Newbie in Wisconsin

[MayCasa]

I am getting my first pullets this Thursday. I think five is a good number for my first time. I've narrowed my choices down to Easter Egger(breeder only has one), Gold Star(2 available), silver laced Wyandotte, and buff Orpington. Keeping in mind that I live in Wisconsin and need a cold hardy breed, which combination of birds would you get. For some reason, I really have my heart set on the Easter Egger. I just can't decide which breed my other 4 should be. Please help

 

[cabinchicky]

Hello and welcome! I am just past my first year of chickens. I have EEs and they did great in -50 this past winter. they laid about 40% but that was OK with me. I had Barred Rocks and Black Giants then as well. They had only a tiny bit of frost bite on tips of combs but laid around the same amount. I hope this helps.

 

[Michael OShay]

All of these breeds are cold hardy. Gold Stars (one of many names for Red Sex Links) are the best layers on your list and the Buff Orpingtons have the best temperaments (very calm and gentle birds). I have had all of these birds at one time or another and since you have your heart set on the Easter Egger, I would take the 2 Gold Stars and 2 Buff Orpingtons in addition. That's not to say that the Silver Laced Wyandottes are bad birds (they're not). But their lay rate is about the same as the Buff Orpingtons and occasionally I have had an aggressive Silver Laced Wyandotte. Ultimately though, the choice is yours. Get the mix that you think will satisfy you and good luck on your new chickens.

 

[Michael OShay]

All of these breeds are cold hardy. Gold Stars (one of many names for Red Sex Links) are the best layers on your list and the Buff Orpingtons have the best temperaments (very calm and gentle birds). I have had all of these birds at one time or another and since you have your heart set on the Easter Egger, I would take the 2 Gold Stars and 2 Buff Orpingtons in addition. That's not to say that the Silver Laced Wyandottes are bad birds (they're not). But their lay rate is about the same as the Buff Orpingtons and occasionally I have had an aggressive Silver Laced Wyandotte. Ultimately though, the choice is yours. Get the mix that you think will satisfy you and good luck on your new chickens.

P.S. Forgot to say, "Welcome to BYC! )

 

[petrel]

Hello and Welcome. You may want to take a look at the BYC breeds section or just look at cold hardy varieties on Henderson's Chicken Breed chart.

 

[TwoCrows]

Welcome to BYC!

Those are a great selection of choices and Easter Eggers are fun birds to keep!

You might want to chat with your chicken neighbors in your state thread to see what breeds to best in your territory...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/245700/wisconsin-cheeseheads

You can also take a look at these two breeds pages. Lots of quick info on all the attributes of the different breeds...

http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html

http://www.albc-usa.org/documents/chickenbreedcomparison.pdf

Enjoy this wonderful new journey you are on and welcome to our flock!

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! You might also want to check out the BYC member reviews on the different breeds. https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/category/chicken-breeds X2 the Stars are going to be the best layers of those breeds probably, Orpingtons tend to have really nice temperaments but I really like Wyandottes because of the pretty color patterns.

 

[MayCasa]

Thank you everyone!!! I feel like I'm so overthinking this. But after reading all about the breeds in the breed section and searching everything I could find about the gold star, Wyandotte, and Orpington I know I can't go wrong with any of them. Just a matter of figuring out which one thank you for sharing all the links. I didn't realize their was a Wisconsin thread.

 

[drumstick diva]

 

[gander007]

So how are your chicks doing now ????