Your thoughts on what breeds to look for

[kristip]

I am going to be adding a pair of chicks to my flock in the spring. I want to get 1 or 2 breeds..not sure of that yet. we live in WI so cold winters ( I do supplement light) but I am looking for a breed that is fairly social for my kids that lays lots of eggs....

The breeds I have come up wtih so far are Sussex, WYandott, Delaware, Favorelle and EE. ( I already have sex links and want something different)

Which woudl be best or are there other breeds?

 

[Illia]

Easter Eggers are always a great choice. They vary in color, are usually pretty friendly and spunky, and lay green, blue, and sometimes brown eggs.

Although Wyandottes may seem pretty, I'd never recommend hatchery/feedstore ones, as they're no where near as pretty as advertised or as show quality ones, plus their temperaments are usually on the shy and/or sour end. We have ten, and only one is slightly friendly, and only because I saved her from a near death experience. The rest are shy and not the friendliest towards other hens.

Faverolles are good, pretty too, Delawares can get pretty big and docile, and Sussex too. They're all good layers. Honestly speaking, anything from a hatchery or feedstore is a good layer. It was bred to be.


I always recommend Easter Eggers (if you don't want to get real Ameraucanas) for their beautiful eggs, white egg layers like Polish (for their neat looks, beautiful coloring, and white eggs) any brown egg layer, and of course dark brown egg layers, such as Marans. (but NOT cuckoo Marans - not the best birds and hardly dark eggs at all.)

 

[SugarDuck]

Out of my experiences so far, we've noticed the BR and RIR we have are the friendliest. Our Barred Rock gets in your way no matter what you are doing in the yard. If you work on something she jumps on while you work. The Rhode Island Red will jump up in your lap if you sit down long enough outside. We have a couple of White Leghorns that are pretty friendly too. The WL's are egg laying machines. The RIR lays the largest egg we get. I'd say it has to be close to jumbo. The BR lays pretty consistently too. They were born in March. We have some more that we got in September. The BR and BO in that group are super friendly. We have 4 EE's in the bunch as well and they range from friendly to flightly. We have a couple of Silkies in the youngest group too and one is friendly while the other is stand offish. I think a lot of it has to do with how much you interact with them while they are young.

 

[lauriruth]

my 2 cents worth: my BO is the sweetest, most tolerant. BSL is right behind her in the sweet catagory. SLW - meany girl. RIR - sweet, if you can catch her! Sex Link lays a huge brown egg, come hohw, every single day. she's never molted or gone broody and "sings" to me every evening when i'm outside with them. i have 3, 5wk. old EEs that are still in the house. wow. what different personalities! they are like ants swarming. VERY active. they seem sweet so far. if you have young children, the BO would be my choice. Mine lets me carry her all over the neighborhood. i swear, if i could make a little harness i could put her on a leash and walk her!

 

[CMV]

I vote JGs- not the greatest lookers, but as friendly and sweet as can be. My 5 y.o. carries our Giants around the yard everywhere. She can barely lift the big gals, but they put up with it. They are also very tolerant of the cold temps.

Whatever you decide to get- Enjoy!

 

[lemurchaser]

The barred rocks have always been my most friendly, followed by my partridge rocks, definitely much more so than my wyandottes or EE's.

 

[Chicken Hugger!]

In my experience, BOs are very friendly! I had one the first time I ever got chickens and she was so sweet. I could pick her up and carry her around and even flip her upside down and hold her like a baby. And she layed right through the winter. I have some now that will just walk right over and let you pick them up.

 

[flowerchild59]

I have to say out of my flock of 32 mixed hens my favorite hen is a barred rock, followed by the Eastereggers and the cochins.

 

[Minniechickmama]

I live next door, over in Minnesota, and I am loving my Wyandottes and Orpingtons. For this weather, I lean toward the pea combs though, my single combs are getting a tad frostbitten this year.

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

I love my EEs! Granted they are my first chickens and they haven't even laid an egg yet (23 wks), but I adore them! All three came from mpc hatchery (their actual hatchery in CT) and each is a completely different color and personality! Sunny is my ADHD/fearless chicken; color wise she is mostly white with a brown breast. Shania is the timid/shy one (saw a snowflake and refused to come out of the coop!) and she's classic partrige colored. Scrambles is Head Hen and is turning into a little diva! She's partridge patterned but is more of an orange/brown and dark brown where Shania is tan and brown. They are inquisitive overall and I think they're fairly smart (at least for a chicken!)

Guess I took the long way of saying that even if you get nothing but EEs you'll still get a variety!

Edit: I forgot to mention! I live in Colorado Springs and they've been doing fine in the winter weather! They've been outside since they were 8 weeks without any problems.