What breeds should I add to my mixed flock

[DrFeathers]

hi.

I have a coop and run housing 6 hens and room for 3 more comfortably and up to 6 at capacity.

My current flock are 9 months old and consists of 1 barred rock, 1 buff orp, 1 golden sexlink, 1 Silver Laced Wyandotte and 2 Easter Eggers.

Was thinking about adding 3 layers and a pair of silkies (my young children would love them) this spring.

Should I add to the flock this year or wait until the following spring so the originals will be 2yrs old when I add the next round to reinforce the egg layers? Or just add the silkies this year and the 3 layers next year?


Last question: which layer breeds to add to complement my currently very friendly and pretty flock? Would like a colored layer and 2 Browns most likely to keep the egg mix going?

Would love your thoughts and suggestions.

 

[DrFeathers]

I think probably a blue ameraucana for the next blue layer - I love those pretty gray feathers! That’s right, I am replying to my own post

 

[JaeG]

Silkies usually don't do well with larger breeds, especially where they are outnumbered by the larger birds. They are just too sweet and docile. I'd set them up in their own little coop and run.

Langshans if you can find them are extremely sweet, friendly, easy going birds. They have beautiful big, soulful eyes. My Mum just lost her beautiful Langshan girl and is pretty heartbroken. She didn't grow up around kids but she sure was very tolerant of them. She was so fluffy and gorgeous. I love my bantams more than the larger breeds but I wouldn't mind a few Langshans at some point in the future. They lay brown eggs.

 

[Welshies]

Copper Marans are very sweet, almost black-egg laying birds.
Silkies usually don't fare well with other breeds, and in case you didn't know, are very broody.

 

[happychickies101]

I’d recommend getting a Lavender Americauna, Blue Americauna and a Light Brahma (my personal favorite breed)

 

[Percheron chick]

Cochins aren't great layers but they are pure eye candy, docile and their fluffiness is irresistible to kids. You have an excellent first flock. I would add 3 this spring and 3 the following year. First year layers are always the higher producers so they will help keep your production up.

 

[aart]

I have a coop and run housing 6 hens and room for 3 more comfortably and up to 6 at capacity.

I'd be careful about 'capacity'...crowding can get ugly, especially in winter.
Integration works best with extra separate but adjacent space.
Will your coop and run facilitate that?
I built my coop to add a temporary wall with a separate people door,
then added another pop door and separate but close run to that area.
It's made integration a breeze, tho I wish that area was a bit bigger than the 4' width.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I’m not a fan of the walking toilet brushes. I consider Silkies special needs chickens since they cannot fly and they often go broody a lot. Since they can’t fly you may have to modify your coop to accommodate them. That’s not just roosts and nests but maybe you would need to add a broody buster. You may need one of those anyway.

I don’t know how much room you actually have in the coop or run. I get nervous when people start talking about finite numbers and capacity. If you follow the link in my signature you’ll see why I don’t believe that a square feet per chicken formula works for everyone. I agree that when you are integrating you need more room, especially if they are immature chickens.

There are different ways to keep the egg laying going. Totally replacing your flock when production drops below acceptable levels is one way, though you may go through a pretty long egg-less period when you retire the old hens and start with young chicks. You could get around a lot of that by buying point of lay pullets instead of young chicks but that can be expensive and you may have trouble getting the breeds you want.

I don’t know how many hens you need for egg production. Let’s say six is a good number for you just so I have some numbers to work with. A system I’ve used is to keep replacement pullets every year. Let’s say you get three new pullets every spring. You raise them until they start to lay, often some will lay straight through their first winter and skip the molt. That means you should get a few eggs throughout the winter when your older hens are molting. You keep those three the following year and through their first adult molt. Then you keep them the following laying season and remove them when they start to molt that fall. It will take you a bit to get the rotation going but once you do you will have six adults laying throughout the summer until that years pullets start to lay, when you will have nine laying. But when the older ones molt you remove the oldest and do not feed them through the winter. You overwinter the previous year’s pullets and this year’s pullets, then get more pullets in the spring. Four new pullets may ne you r number, not three. There is often some trial and error involved in getting to a system that works for us since we are all unique.

As far as breeds go, follow your heart. We all have our favorites but in reality practically any will do if you are just a little selective. I suggest going through Henderson’s Breed Chart to look for traits you want and them go to Feathersite to see what they will look like.


Henderson’s Breed Chart

http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html

Feathersite

http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKPoultryPage.html#Chickens

 

[lazy gardener]

Excellent post by RR. I agree with the majority of comments made: Silkies require special handling and may be subject to hazing from "normal feathered" flock members, especially if Silkies are late to the game.

General minimal recommendations for back yard flock spacing: MINIMUM of 4 s.f. in coop/bird, 10 s.f. in run/per bird. Winter time cabin fever issues, addition of a cockerel, integrating new birds, dealing with a broody issues IMO require even more space.

 

[Folly's place]

All good information above! I'd avoid the Silkies unless you have a separate coop for them. Definitely special needs!
For egg colors, consider French Marans (not the clean legged cuckoo Marans), or Welsummers, or the more expensive but beautiful Barnvelders. Wyandottes come in many beautiful colors, and so do Plymouth Rocks. Chanteclers are great for cold weather areas too; getting birds with small combs is a good thing.
Salmon Favorelles are wonderful, but will likely get abused in your flock because they are too gentle.
Speckled Sussex hens are a delight! Beautiful and friendly! I wouldn't be without them here.
Mary