Thanks, Flock Master - I just learned about the Jearhon within the past six months. I spent the last year and a half learning as much as I could about raising poultry - I was totally new to it. I raised a lot of different breeds to find out what I like the best. I found that I preferred working with the smaller breeds of birds - the banty breeds. But, as everyone knows, they don't lay well during the cold winter months. I like the smaller breeds for a number of reasons: 1) smaller bird = smaller poop to clean up; 2) mean roos are easier to handle; 3) not as much work when it comes butchering time; 4) the smaller breeds I've worked with seemed to have more pleasant dispositions than many of the larger breeds. However, the practical side of me really wanted the main breed that I chose to concentrate on to be a good cold weather layer. I didn't want to give up on that possibility and so I continued my research. I stumbled across some information regarding the Norwegian Jaerjon - and BINGO! - I found my preferred breed of chicken! They are a small breed that lays a large egg for their size. They are a cold hardy breed that continues to lay during the short days of winter. I also like the fact that they are a sex link breed, so you know what you've got right out of the shell. 
They are not good setters, however, so I'm also raising some partridge silkies and some seramas (who are so broody that they will even pilfer eggs from other birds' nests) to help me with hatching when I don't feel like messing with my incubator. Jaerhons have only been in the U.S. since about 1998, so not too many folks are very familiar with them yet. There are only two hatcheries that I've found that carry the chicks. Folks in our more northern states seem to have discovered them before lots of other areas, so you will find some in backyard flocks in Colorado, Wyoming, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, etc. I am very excited to be establishing a line of Jaerhon in Indiana!
They are not good setters, however, so I'm also raising some partridge silkies and some seramas (who are so broody that they will even pilfer eggs from other birds' nests) to help me with hatching when I don't feel like messing with my incubator. Jaerhons have only been in the U.S. since about 1998, so not too many folks are very familiar with them yet. There are only two hatcheries that I've found that carry the chicks. Folks in our more northern states seem to have discovered them before lots of other areas, so you will find some in backyard flocks in Colorado, Wyoming, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, etc. I am very excited to be establishing a line of Jaerhon in Indiana!
Will you be breeding them? That'd be a handy hobby 
