New to chicken raising

[fishandchix1]

I'm new to BYC and chicken raising in general, although I have 2 young hens myself. I am definitely looking to get more hens due to the fact that I just built a larger enclosure and looking to expand it once more. What kind of chickens should I get as a beginner living in Maryland, with fairly cold winters and hot summers,I am leaning towards an australorp or Rhode Island Red but I am mostly looking for a hardy hen who lays often and can get along with other hens. Thank you

Jagger

 

[Cynthia12]

Go to your state thread, see what works for folks in your state. We get cold here, and I like the ones you wouldn't think would work out..but they do! Leghorns for one. Sexlinks, but the ones with the shorter combs are the ones you will hear others suggest..EE, Ameraucanas, Wyondottes. There are a lot.

 

[drumstick diva]

 

[Michael OShay]

Welcome to BYC, Jagger. Glad you decided to join our flock. You'll get different opinions from BYC members, but I've raised both RIRs and Australorps over the years and my hatchery bred RIRs have sometimes been aggressive. Based on my 50 years of experience, and given your criteria, I think Australorps would be an excellent breed for you. I've raised them for years (along with dozens of other breeds), and they are extremely hardy in both heat and cold, calm and gentle (my children and granddaughter made lap pets of them), and the best layers of the standard brown egg laying breeds. An Australorp holds the brown egg laying record with 364 eggs in 365 days, and while none of mine have ever reached that level of production (and likely never will), I've still had some of them lay over 300 eggs in a year. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Whatever breed you decide to get, good luck with your flock.

 

[N F C]

Hi Jagger, welcome to BYC!

There's a helpful article in the Learning Center on selecting the breed best for you. It looks at factors such as weather, broodiness, flightiness, etc. Here's a link to it if you'd like to look:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...cken-guide-to-picking-backyard-chicken-breeds

No matter what you add, be sure to isolate the new birds before mixing in with your existing ones. That will help protect your chickens from contracting illness or pests.

Good luck to you. If you have questions, feel free to ask!

 

[fishandchix1]

Thanks @NorthFLChick that article helped a lot though I am still leaning toward an austrolorp

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[N F C]

Thanks @NorthFLChick that article helped a lot though I am still leaning toward an austrolorp

Glad it helped. And nothing wrong at all with Australorps, you just might want to keep another breed or two in the back of your mind in case you can't get them. Or for when you get bit by the chicken math bug and decide you really need to add more birds, lol.