I definitely want to get chicks because I want my oldest to help me raise them and I want to make sure they are handled everday and in a nice way to get them acclimated to us. I should have said I'm not very interested in white eggs. I know all eggs nutritionally are the same, but I want a mix of brown, tan and blue/green. I'm really leaning towards 1 plymouth rock, 1 welsummer or maran and 1 or 2 americauna. These are all about the same size and temperament (in general) correct? As far as ordering a small amount of chicks I have a friend with 5 acres who will go in on an order with me if I cant get the breeds I want in small numbers from the feed store.
With the ages of your kiddos, I think it's a good idea to get each bird from a different breed, so they're easy to tell apart. I have a hard time telling one barred Rock from another, so make it easy on the littles.
If you get Easter eggers, chances are good they'll look different when they're grown, so they'll be easy to tell apart. Plus, they'll lay different colored eggs, not just blue. I think your mix sounds good. You'll have light and dark brown and shades of blue or green, it will make a nice basket. And all those breeds would do fine together.
Living in wet/rainy Oregon myself (not as much as you, but still), I've found you can keep pretty much any breed with our climate. The only problem I've had is feathered feet, they tend to ball up mud and they lose feathers in the winter, not the pretty fluff you see in other folk's pics.
where in washington are you? I'm in deer park
