For about the past year I've wanted to start raising chickens in our back yard. I like chickens, I love eggs, and I am making an effort to eat less processed / hormone infused / made in a factory food. I'm looking to purchase 4 pullets - two white egg laying and two brown egg laying. Here's what I'm looking for: 1. Best egg producers 2. Best immunity / disease resistant 3. Best at getting along with other chickens What breeds would y'all recommend I purchase?
Hi and welcome! My Black Sex Links are my best layers at 5-6 brown eggs a week per hen. They get along good with the rest of my flock. Haven't had any health issues. My Barred Rocks lay about 4-5 brown eggs a week per hen and are a bit bossy but nothing major. No health issues with them either.
Most white egg layers are a little flightier than your dual purpose brown egg layers, just to keep in mind. I don't care for white birds, so for white eggs and a boost in production I went with brown Leghorns. Pretty much all of your dual purpose hatchery birds are going to lay about the same, and all have decent temperaments. For high production, go with sex links. for disease resistance, it's not so much about the breed as it is about the management. Give your birds lots of space and they'll repay you be being healthy and productive. If you've not read the sticky on Speckledhen's Ten Commandments, read and memorize. It's golden!
Ditto Donrae. Something to keep in mind: Every plus has a negative: For example, while the sex links and production birds are egg laying machines, they tend to burn out quickly and succumb to egg laying issues more frequently than a dual purpose bird. Mediterranean birds tend to be more flighty. You might want to start by looking at Henderson's chicken breeds chart, then, follow up by searching the threads dedicated to the breeds that interest you. How will you be managing your flock? Big coop, small coop? Enclosed run? Supervised free range? Free range all the time? Will you be replacing your non-productive birds with new chicks every year or two? Will you buy started birds or start with chicks? Will you want to hatch eggs? Will you want to keep a rooster, and be independent with flock replacement? What will you do with your spent hens? Soup pot or geriatric ward? Do you want to keep a rooster? If you raise your own birds, will you be comfortable culling the non-productive, the mean and excess roos, and the non-viable hatchlings? My recommendation: Build your coop and run bigger than you think you'll need. Start small, and with a varied flock. Get all of your birds from the same source and at the same time. Finally, do a LOT of reading before getting your birds, and enjoy them!
I also wanted a high-production white and a brown layer as well. I also wanted "true breeds" and not hybrid. (Not knocking hybrids AT ALL, just personal preference.) I decided on White Leghorn and Australorp.