What breeds should I get?

[DogAndCat36]

Hi all! I am settling in on my choices of breeds that I will be ordering for April. I live on a hilly property with very well draining soil. There are plenty of shade trees, and I live on the north side of the slope. I live in Eastern Pennsylvania, so we have all four seasons. The summers get up to 102F tops, and the winters get down to -5F at the lowest. Spring and fall we do get a lot of rain, but I suppose a lot of places might consider it to be moderate.

i’ve been obsessively researching chicken breeds, chicken coops, runs, and everything regarding chickens for the past couple of months. I’ve always wanted chickens, and I am thrilled now that we have a large enough property my dream is coming true! I am not afraid of hard work, and I plan to give them the very best I am able to, so any important bits of advice are welcome... but my specific question is about breeds.

I have small children, so I am looking for family friendly breeds. I’d love chickens that like people. I also love the idea of a multi-colored barnyard and egg basket.

I have two dogs, and the neighboring property has three feral cats that live on the property (the cats came with their property, and I’m not above capturing And homing them). On the other side our other neighbor has two dogs that are not restrained. That may change once our dogs move in, as ours are young and will want to play.

while I would prefer to free range my flock (my dogs will need a ton of training and I plan to work toward this), I am well aware that that may not be a possibility considering the neighbors pets or mine. So I plan to have a large run. I also plan to use the deep litter method.

here is the list of breeds I am thinking of ordering. At the moment I am planning on ordering one of each. My coop and run will be large enough to fit 16, but I will be starting with 8 chickens because... chicken math.

Out of these breeds are there any you would recommend against? Any that will not likely get along with the others? Which are your favorites?

if you have and love any of these birds please include a pic for everyone’s enjoyment.

Thank you for your input!!!

Dark Brahma
Blue/Black/Spash Cochin
Salmon Faverolle
Black Copper Marans
Welsummer
Barred Rock
Cream Legbar
Buff Orpington
Easter Egger
Ameraucana

Hi
I own a variety of chickens and live in Northen Maine. Australorps or Jersey Giants are one of the most winter hardy breed if you decide not to provide heat for them during the winter. Don't get Silkies unless you provide a safe heat source, or you will regret it. Australorps can be very moody but many will warm up to you if you have food in your hand. Be warned, my whine for treats alot.
Also EE's, they are amazing and really sweet.
Bantams also tend to be a bit more skittish around people.

 

[dbtcowgirl]

You can't really go wrong, your choices are well thought out. I gave feedback only on the breeds I raise. Just based on my first hand experience if you had
Either DB or Cochins
BCM
CLB
and EE's you would have Light and Dark brown eggs, Blue Eggs, And Greens along with a hearty, easy going flock.

Dark Brahma- My Brahmas have had great longevity, good dispositions and have been great free rangers
Blue/Black/Spash Cochin -I love my Cochins they are not the most prolific layers but they have wonderful personality and get along well in a mixed flock. With the DBs or the Cochin if you have a lot of mud their feathered feet can be messy.
Black Copper Marans- I adore my BCM and the eggs are just beautiful
Cream Legbar- One of my favorite breeds, beautiful, free range well, healthy and good layers of pretty eggs
Buff Orpington - Good layers, easy going, but I haven't had great luck with longevity or free ranging they seem to be the first to get picked off
Easter Egger- I love their looks, personality, lots of fun colored eggs, and easy to get along with.

 

[AngelaY]

I 100% suggest Cochins, they're AMAZING with kids, cuddle machines, have cute tiny little voices, and bantam lay little half sized eggs! I love the little eggs for if I need to split a recipe in half and the original recipe calls for 1egg, if you've got a Bantam Cochin egg then that works perfectly!
Also BUFF ORPINGTONS imagine a chicken with a dog's personality and you've got a buff Orpington! They're also the fluffy-butt queens and super cute. Great with kids too.
I've also got an EE and a black copper Maran, they're amazing, and I highly recommend them too (not as much as the Cochins and Orpingtons though)

 

[RubelliteRose]

I have 2 EE, 3 olive eggers, 2 Dominiques and 1 Sapphire Splash. While they are all friendly, the easter eggers are absolutely the friendliest. My Dominiques, while they are people friendly, are roost hogs and herd the others until they have over half of the roost for themselves

Oops forgot the picture of my favorite EE

 

[MamaGrizzly]

I personally prefer EEs. More colors and less strict colors

How many do you have? What kind of color variety do they lay? Any pics?

