I need breed suggestions!

[AtlantisPeeps]

Hey hey hey all you chicken friends. I am planning ahead. Next spring I want to get a new batch of chickies. Not sure what breeds I want! I like to have a variety flock, where no two chickens are alike. So I need suggestions. I don't want any breeds I have now- Ill list them below. I know I want a Cochin or two, but that's all I can think of. I like pretty breeds with unique colors, without looking muddy. I like em big and poofy. What breeds do you recommend?

I own:
Red sex linked
Buff Orpington
Lavender Orpington
Blue Orpington
Gold laced Wyandotte
Easter Egger
New Hampshire
Speckled Sussex



Breeds I don't like:
Silkie (Looks too much like a poodle to me)
White faced Spanish (Too...droopy)
Polish (Eh, not a big fan on the afro)
Anything barred (Bad experience with barred chickens)
Game breeds

 

[tantricdragon13]

How about you round out that collection of Orps with their Aussie sisters, Black Australorps? I have a flock of six (trying the breed for the first time) and they are just lovely. Beautiful to look at and sweet dispositions.

I know you said you don't want barred birds, but I also had good experiences with Barred Rocks. Raised them for years and they were great birds. Maybe not the best advice for you, but thought I would mention it for other folks out there looking to add new colors to their flocks. Hope you don't mind.

 

[AtlantisPeeps]

Thank you! Black Australorps would be perfect as I don't have any solid black chickens!

I will consider barred rocks. They are cool birds. I've just always had issues with aggression in barred rocks. Towards people and other chickens. I dunno, I might get a nice one in the next batch!

 

[tantricdragon13]

Thank you! Black Australorps would be perfect as I don't have any solid black chickens!

I will consider barred rocks. They are cool birds. I've just always had issues with aggression in barred rocks. Towards people and other chickens. I dunno, I might get a nice one in the next batch!

I've heard other people say that, but our roos were always the sweetest things. And the hens were even sweeter!

 

[Michael OShay]

How about you round out that collection of Orps with their Aussie sisters, Black Australorps? I have a flock of six (trying the breed for the first time) and they are just lovely. Beautiful to look at and sweet dispositions.

X2 on Black Australorps. I'm convinced that they are the best all-around, dual purpose breed on the planet. They are extremely hardy. I've raised them in northern Kansas where temperatures dropped to 30 F below zero one winter, and in CA where summer temperatures frequently reached 117-118 F (123 F once), and in both climate extremes they came through like troopers. BAs are very calm and gentle. My children, and now my granddaughter, made lap pets of ours. And they are the best layers of the standard, brown egg laying breeds. A Black Australorp holds the brown egg laying record with 364 eggs in 365 days, and while none of mine have ever reached that kind of production (and likely never will), I have still had a few of them lay over 300 eggs in a year. With the number of different breeds you have on your list, not having a Black Australorp seems like a glaring omission. Good luck with your flock.

 

[rebrascora]

Welsummers are very pretty and lay terracotta eggs
Cream legbars are also pretty and lay blue eggs
I also have exchequer leghorns which are white with black flecks and they lay white eggs.
I like my egg boxes to look pretty as well as my flock.
Of course you are also missing an RIR. Surely no mixed flock is complete without one!