new breeds to add to our flock?

[chickenmomma1108]

Hey,
Just wondered about any suggestions here for possible breeds of chicks to add to our flock this spring?

First let me share what we have currently: 2 roosters, 18 hens, 2 chicken tenders (DH and myself)
At 3-4 (??) years old Lavender Orpington hen

At 2 years old: Black Australorp rooster and Black Australorp hen
Rhode Island rooster and Rhode Island hens (x2)

At 1 year old: California White (x2)
Calico Princess (x4)
Buff Brahma (x2)
Buff Plymouth Rock (x1), Barred Plymouth Rock (x2)
Sapphire Gem (x3)

We're in east central Nebraska and are interested in these breeds:

Buff Orpington (the Buff Plymouth Rock was supposed to be a Buff Orp from a store, and we love her all the same! She had yellow legs & somewhat bigger comb/wattles versus our other chick with white/pink legs...we lost the Buff Orpington this last fall, and liked her personality)

Speckled Sussex (pretty chicken and docile temperament?)

Wyandotte (not sure about heat hardiness + humidity in NE?)

Jubilee Orpington or Black Australorp (love our BA - sweet & chatty)

Honestly, we know to keep our addition small with how many we currently have...we're talking 4 chicks in total. We lost a Golden Comet & RIR to a weasel in spring (fixed our "old coop" for that issue), my favorite BA in summer (? heat or unknown/sudden death), and the Buff Orp in fall (reproductive issue - lash egg). We obviously have a mix of breeds, but since these birds are so much our PETS - I don't mind if we stick to the heritage breeds and the more docile ones and yes, I know any breed can obviously have issues like the Buff Orp -- was thinking I'd have to watch the Golden Comet when she got older for reproductive issues, not have her & RIR killed by a stinking weasel
We're assuming most of these breeds would be at our local farm stores (Bomgaars, TSC, Buchheit), but if you know of any breeders say within 3-4 hour drive of Omaha, NE we are definitely up for a road trip for chicks! We live in the country, so giving Omaha as a major point of reference


Let me know your thoughts on these breeds, and share some that may not be on here that you like/own!

 

[wrathsfarm]

I would suggest adding color to your egg basket...
Chocolate, Blue, Green/Olive, Pink?
And Speckled eggs are always a lovely sight....

Unless I missed someone in your flock you've got all brown eggs.

 

[chickenmomma1108]

I would suggest adding color to your egg basket...
Chocolate, Blue, Green/Olive, Pink?
And Speckled eggs are always a lovely sight....

Unless I missed someone in your flock you've got all brown eggs.

Yeah, that is an idea to add Ameraucana (or a cross breed that lays either blue or green) or chocolate colored eggs with some Marans...
Hehe, you are correct that all but 2 lay brown/pink - our California Whites are layers of white eggs
We have seen olive eggs & those are some cool colored eggs!

 

[awagnon]

My Speckled Sussex is such a friendly girl! She follows me around like a puppy. She's always enthusiastically giving me the latest news. (actually she talks ALOT!) She's always the first one to the fence when they hear me walking toward the run. When I am scooping the poo board in the coop, she pops in, hops up on the roost and proceeds to (noisily) fill me in on all the flock's gossip. lol Then she hops down into litter and scratch around like she thinks she's helping me. lol Unfortunately she's just making a mess and totally in my way. Don't have the heart to tell her that though. Don't know if it's normal for her breed but she's the FRIENDLIEST and most social hen in my flock with my Buff girl running a close second. When the other girls cross the chickie heaven bridge, I will replenish my flock with just these two breeds as they are the easiest to handle and are not big scaredy cats about being picked up and examined when needed. If you are choosing for eggs, though, these two are my least productive, but that's OK with me.

 

[chickenmomma1108]

My Speckled Sussex is such a friendly girl! She follows me around like a puppy. She's always enthusiastically giving me the latest news. (actually she talks ALOT!) She's always the first one to the fence when they hear me walking toward the run. When I am scooping the poo board in the coop, she pops in, hops up on the roost and proceeds to (noisily) fill me in on all the flock's gossip. lol Then she hops down into litter and scratch around like she thinks she's helping me. lol Unfortunately she's just making a mess and totally in my way. