Which Breeds Would Be Good for a Newbie?

[ILoveDaffy]

I think my neighbor has Buffs, so I'll go visit. Thanks very much!

You are welcome! Oh, and Delawares are sweet, calm cute and cuddly critters. Great with younger kids.

 

[nolotus]

It's just the name of a breed, very close to a red star, production red, cinnamon queen, the list goes on

OK. Thanks again!

 

[nuthatched]

I

That's not a breed I'm familiar with so I'll check it out. I actually will do mostly free ranging. Thanks!

You're welcome.
If you free range, I'd choose chickens that are darker or have patterns,(for camouflage) like barnevelders, ( i know of a great breeder in NC for hatching eggs), barred chickens, and wyandottes.
See how my sussex has that baby deer camo, she blends in, more or less.

I personally, avoid production breeds, I prefer heritage type.
The ones I've had of production reds randomly dropped dead. of course that doesn't mean they all do that, I could've had a bad batch.

 

[SBFChickenGirl]

Easter eggers (or Americanas, how the hatcheries spell it) are always one of my favorites. They are super friendly, lay fun colored eggs, can come with muffs and a beard, and are always a variety. My EE's have always been pretty amazing, we had one who lived to be 8 years old! They are cold hardy, and do pretty well in heat.

But like you said, OP, chickens are like people. One breed might work for me, and a different breed for you. I've had horrible luck with my leghorns, but there are some who rant and rave about them. I bet you could find someone who's had a bad experience with EE's. In the end, it's up to you! Good luck, keep us updated on what breeds you choose!

 

[ChloeSilkie08]

Austra Whites are the BEST for laying. They have large white eggs and are very docile and don't eat much. It's a white leghorn mixed with an Australorp.
I like the Buff orpington better than Blue. Blue Orpington are very big and kind of shy. Well, all orpingtons are shy really.
I've never had any luck with Wyandottes. They never lay but once a month and don't lay in the nesting boxes whenever they do.
I know they aren't a heritage or classic breed but I LOVE the Swedish Flower Hens. They lay every single day and are AMAZING, SWEET, and LOVING birds. I would have a whole flock if I could.
P.S. Don't forget the SILKIES!

 

[MysteryChicken]

Silkies
Orpingtons
Australorps
Barred Rocks

 

[JedJackson]

You should be fine with any of the breeds you listed, and most of the others listed here, too. You might want to stick to just large fowl or just bantams, and not mix them up, to begin with. Just easier that way. And if you can buy all the chicks together you will have less problems than if you try to integrate older birds from different sources. One cockerel is best.

Great, dual purpose breeds for beginners, in my opinion: Orpingtons, Australorps, any color of Plymouth Rock, black sex links, Ameraucana, Easter eggers, Legbars, Marans, Sussex, Welsummers, Faverolles, Brahmas, Jersey Giants, Swedish Flower Hens, and Sapphire Gems.

 

[Ridgerunner]

does the color make any difference-

Not to the chickens. Does it to you? I personally like a multicolored and patterned flock. But that is a personal preference. We all have our favorite breeds, colors. and patterns and they are all different. That doesn't matter. What matters is your personal preferences.

I also want to get a cockerel. Just one I’m assuming? Which breed would be best for that?

What are your goals for that cockerel? Your goals, not mine. Why do you want one? If you are hatching his eggs, what do you want the chicks to look like?

Is it best to stick with established breeds instead of something like McMurray’s Whiting True Green?

Again it comes down to your goals. It sounds like you are not going to be breeding for show as you are getting multiple colors/breeds. Are you planning on selling hatching eggs or baby chicks? There can be reasons to just get standard breeds. But in my personal opinion I think you would be needlessly limiting your options if you just went with standard breeds. Do you want a hen that goes broody and hatches eggs? Some standard breeds go broody more than others. The "specialty" like that Whiting or the Prairie Bluebell probably won't. Does the color of the egg matter? It does to some people, not to others. Will you ever eat them? Size might matter.

My main reasons for wanting chickens is for the eggs and for the enjoyment of watching them.

I think they are all fun to watch so that part doesn't help me. Chicken TV can be better than anything on cable, antenna, or satellite. As for egg laying the production type breeds are more productive than the decorative or meat birds. Stay away from Cornish X and Rangers. I'm probably not doing you any favors since you said it's hard for you to make up your mind but I'll include these links anyway. Henderson's Breed Chart only includes true breeds and not all of them. But you can go through the breed chart and see what they consider breed characteristics and then go to Feathersite to see what they look like. Breed characteristics are misleading. If you have a huge number so averages mean something you may see a difference, but each chicken is an individual. Some will hit breed characteristics, some will not be anywhere close. As an example, Buff Orpington are supposed to go broody a lot, mine never did. But I only had two of them. Still, I don't know anything better to go by.

As for the mixes or special ones like that Whiting not in the chart, they tend lay really well and not go broody, but that is a generalization. Read their write-up carefully.

Henderson’s Breed Chart

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

Feathersite

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

The bottom line is that with a little basic study to narrow it down a little about any will be a good choice. A lot will depend on which individuals you get. As one experienced person on here said, they put a lot of study into it and think they will really like a certain breed, but when they get them they often find out they don't. Or fall in love with some they did not think were that great.

I understand how hard it is to make up your mind. When I placed my first order I was changing my mind up until the order was placed, then questioned myself as to why I had not chosen differently. At some point you just have to decide. With the pandemic a lot of people are ordering chickens that otherwise would not so it is important to get an order in early. In Idaho you might want to try a little later on spring so the weather has warmed up a bit. A winter storm can disrupt mail delivery which is not good when mailing living animals. And try to avoid holidays, mail tends to get messed up then too.

I doubt if any of this has helped you. When I ordered my first flock I used a childhood song to help me get organized. Red was Speckled Sussex because my wife liked the speckles. Yellow was Buff Orpington because they were supposed to go broody a lot. Mine never did. Black was the Black Australorp, supposedly good for laying in winter. These surprised me by going broody. White was Delaware because I wanted a white one. If I were starting over I'd choose differently but I'm not sure what I'd choose.

Good luck and welcome to the adventure. It really is hard to choose wrong.

 

[3KillerBs]

There are very few kinds of chickens that have any special needs (mostly the ones with non-standard feather types like Silkies and frizzles or extreme crests like Polish and the feather-footed sort that shouldn't be kept in areas prone to mud), and so many wonderful breeds that do well in a variety of conditions so you'd probably be fine with just getting anything you think is pretty.

 

[OmnipotentOrpington]

My Buff is the sweetest little thing! She was the first to lay!
Our Australorp is also beautiful and very friendly, she likes being held more than the Buff!