Honestly, there are so many variables. Breeder or hatchery? Which hatchery? And individual birds. I have 3 easter eggers and one silver laced wyandotte that I got from My Pet Chicken (who I think uses McMurry but am not sure). It's a mixed bag for my birds. Personality wise, I much prefer the EE. My SLW is nice enough to us, but when we were having feather picking issues a few months ago she was the only one who was not missing any feathers. On the other hand, she does lay large brown eggs very very consistently. I have heard a lot of other people here complain that their hatchery wyandottes tended to be a little mean towards their other chickens too. But I have heard lots and lots of good things about the temperament of wyandottes from breeders, most of whom will cull for nasty temperament in addition to defaults from the standard. Unfortunately, it is my understanding that heritage/breeder birds tend to lay a little less prolifically, at least the first few years (although they are most likely less prone to reproductive issues such as internal laying, egg binding, and certain cancers and they will continue to lay at a steady rate after their first 1-2 years whereas hatchery birds bred for egg production tend to slow way down after the first year or two).
Like I said, I like my EE better for personality, but only one of them is any good at laying eggs and the other two have a few serious genetic issues. One is a cross beak, which seems to be fairly common in hatchery easter eggers (not that you're very likely to get one, but looking at most of the threads about cross-beaked chickens it seems that most of them are EE or silkies more than any other breeds). The other one can't make a normal egg to save her life, they are always extremely thin shelled, if they have a shell at all, and very large and she is a poor layer. She's an egg bound hen or an egg peritonitis case just waiting to happen. The one "good" EE is one of my best hens. She was the first to start laying and lays a large green egg very consistently. It's probably just my bad luck that out of 5 EE that I ordered, 2 of the 3 that I kept (we needed a minimum order and rehomed the 2 extras) ended up being defective. But even though I love love love their personalities, I have a little bit of a hard time recommending them based on my limited personal experience.
As for eggs, my one EE and my SLW are pretty even in that department. They both lay eggs that are usually right at 2oz, with 2 1/4oz eggs a few times a month. Even their pullet eggs were 1 3/4oz right from the start, and I very rarely get eggs that small from ether of them anymore. And they both lay about the same number of eggs. My wyandotte lays about every other day or lay two-three days and take a day off, while my EE tends to lay three days straight and then take a day off. Right now, my wyandotte is the only hen still laying (even though judging by the missing tail feathers I think she's started her molt!) because all my other hens are in molt.
If you have the room for it, I would highly recommend a mixed flock. If you've narrowed it down to just 2 breeds that you can't decide between, then you're already way ahead of most first time chicken owners who are researching breeds! That way you can see for yourself which one you like better. With the exception of mixing crested and non-crested breeds, mixing breeds is not a problem for a laying flock.
Like I said, I like my EE better for personality, but only one of them is any good at laying eggs and the other two have a few serious genetic issues. One is a cross beak, which seems to be fairly common in hatchery easter eggers (not that you're very likely to get one, but looking at most of the threads about cross-beaked chickens it seems that most of them are EE or silkies more than any other breeds). The other one can't make a normal egg to save her life, they are always extremely thin shelled, if they have a shell at all, and very large and she is a poor layer. She's an egg bound hen or an egg peritonitis case just waiting to happen. The one "good" EE is one of my best hens. She was the first to start laying and lays a large green egg very consistently. It's probably just my bad luck that out of 5 EE that I ordered, 2 of the 3 that I kept (we needed a minimum order and rehomed the 2 extras) ended up being defective. But even though I love love love their personalities, I have a little bit of a hard time recommending them based on my limited personal experience.
As for eggs, my one EE and my SLW are pretty even in that department. They both lay eggs that are usually right at 2oz, with 2 1/4oz eggs a few times a month. Even their pullet eggs were 1 3/4oz right from the start, and I very rarely get eggs that small from ether of them anymore. And they both lay about the same number of eggs. My wyandotte lays about every other day or lay two-three days and take a day off, while my EE tends to lay three days straight and then take a day off. Right now, my wyandotte is the only hen still laying (even though judging by the missing tail feathers I think she's started her molt!) because all my other hens are in molt.
If you have the room for it, I would highly recommend a mixed flock. If you've narrowed it down to just 2 breeds that you can't decide between, then you're already way ahead of most first time chicken owners who are researching breeds! That way you can see for yourself which one you like better. With the exception of mixing crested and non-crested breeds, mixing breeds is not a problem for a laying flock.
