I want some STANDARDS!!!

[cybercat]

Go for Rocks as far as breed. You have a choice of colors and they are extremly good temperments and layers. Do not buy from MM but do buy from Meyers or Mt Healthy or Privette. MM has a nasty line in a few breeds. Any non sex link chickens should live and produce a good few years not just 2. Many of the large breeds are known for laying well past 5 years.

 

[Jonathanq1]

I feed my hens IAM's they like it alot also.


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[theFox]

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As near as I can tell White Rocks are even mean to their sisters even when sister is bigger.

 

[Joyryder]

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My 2 australorps were extremely shy and afraid of everything. I moved them in with 15 orps and they can't be called shy anymore. They have assumed the orps behavior.

 

[felidaet]

I have 2 Black Australorps in my flock. One has been the top hen since day one. Mine are not very friendly and are very noisy. I am uncertain how well they are laying. (I don't know which hens are laying some of the eggs). At this point my wife and I both agree that we will not get any more BA in the future.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

For lots of eggs, I'd choose production RIRs or red sex-links. They'll lay large to jumbo sized eggs depending upon when they start laying and how much weight they put on.

Feed them 17% layer feed and give them supplemental light and they'll lay over 300 eggs a year.

 

[hcammack]

Faverolles, Marans, Wellsummers, and true Ameraucana. My Marans, Wellsummers, and Faverolles were the sweetest birds. The Marans don't lay as well as the others though and Ameraucana are a bit to small for meat. I would go with Breeder quality Faverolles and Wellsummers.

 

[Bantimna]

I would go for Australorps, Orpingtons, and Salmon Favarolles.

 

[Ridgerunner]

As others said, the personality of the individual chicken can vary quite a bit, regardless of breed. We've all had different experiences. I think quite a bit of it depends on how they are raised. A chicken raised in a brooder and handled daily will likely turn out a lot friendlier than one raised by Mama with no handling. You can increase your odds by selecting certain breeds though as certain breeds are just wild. The Henderson Chart is a pretty good place for information on pure breeds. I'd look for both docile and takes confinement well.

I don't have sex links, just the breeds in my signature. Of these, I'd suggest the Delaware or Orpington for you, but that's from my experience. It could easily be different with different individuals. With your circumstances and desires, in an urban area and wanting friendly egg layers, I'd suggest you look at the sex links. You probably don't want roosters so this gives you the best chance of not getting roosters and they can be very friendly and mellow. They have something called hybrid vigor which tends to improve their performance and could make them healthier and perform better, including in the egg laying department. For a small urban egg-laying flock I just have trouble not suggesting the sex links.

Good luck.

 

[HarryBun12]

I, too, started with bantams and wanted to get a few standard hens for large eggs. Like someone posted earlier, the concern shouldn't necessarily be for the bantams, but for the newcomers! It was funny to see our little RIR and leghorn chasing the full-grown Golden Comets we had gotten. It was as if those Comets didn't realize that they were 3 times bigger. The Golden Comets are extremely friendly and we had gotten them as young adults who hadn't been handled much. Nice dependable layers but so far I can't speak on egg-laying longevity.