australorps are just as bad. I don’t know if my RIR were as bad, as I gave them to a friend right after four of them (out of 5) went broody.

Have you looked at the pea combs on many Easter Egger chickens? Are they the ones that cause trouble? Pea combs are nice for avoiding frostbite, but if their appearance bothers you, then ruling them out makes sense.

I haven’t seen them in person, no. From looking online, I don’t think I can handle them. The smoother pea combs would probably be fine, but some pictures show pea combes that look like a raisin or are bumpy. It’s those pea combs I don’t think I should chance getting.

Your suggestions about breeding are sound, but I’m going to be quite broke for a while, and I am not at all set up to start a breeding program.