trying to find the best breed to start with

You mean Rhode Island Reds, I imagine.

The more common breeds are all very good layers, like new Hampshire Red, Barred Rock and Australorp. Australorp held the world's record for egg laying at one point, maybe still does. Buff Orps are very common and lay pretty well; they tend to have a laid back personality. Easter Eggers lay pretty well, though they tend to be late starters -- they may be sold as "auracanas" or "americanas" or another (incorrect) spelling by hatcheries, but if they are from a hatchery, they are EE Nothing wrong with EE's -- many people find them friendly, and a percent of them will lay blue-green eggs. Leghorns not only lay well but give a good food to egg ratio, because they lay good sized eggs but are relatively small. However, they are also flighty, easily frightened, hard to handle, not considered a dual purpose bird. Hatcheries are now selling "production reds" which are a cross of RIR, NHR and who knows what else. I had two, still have one: mine were smallish, similar to a Leghorn, friendly, and lay very well. One was an escape artist, unfortunately.

You should check out our breeds section, brown tab at the top of the page. You can choose which characteristics you want and see what breeds they suggest.