If you could only have six hens in your flock

[thecreekhouse]

i live in the city and have a permit to keep up to six hens. I am looking for good layers who will provide me with a variety of egg colors. I tend to like big, fluffy hens with laid back personalities, and I'd like to have a flock with multiple feather colors. So given these standards, what six types of hens would you recommend that I go with?

 

[MySweetChickens]

You could try polish you can get different colors plus they are a laying breed and pretty laid back but once you get them you can only have chickens with crests

 

[thegreatwhite]

I'm in a similar situation that you are in, wanted a colorful basket and we're limited to six, so I ordered five. That leaves me a spare for when the "chicken math" strikes. I wouldn't take this as advice, but these are what I have ordered:

1 - Silver Laced Wyandotte
1 - Black Copper Marans
1 - Brown Leghorn
1 - Salmon Faverolle
1 - Ameraucana

 

[lazy gardener]

I would get 2 or 3 of each of the kinds I chose. Birds of a feather tend to flock together.

Dominique: excellent personality, good foragers, pinkish brown eggs, though not the biggest eggs. Good winter layer. Oh, did I mention excellent personality?

Easter Egger: Quirky personality. Good match for Dominique. Good layers of blue to green eggs. I love their faces with the muffs and beards. Come in many color variations.

Wyandotte: Silver, gold or pencil laced. Beautiful large fluffy birds. Eye candy on the lawn. Good winter layer of large dark brown eggs. My SLW is a sweet gal, and always seems to be on a mission.

Black Australorpe: I've not had one, but they are a large fluffy bird. Would look nice with the Wyandotte. Reported to be excellent layers.

Black sex link: Egg laying machines. I love the beetle green/purple sheen of the black feathers when the sun hits them.

Speckled sussex: An other beautiful bird. I've not had the pleasure of having one of these, but folks I've talked to say they are very personable.

 

[Blooie]

I agree with LG.... and I think I would add to the lists you've already been given -

Cuckoo Marans....steady layers of nice, dark brown eggs (mine were the most reliable of all my chickens all winter long) very laid back, medium-large birds, pretty dark gray and white, similar to a barred rock but with a much less distinct pattern.

It's really hard to suggest breeds - we all have our particular favorites and so much depends on the individual birds. For instance, I know that Lazy Gardener loves her Wyandottes, but I gladly gave all 5 of mine away. In my particular flock they were horrible bullies, far beyond what would be considered normal pecking order tussles. Yet she has had no issues at all with hers. She and I both love our Easter Eggers, but I know a woman here who couldn't wait to send hers to freezer camp, and complained even then that there wasn't enough meat on them to justify the feed costs.

Those examples are not intended to discourage someone from getting them....it's just a way to point out that we all have opinions based on our own experiences. As they say on the TV commercials, "Your results may vary"!

Whatever you decide to get, have fun!

 

[torilovessmiles]

2 Red sexlinks(or black). They are an almost daily-laying chicken, and mine are super fluffy and laid back
1 Wyandotte. Again, fluffy, laid back OR Marans for egg variety
1 Cochin. ULTRA FLUFFY!
1 Orpington (I would choose buff) OR olive egger for egg variety
1 Easter Egger

If I could get no more than six, this would by my ideal combo!

Good luck!!

 

[Mrs. K]

Buffs have my heart, cause all of mine have gone broody and have raised chicks for me.... Good mama's

Red sex link, cause I hate to buy eggs, and these girls lay well,

Easter Eggers, cause blue and green eggs are so fun,

Leghorn, cause there is you white egg

 

[Buckbeak01]

Thank you for posting this thread! I'm in the same situation... I can only have 6 hens in my area. When I was a kid in the country, I had RIR, dominickers, and buff orps. I'm partial to these breeds, but it's been almost 20 years since I've had chickens, and I'm a little rusty. Back then, I just went to a local guy who needs all kinds of chickens and he would buy/sell/trade for any breed. I'm at a loss for how to go about getting my chickens now. The only thing in my area is tractor supply, but I'm concerned about ending up with several Roos... Any suggestions? Thanks! I love this site!

 

[thegreatwhite]

i ordered mine from www.chickensforbackyards.com

reviews i found for them were pretty good

 

[GreenLove]

Thank you for posting this thread! I'm in the same situation... I can only have 6 hens in my area. When I was a kid in the country, I had RIR, dominickers, and buff orps. I'm partial to these breeds, but it's been almost 20 years since I've had chickens, and I'm a little rusty. Back then, I just went to a local guy who needs all kinds of chickens and he would buy/sell/trade for any breed. I'm at a loss for how to go about getting my chickens now. The only thing in my area is tractor supply, but I'm concerned about ending up with several Roos... Any suggestions? Thanks! I love this site!

In my humble opinion, I would say order from a hatchery so you know your getting hens, and then take a road trip to pick them up

. I've heard such horror stories about peeps being sent in the mail, I could never bring myself to do it to them

. Good luck, I'm sure others will chime in, everyone is so nice and helpful on this site