what should I get?!?

[thechickenguy11]

Hey guys i'm back with another question:
when we first got our dorkings we had six females. last year two died

and we needed replacements. my question is simple: what breed should we get to fill in our empty slots? we're looking for a breed that lays a good amount of eggs because out of the four left our egg average per day is one to two.

 

[DavidKerk]

I am a major fan of Leghorns! Every leghorn I've had has faithfully given me an egg pretty much every day. More good choices would be Production Reds or almost any hybrid (Isa brown is a great one.)

 

[gander007]

Welcome back .......

Good layers RIR very good layers ..
EE's good layers
But you could check out the different charts the breeders have
on their sights to describe each birds attributes .......


gander007

 

[The Yakima Kid]

Hey guys i'm back with another question:
when we first got our dorkings we had six females. last year two died

and we needed replacements. my question is simple: what breed should we get to fill in our empty slots? we're looking for a breed that lays a good amount of eggs because out of the four left our egg average per day is one to two.

OK. Do you care if your chickens are friendly and non-cannibalistic? Are you willing to order a cannibalistic breed debeaked, or to apply bumpa bits to stop cannibalism? How much space do you have?

Do you have neighbors who object to noise? How high are your fences?

If you want a good reliable, friendly, quiet backyard bird, consider Barred Rocks, White Rocks, and Rhode Island Reds. The Orpingtons and Australorps seem to go broody more often, so you have to break up the broodiness if you want more eggs. Some people swear by Delawares. RIRs tend to be a bit more "vinegary" than Barred Rocks. Black Stars vary in temperament by the breeder; and Production Reds may have almost as much coop drama as some of the Mediterranean breeds.

If you want a white egg layer, consider the California Gray, which is a breed derived from careful crosses of Barred Rocks and White Leghorns in the 1920s-1930s by Professor James Dryden after his retirement from Oregon Agricultural College (now OSU.) They don't lay as heavily as White Leghorns, but they breed true, lay a white egg, and are not panicky, nor flighty, nor cannibalistic, nor noisy. You can also get California Whites, which are a hybrid created by crossing a California Gray cock on a White Leghorn hen. California Whites are midway between the two in temperament, which depending on your neighbors, may be too much noise and drama.

Production and temperament vary by strain. I have a Black Star who quit laying quite a while back in with five young Dominique pullets. The Dominiques tend to give me about seven to eight medium eggs every two days, alternating a five egg day with a two or three egg day, which suggests that they lay every other day. A good utility Barred Rock will lay five eggs or more a week; a Black Star will tend to lay more eggs; while a Red Star will lay even more, but will lay smaller eggs. Dominiques are not considered a particularly good egg layer; their purpose was, and always has been, as a subsistence bird for families that is a very active forager; foraging is a trait that is not particularly useful in a suburban backyard.

Isa Browns are cannibalistic. They lay like little machines, but they tend to try to eat each other. The ISA management guidelines promote debeaking because of this habit:

http://www.isapoultry.com/products/...ment Guide Commercials ISA brown nieuw 1.ashx