What breed should I try next? What are your favorites?

[goatranch]

If you are a hatchaholic like myself, silkies are a must. Their personality is A+. They don't lay very many eggs. I use them to brood newly hatched. Unfortuately we have not had great luck. In the spring we are going to build a bigger shed for the laying hens. My hubby said that I can use my smaller coop for silkies!!! I can't wait!!! I paid $40 for a trio of silkies here just because I needed to replace my daughters bird that was killed by our dog ( he is no longer living with us). My plan is to hatch and keep what we need and sell birds at 10-12 weeks old. The kids can start 4H this year and they both want silkies or spitzhaubens. Good luck with whatever breed you choose!!

 

[cbeth95]

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I'm definitely getting Silkies.

 

[CoffeeCow]

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I have no experience with silkies, but of my flock, my favorites are the delawares. they are a rarer breed, but you can get them pretty easy if you look around. I got mine from MPC.
I wanted friendly birds for my kids, and MPC's site has this to say about the Delawares:


Egg Laying: Very Good (4/wk) <-- I am getting about 6 a week from mine
Egg Color: Brown
Egg Size: Large

Hardy In Winter: Yes
Bears Confinement: Bears confinement well
Especially Docile: Yes
Setter/Broody: Yes <-- Mine are young, and have not went broody. although, my BO (7 months old) just hatched out 3 chicks

Personality: Quiet, friendly <-- the Delawares are the first to come greet me, they are fun and playful. They like to jump and get food from my hand

I am getting rid of my EE Cockerel soon, and am planning on getting a dozen Delaware eggs to hatch.
the Delawares and the BO are the only 3 that will let my 3 year old pet them, all the EE's will run from him. all in all, I like the temperament of the Delawares the best from my flock

Hope that helps a bit, although you seem to have made up your mind on the silkies

 

[pride&joy]

Try some Asian games and you will be a fan for life. IMO

 

[7L Farm]

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I'm with you RIR. They are good egg layers .I wish I'd bought more cause I need more eggs. I need atleast 25 more . I'll be hatching for more RIR pullets starting on the 15th of Jan.

 

[Bantam Queen 6]

i like
silkies
polish
seramas
hamburgs
cochins
any frizzles
marans
brahmas
speckled sussex
andalusions
and appenzeller spitzhauben!

 

[serendipityfarm]

I'm in CT and I would say go with the Cochins. They come in LOTS of colors, they are respectable layers, and they are GREAT mothers. I find the bantams are much more broody, but whether that's true in general or just of my chickens, I don't know. They are very fluffy, and with their feathered feet tey fare pretty well in the cold weather.
Good Luck!
PS- they are also relatively easy to contain due to their size and shape. Even the bantams aren't great at jumping/flying like some other bantam breeds are, and the banty eggs are actually pretty good-sized, to!

 

[sheilawagner]

I have Cochins, Silkies, and HAD Polish. I have more others, but these are the ones you liked.

I liked the Polish for their looks, but when I had them, I found out the hard way that Polish don't always look as great, if their crests get wet, they look miserable. I have an enclosed run, and the birds free range and on rainy days, they can choose to go out or stay in, and most often, they venture out and still come back looking wet, soaked and miserable. They always looked scruffy because new crests feathers were growing in, so they never looked perfect. I decided to sell them all. They weren't producing eggs either and maybe it was because it was Fall.

The Silkies are doing great. If it rains, they will prefer to stay indoors, and that is fine by me. They do get wet and look miserable too, but they are smart enough to choose the indoors and stay under the heat lamp if I put it up. I only put on the heat lamp when it goes below 35.

The Cochins cope very well with the cold.

Like yourself, I plan to get Brahmas in 2011, and also I am getting Barred Rock, Speckled Sussex, and more different colored Orps (getting blue, black and splash orps). These are good egg layers and have good temperaments. I can rely on the Cochins and silkies to be the broodies, and count on the Barred rocks, SS and Orps to be the egg layers.

 

[pkw]

My most favorite breeds are: Turkens, Wyandottes, New Hampshires, White Orpingtons, and Partridge Rocks. My turkens all lays large eggs usually and they are so friendly. 2 out of 7 of my partridge rocks have already gone broody this month as well as one of my white orpingtons.

 

[cbeth95]

You guys are so helpful! Thank you so much! This has done me some good!

Keep posting your favorites!