Trying a new breed... input?

[soucha]

We have salmon faverolle hens and a white crested black polish rooster (randomly added to our order). I love them very much, but my husband saw a buff orpington at a show and wants something more like that. He likes how big and calm they are. We only want our chickens for laying and breeding. I've been looking and I also like buff brahmas, pretty like our faverolles, but larger. Anyway, I just wanted to ask for some input?

 

[Pyxis]

Well, if you're caught between brahmas and orpingtons, I've had both, and both are awesome. In fact, my light brahma hen was my favorite, and my rooster was stunning. The rooster was rehomed (he was very hard on my other two roosters and now has a harem of his own) and the hen was killed by my neighbor's dog. Still, I loved them so much I'm tacking one on to my hatchery order this spring so I can have them again. They are very large, very docile, very broody birds and I loved them. I have one buff brahma hen at the moment and she's a sweetheart too. I also have buff orps currently - one of my two roosters is a buff orp, and I have a buff orp hen I rescued. They are also very docile, gentle, and broody. They are not as big as brahmas. Both breeds are a good choice. My buff orp rooster is more handleable than the light brahma was, but both roosters were never aggressive, even to children. So, if you have the room and you want big, go with brahmas because they're bigger. Either way, you can't go wrong, both breeds are wonderful.

Oh! And !

 

[soucha]

That's great! Thanks! I did not know which might be bigger. Are they likely to be good mamas?

Also, since we have one rooster and we want one that matches the new breed, do you think a brahma roo will get along with our polish roo if there are 20 or more ladies? Or will we need to give him his own coop? Currently we lock them in a big coop at night and they have horse pasture during the day, but we have a little chicken tractor we don't use. The polish never goes far, you can always see him from the barn.

 

[Pyxis]

They'll probably be fine. Mine just got irritated with the other two when they were all starting to mature and going through that hormonal teenage phase, which happened to coincide perfectly with winter when everyone wanted to be in the coop at the same time. Plus, at the time, I didn't have enough hens for three roosters. They had all gotten along perfectly well until everyone was cramming in the coop for winter.

And yes, brahmas make excellent mothers