My chicken wish list: help me choose!!!

[wings]

I am getting 5 (maybe six) more chicks in the spring!!! I can't wait!!! The problem is, I'm having trouble deciding what breed to get. This is my list of the ones I am going to start with. (I have more, but that would be too hard.)

-Barred Rocks (I am definitely getting some of these!)
-Wyandottes (which kind?)
-Buff Orpingtons (they are sooooo pretty)
-Black Australorps
-Barnevelders (are they the same as Australorps?)
-Cuckoo Marans (who can resist chocolate colored eggs?)
-Ameraucanas

Am I asking too much? This is what I want from my hens:

-good layers (esp. through the winter)
-cold hearty (it gets cold in MA)
-docile (I have two younger sisters: six and nine)
-available and not rare (I'm getting them from a local hatchery)

If you could help with any pictures, stories, or recommendations, it would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[moduckman]

Wyandottes, cold hearty due to rose comb, and not a bad layer. They are fairly docile and not rare.

 

[Davaroo]

You got it already....

-Barred Rocks (I am definitely getting some of these!)
-Wyandottes (which kind?)
-Buff Orpingtons (they are sooooo pretty)
-Black Australorps

Dont stress... decide.

 

[wings]

Quote:

???

 

[moduckman]

Black or Partridge wyandottes are pretty.

 

[sandypaws]

i will always have a few ameracaunas in my flock.. always

i am new to the cuckoo marans... but i am hooked!! i LOVE mine.. even if they did not lay those pretty eggs,,, they are very docile, friendly, BIG, good layers...

barred rocks look alot like the cuckoomarans (everybody coming onto my property think my CM are BR)
barred rocks are just "good ol' stand bys" great layers, docile ect. always nice birds to own

i dont like my wyandottes... there personalities are just so dull,, and the few i have owned always turn into egg eaters.. i know not ALL of them are like this,, JUST MINE.. so i dont like them,, personal opinion

my CM rooster is as big as my wild turky hen... and VERY VERY DOCILE,, he is a lover not a fighter

 

[allaboutdemchicks]

You'd have to ask someone else....I'm still in that "I want them all stage of chicken raising!"

Here are my recommendations:

Black Australorp: fits the bill for everything your asking for.
(6 month old cockeral)

Buff Orpington: big babies...that you can NEVER go wrong with.
(4 week old pullet with BA behind her)

 

[wings]

Thanks for the pictures!

 

[Mahonri]

Blue Wheaten or Blue Ameraucanas.

I got a couple of juvies (blue ameraucanas) from Pips & Peeps and feel so very blessed. They are so beautiful and so fun to just sit and watch.

I have the wheaten eggs from pasofinofarm (Melissa) in my bator... set to hatch on Feb 20th.

If I could only have four breeds they would be:

For looks:

Ameraucanas &


Buff Orpingtons

For laying:

Cinnamon Queens (or Isa Browns) &

Leghorns.

with a blue Ameraucana roo, I can't wait to see what wonderful EE combinations I can get with my white and brown leghorns, with my black star, with my partridge rock, my white rock, salmon favs, speckled sussex, cuckoo marans, RIR, BR, yellowish EE.

OH I NEED A BIGGER COOP!

 

[wings]

I AM SOOOO JEALOUS, Mahonri! I would love to have two of each of my favorite breeds.

Now, I just have RIR and one Buckeye (not that I don't love them to death!)