Pick my Egg Laying Breed! (And a Rooster too!)

[Sammy1122]

Americana and Ees are not the same

Not trying to correct you but americanas and EEs are the same thing. Ameraucana (purebreds) are the friendliest chickens I’ve ever had (besides Cornish X lol which I do NOT recommend).

thing.Americanas are pure breeds,Easter eggers are not.Easter eggers ahve beards,Americanas have grey/slate legs and lay only blue eggs and they have beards and muffs,Easter eggers lay multiple colors,have multiple color legs and are not pure breeze

 

[TheOddOneOut]

Americana and Ees are not the same


thing.Americanas are pure breeds,Easter eggers are not.Easter eggers ahve beards,Americanas have grey/slate legs and lay only blue eggs and they have beards and muffs,Easter eggers lay multiple colors,have multiple color legs and are not pure breeze

See, but...
Read through the whole post.

 

[Sammy1122]

An Easter egger doesn’t really have a specific charastitostic amongst the breed because they aren’t one,their mixes between a bunch of different breeds.

 

[Sammy1122]

I did I was just saying they aren’t the same thing.

 

[Sammy1122]

See, but...
Read through the whole post.

 

[Chicalina]

How big a flock are you looking to establish, what size coop do you have, what size and type of area do you have for free ranging, will you have a run (covered or not) for when they can't free range, do you get a lot of rain? Are you looking to sell eggs, or just feed your family, and will you cull any for meat?

These are all questions that are relevant to what breeds might be suitable. Some will fly and roost in trees, some have feathered feet and don't do mud, some need a lot of space, others happy to be confined, etc etc

Have you thought about bantam breeds? They convert food to eggs much more efficiently and lay bigger eggs than you would imagine for their body size, pus you can fit more in to the same coop space. They aren't laying machines and live and lay longer as a result. Just wanted to throw something different in there.

 

[JadeFarms]

Americana and Ees are not the same


thing.Americanas are pure breeds,Easter eggers are not.Easter eggers ahve beards,Americanas have grey/slate legs and lay only blue eggs and they have beards and muffs,Easter eggers lay multiple colors,have multiple color legs and are not pure breeze

Ohhhh you confused me because you meant ameraucanas, sorry I didn’t realize. Americana is another name for EEs (when it’s spelled with an I. I have some pure ameraucanas so I know what they are. It was just a misunderstanding.

 

[msiler]

How big a flock are you looking to establish, what size coop do you have, what size and type of area do you have for free ranging, will you have a run (covered or not) for when they can't free range, do you get a lot of rain? Are you looking to sell eggs, or just feed your family, and will you cull any for meat?

These are all questions that are relevant to what breeds might be suitable. Some will fly and roost in trees, some have feathered feet and don't do mud, some need a lot of space, others happy to be confined, etc etc

Have you thought about bantam breeds? They convert food to eggs much more efficiently and lay bigger eggs than you would imagine for their body size, pus you can fit more in to the same coop space. They aren't laying machines and live and lay longer as a result. Just wanted to throw something different in there.

Thanks for your detailed response!

Flock size will be around 10-12 birds for our personal use. The coop we have is made for roughly 20 full size birds, it’s fully insulated and and has electricity to it.
I am not sure about the run size because it hasn’t been built yet.... moving to this new house on Saturday, any suggestions for size? It will likely be at least partially covered.
New home is in the High Desert. Average rainfall is 11” a year and snowfall is 16”
We have not decided if we want to venture into selling eggs, we have several bantam pens (Silkie and Cochin). So for now this would just be to support the family (and friends because I know we will have extras).
The landscape of their free ranging area will be mostly pasture land, but there are some big pine trees around that they can roost in and hide under.
I have not specifically thought about bantam breeds for egg laying. Do you have any suggestions? My bantams have done nothing but impress me with their egg production! I have almost 50 eggs saved for incubation over a three week period!

 

[Chicalina]

Wow that is a lot of eggs. What breeds do you have currently? Are you just adding to your flock or replacing it?

I would recommend Polish for egg laying but don't keep them in the same pen as LF or they get bullied. They need dry conditions because of their crests but you hardly have rain so not an issue. Bantam wyandotte is also a good layer and all rounder. Not too fluffy for the heat, clean legs, hardy in winter, nice neat and compact size and shape.

For hens that are half the size and eat half the food, plus good foragers, yet lay eggs 3/4 the size of a medium LF egg, I love banties. Plus super pretty .

If you are breeding from your bantams anyway, then do you need to buy more?

Re run size, again you can get away with smaller if you have bantams compared to LF, but I would always advise to build as big as you have space for and which is practical for your layout. It can never be too big for the chickens so long as you have shade cover and several food and water stations dotted about. Too small is more of a problem. There is a commercial minimum space but I would double that at least.

 

[msiler]

Wow that is a lot of eggs. What breeds do you have currently? Are you just adding to your flock or replacing it?

I would recommend Polish for egg laying but don't keep them in the same pen as LF or they get bullied. They need dry conditions because of their crests but you hardly have rain so not an issue. Bantam wyandotte is also a good layer and all rounder. Not too fluffy for the heat, clean legs, hardy in winter, nice neat and compact size and shape.

For hens that are half the size and eat half the food, plus good foragers, yet lay eggs 3/4 the size of a medium LF egg, I love banties. Plus super pretty .

If you are breeding from your bantams anyway, then do you need to buy more?

Re run size, again you can get away with smaller if you have bantams compared to LF, but I would always advise to build as big as you have space for and which is practical for your layout. It can never be too big for the chickens so long as you have shade cover and several food and water stations dotted about. Too small is more of a problem. There is a commercial minimum space but I would double that at least.

Currently we have two four year old hens, a Maran and an Andalusian. They are still producing! That’s all that’s left of our original laying flock of about 17. Otherwise we mostly raise Silkies and one pen of bantam Cochins.
I’ll give some bantam Wyandottes a look! Thank you for the suggestion!