 

[MamaGrizzly]

I personally prefer EEs. More colors and less strict colors

Nvmnd just saw your next reply!!

 

[MamaGrizzly]

Agree on the Easter Eggers, purebred Ameraucanas can be hard to find and are also expensive. You’ll get a nice breed with the EE and fun surprise when you see what color eggs they lay!
I would recommend breeds that are cold hardy due to your winters. Probably stick to breeds that have pea or rose combs.
You do not have Wyandottes on your list, these come in a variety of colors are fluffy, cold hardy and make good pets for the kids!
Photo of 10 week old blue laced red Wyandotte pullet
View attachment 2331771View attachment 2331772

Ohhhhhh gorgeous!!!! I’ll def take a look.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Nvmnd just saw your next reply!!

Personally only one fits MY version of an Easter egger, and it's the yellow and brown one. I consider EEs to have an unknown heritage and lay colored eggs, and I know the father and mothers of the silver/black and the black/bronze. Plus they won't have the colored egg gene.

 

[MamaGrizzly]

I 100% suggest Cochins, they're AMAZING with kids, cuddle machines, have cute tiny little voices, and bantam lay little half sized eggs! I love the little eggs for if I need to split a recipe in half and the original recipe calls for 1egg, if you've got a Bantam Cochin egg then that works perfectly!
Also BUFF ORPINGTONS imagine a chicken with a dog's personality and you've got a buff Orpington! They're also the fluffy-butt queens and super cute. Great with kids too.
I've also got an EE and a black copper Maran, they're amazing, and I highly recommend them too (not as much as the Cochins and Orpingtons though)

Thank you

 

[MamaGrizzly]

I have a 12 week old Cream Legbar right now and she is a doll. She is one of the smaller birds in my flock (actually she’s the second smallest of the 6 chicks I added to my flock). I have a feeling she’ll be about the size of my Ancona hen and my Ancona is one of the smallest breeds I own. She’s super sweet and will not freak out when I handle her (and that’s great because I didn’t handle her that much as a baby because my broody hen was raising her). View attachment 2331752

My 1 year old Easter Egger is a crazy bird who spends most her time running around. She is extremely flighty and freaks out if I handle her (I get a face full of wing). I did handle her and spent the same amount of time with her as I did my Ancona when she was in the brooder but she just never warmed up and never became as friendly as my other chickens. She just now recently starting taking treats from my hand and she willingly walks around me / near me but she just doesn’t like being handled.

I do get pretty blue-green eggs from my EE though. View attachment 2331776View attachment 2331779

Beautiful!

Cochins, buff Orpingtons, cream legbars and barred rocks are really friendly. The ameraucanas have a specific color and only lay blue eggs. EEs lay many different colors and come in a lot of different colors.
I prefer ameraucanas because they are the friendliest chicken I got and I plan on breeding them, but I think you would really like EEs.
Welsummers I've had have always been really skittish.
Marans are really sweet too. And I prefer cuckoo Marans, they are really pretty.
I love my Wyandotte’s and Ancona they are very pretty and are friendly.
Here’s a couple of the breeds you mentioned that I have. It’s a cuckoo maran, a Wyandotte, and a ameraucana.View attachment 2331761View attachment 2331762View attachment 2331774

Thank you!! They are gorgeous. I’m leaning toward the Ameraucana. Price doesn’t really bother me. I’m now thinking of the Wyandotte too!!