need help picking breeds please take a look

[cacoops]

we have two RIRs and when we sit outside they come over to us jump up on our laps and snuggle. it is crazy. At first i was a little weirded out,but they are great company and i love the fact that i can provide comfort to them when they need a little rest. RIRs depend on your friendship.wish i had more. Our two Leghorns act independent until they notice the RIRs on our laps, then they come over and jump on our laps too. it is hysterical to see the jealousy. Both are great egg layers, sweet friends, i feel any chicken would go broody if you let them. collect eggs right away. they will hiss at you when you take the eggs out so talk sweet to them and say thank you.our leghorns are tiny and love to be held tight for warmth. we have 11 one year old hens and have had problems with extreme bullying with the three Black sex links. we also have two barred rocks, two wyandotts, they are very timid. but I'm not sure if its because of the bullying that has caused them to become that way. if i had to do it again id stick to RIRs and Leghorns. its a perfect match. i bribe them with mealworms when i need to put them in the run or want them to move away from cars coming and going in the driveway and that is how they have come to follow me around.LOL hope you have good luck with everything. there's so much to learn. hens are truly special princesses.

 

[cacoops]

we started last spring with 12 two day old chicks in a large brooder. at two and a half weeks there was a bloody pecking order. i was devastated.cleaned them up and everyone survived. i put them in the coop at that point and everything was fine for a while. its the black sex links. they have everyone crazy and pecking each other. so the answer to your question is i don't think it matters. we're still trying to figure out the problem. out of the 12 chickens one was a rooster and we gave him to a friend on a farm the first time he cockadooodledooood. lol .so one of the BSL may be trying to be the rooster. they have complete access to an acre of fenced in yard. we are so exhausted about this. good luck hope this helps.

 

[killervex]

Do your RIR's lay throughout the winter? That's kind of my determining factor of picking between RIR and Red Star for my brown layers.. I've read some places that without an alternate light source through the winter RIR's would slow down and even stop producing, while I've read other places that the winter does not effect them in this way. Could anyone shed some more insight as to why the differences?

 

[Happy Chooks]

I thought RIRs layed more through the winter than most brown laying breeds? Your saying red stars lay through winter that may be my best bet. Because I'm looking for a steady 3 dozen/wk supply all year around. ( 6eggs per week per bird)

Does anyone have any opiniona on the broodiness of these 3 breeds? Red star white leghorn and Rhode island red

No matter what breed you get, they will take a break in the winter months once they are about 12-18 months old to molt. They cannot lay eggs and molt at the same time - growing in feathers take up all their protein stores. You will need to provide light to help keep production up as much as you can, but you'll still have birds molting.

The only way to make sure you have a steady supply of eggs through winter is to hatch every year so that you have young pullets laying while everyone else is molting.

Red Stars and the White Leghorn are good choices for high production of large eggs. You could also get the brown leghorn, if you wanted a different looking bird.