What would you buy?

[caboodleschicks]

Ooh...awesome information. Thanks! I really like the idea that they continue laying even through winter (even though I only "suffer" through California winters). I haven't looked into the Sussex much so that was awesome to learn. I've heard about Barred Rocks before on BYC so they were on my radar more; but now I want the Sussex! This is so hard!

Thanks!

I hope I could help out some!
Oh, no problem! You're welcome!

 

[cgmccary]

Get at least one Australorp. She will be your most proficient layer.

 

[T Rex]

2 Ameraucana, Australorp, Barred Rock, Speckled Sussex, SLW. All breeds are different with different personalities. I own 6 speckled Sussex, love them, can be a little bossy, but so are my barred rocks. My EE hens are really great hens, so definitely Ameraucana. I have one Australorp, she is a great mother. My rir is sweet and the only one I have. Never opened a SLW. The Sussex do get more white in them each year they molt. They are certainly unique, and I can easily tell the difference in the eggs, they are lighter brown or tan.

 

[Kacey Elle]

Thanks T Rex!

 

[lazy gardener]

@Kacey Elle , If I understand you correctly, you only want to make one trip and get only one group of 6 chicks. If I was looking at choosing from only one of those lists, I would choose from the first list. My choices would be:

Ameraucana (which will actually be Easter eggers): Quirky personalities, never aggressive IME, lay a variety of colored eggs, most likely blue/green or Aqua, though you may end up with the occasional brown or pinkish brown egg layer. Much variety in their feather coloring.

Plymouth Barred Rock: Good all round layer of nice large eggs. I love their coloring.

Black Australorpe: Have a lovely beetle green sheen to their feathers. Also have a good reputation as a good layer with good production. My BA lay a nice large egg.

I would absolutely avoid RIR and Red Stars. Wyandottes are great eye candy, though IME, they are not quite as productive as my first 3 choices.

Speckled Sussex is enjoyed by a lot of folks, though I've never had one. I've heard that they are wonderful birds with great personalities, and also heard that they are horribly loud.

B/C birds of a feather tend to flock together, I'd choose 3 each of 2 breeds, or 2 each of 3 breeds.

 

[Kacey Elle]

@Kacey Elle , If I understand you correctly, you only want to make one trip and get only one group of 6 chicks. If I was looking at choosing from only one of those lists, I would choose from the first list. My choices would be:

Ameraucana (which will actually be Easter eggers): Quirky personalities, never aggressive IME, lay a variety of colored eggs, most likely blue/green or Aqua, though you may end up with the occasional brown or pinkish brown egg layer. Much variety in their feather coloring.

Plymouth Barred Rock: Good all round layer of nice large eggs. I love their coloring.

Black Australorpe: Have a lovely beetle green sheen to their feathers. Also have a good reputation as a good layer with good production. My BA lay a nice large egg.

I would absolutely avoid RIR and Red Stars. Wyandottes are great eye candy, though IME, they are not quite as productive as my first 3 choices.

Speckled Sussex is enjoyed by a lot of folks, though I've never had one. I've heard that they are wonderful birds with great personalities, and also heard that they are horribly loud.

B/C birds of a feather tend to flock together, I'd choose 3 each of 2 breeds, or 2 each of 3 breeds.

Thank you so much @lazy gardener ! This was extremely helpful. I'll admit that, yes, I really wanted the Wyandotte because they are just so gorgeous! I'm sad to hear they aren't as productive.

One follow up question: How bad is it if I don't have at least two of each breed? For various reasons, I'm also now considering only getting three. If I got one each of three types, is that bad? Will they not bond and be "nice" to each other? I mean...how racist are chickens???

 

[PNW_Peepers]

Honestly chickens are the most racist animal I’ve ever seen. I have a batch of chicks at 11 weeks old, 2 barred rocks, 2 Ameraucana, & 2 Easter Eggers. They hang out in pairs in my flock. Each with their own breed. If there are ever disagreements in my pecking order it’s always two different breeds going at it. IMHO I’d go with the Ameracauna, Australorp, & Sussex if you’re only getting three. I had wyandottes briefly, and they were horridly mean to all my other chickens, avoid them. They’re just giant bullies that take forever to mature.

 

[lazy gardener]

Agree with PNW. Chickens are prejudiced. Is there a reason why only 3? I strongly suggest that you get 4 or none at all. Many feed stores won't even sell less than 6 at a time b/c of the necessity of meeting the flock mentality of the chickens. If you get only 3, you stand a very real possibility of 2 being BFF, and picking on #3. Also, if you can't provide at least 4 s.f. in coop and 10 s.f. in run per bird, I recommend that you don't get any birds at all.

 

[Kacey Elle]

Honestly chickens are the most racist animal I’ve ever seen. I have a batch of chicks at 11 weeks old, 2 barred rocks, 2 Ameraucana, & 2 Easter Eggers. They hang out in pairs in my flock. Each with their own breed. If there are ever disagreements in my pecking order it’s always two different breeds going at it. IMHO I’d go with the Ameracauna, Australorp, & Sussex if you’re only getting three. I had wyandottes briefly, and they were horridly mean to all my other chickens, avoid them. They’re just giant bullies that take forever to mature.

Thanks for the insight! I'm surprised about the wyandotte--I'm a chicken caretaker right now at my school and the wyandottes that we have are way down in the pecking order and the RIRs are the bullies. But I guess even with breed personality types there are exceptions that prove the rule!

Agree with PNW. Chickens are prejudiced. Is there a reason why only 3? I strongly suggest that you get 4 or none at all. Many feed stores won't even sell less than 6 at a time b/c of the necessity of meeting the flock mentality of the chickens. If you get only 3, you stand a very real possibility of 2 being BFF, and picking on #3. Also, if you can't provide at least 4 s.f. in coop and 10 s.f. in run per bird, I recommend that you don't get any birds at all.

I was thinking of getting three now and then, in a year or two, another three. That way I thought I could get decent egg production even when the older layers slow down because the new three would take up the slack. Then repeat when the older hens pass on. Bad idea? If yes, why? Do you think my original idea works better if I modify it to four and then two? Six is the legal limit in my city.

I have plenty of space--my run is 70 square feet. My coop is smaller than 4sf/chicken but I live in California and have no winter to speak of. The girls will be out in the run all the time. I'm also supplementing with about an additional 50 square feet open space under my apple tree that they can get out to with supervision (we do have some hawks around so I don't want them in an uncovered area unless I'm close).

 

[lazy gardener]

If your coop/run are both predator and weather proof so they can use the run as an extension of the coop, that will help. However, I can not in good conscience ever condone less than 4 s.f./bird in the coop no matter what the circumstances. This especially holds true if you EVER intend to integrate any new birds to an existing flock. Do people ever run their coop space tighter, yes they sometimes do. Do they succeed? Sometimes. But, it's a calculated risk.