what breed to choose?

[mamagardener]

The coop is almost done. Now I just have to pick the breed? I would like a breed that will do well in MA winters, be friendly, and be a good layer of brown eggs. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[momoftwinsinwi]

Rhode Island Reds or production reds, or red stars...black stars or I'm sure other's will "peep in" LOL

 

[mamagardener]

anybody else have any ideas?

 

[KinderKorner]

Light Brahmas!

 

[Riocotesei]

Barred Rock or Speckled Sussex

 

[sherrydeanne]

Honestly, you can have almost anything up here; it's not really that cold in chicken terms

The breed chart at mypetchicken is really good, you could start there.

 

[cybercat]

Check this and my blog, there is a post I did about my search for a breed. This link list many breed and what they are like then come here when you make a list and do a search on each and read about what others say about it.

http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html

 

[Cats Critters]

Try this test for choosing breeds: http://www.mypetchicken.com/breedQuestions.aspx

 

[jjdward]

I have black sexlinks and they lay like crazy!

 

[Drafthorsegal]

You know, asking a question like that is like asking us 'What's your favorite flavor of icecream'.

Here's my experience. I have 6 RIR and they are very independent, tough, and are going to do well in winter. They lay dark eggs and are pretty friendly. I have 3 Easter Eggers that lay colored green/blue eggs, and they are so cuddly they might as well be dogs. I have two black Austerlorps which are really cool to look at with their iridescent plumage, and they are adventuresome as heck, brave, fearless, and should lay great when they get bigger. Honestly, there are great breeds out there. Just about everyone has their favorite. I like my EEs better than my RIRs, but some people just swear by the RIRs... and the reason I like my EEs better is because they are far more friendly. My two black asterlorp chicks are great, and I adore them too...

My hubby's mother has a gazillion chickens and guineas. She swears (I have no experience) that the sex-links are not the best personality wise and steered us away from them (her black sex-link rooster made her RIR rooster into one-eyed jack) and she thinks the RIRs are the best.... so again... whats your flavor? You can pick color, disposition, funny feathered feet, silly hats, and still get great egg layers and hearty winter thrivers.

Basically, you have a ton of great laying breeds out there. Check out the personality charts and decide what you'd rather have then go from there. Also, if your starting this late in the year, you'll have less availability from hatcheries unless you ask for the more common breeds. But chickens being chickens, your going to like whatever you pick, and you'll probably be that person on the boards advocating YOUR breed here in a few months.

You also don't need to wait for your coup to be done. Chicks take a few months if your starting at that stage, to grow up, and can be kept in the house/garage/barn safely until then giving you a chance to finish up your project.

Good luck and let us know what you decide!