I don't know what kind of chicken to get.

[Kyleharry16]

I need to get 15-20 dozen eggs a week (brown eggs) should I get gold sex link chickens or should I get new Hampshire or something so I can make them mate with eachother and still get a good egg laying (I was planing to get 30-35 chickens.) Any help?
Thanks- Kyle

 

[dianaross77]

Getting sex-links doesn't necessarily mean you'll get good egg layers. It only means you'll know for sure what sex they are. The exception are ISA Browns. They have been developed for years to be used in commercial operations. Mine just started laying (around 17 weeks) and even in the heat wave they have each laid an egg every day. They are only available from Townline Hatchery in Zeeland, MI. I got mine from TSC, they got them from Townline. I have heard they can stop laying after a few years which means you might need to replace your layers fairly often. Another option are Black Australorps (my next additions). They were bred to be dual purpose without sacrificing egg production. So you could order straight run, pick your favorite rooster to keep, and eat the rest. I'll be ordering pullets!

The number of chickens sounds good.

 

[Mahonri]

I've had two different Black Sex links (Black Stars) and they were both champion egg layers. One of them went 93 days without missing laying an egg every day.

When I sell off most of my current birds, I'll be getting more leghorns and black sex links... no sense wasting feed.

 

[Gerry2011]

I just got black stars (black sex-linked), red stars (red sex-linked) because - they have the reputation of being virtual egg laying machines plus friendly birds. The red stars are what our local 4H have been getting to raise for the fair sale.

 

[chickenhobby1]

I got red sex links from the same place as post #2 tsc townline hatchery, I have great production and the hens are calm and easy to work with, my 10 year old nephew hold them like kittys. They also lay brown eggs. I do agree with the fact that some sex links do not lay as well due to the breeds involved. I am just learning how to breed sex links but I know the ones ive bought are great layers.

 

[msbee]

Here's a great resource for the type of birds to consider

http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/standard_breed_chicks.html?cl=crumbtrail

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Seems a personal decision on weather you want to incubate eggs and keep a few roosters about or just order 35 pullet chicks from a hatchery every two years, or every year. Murry McMurray charges 2.30 per bird with that size order. Any of the layer sex links is a good choice (Black gave jumbo egg for me) but if you want some roosters to hatch out replacements each year and have extra cockerels for meat then I'd go with Rhode Island Red. Hatchery quality RIR's are incredible layers and produce a much darker (extra large) egg than rocks, orpington or australorp.

 

[Nicole01]

Rhode island reds are good layers. They are suppose to be pretty friendly. I heard the roosters can sometimes be aggressive, but that is nothing unusual. They lay big eggs too, so I've heard.

 

[Fred's Hens]

The sex links touted by almost every hatchery on their pages as being their "champion egg layer" or "6+ eggs per week", etc will get the job done by way of egg production. These strains are really commercial chickens, bred for the commercial hen industry, by the millions. Yes, feed stores and hatcheries sell these chicks to the consumer, many times using really nice, friendly names, like Queen, Star, etc. If it is about eggs, then those are what you want.

That said, don't be surprised if after a year or two, you become interested in keeping some other breeds who lay well enough, but aren't quite the egg machines. Perhaps you'll find you want some diversity in your flock. It happens.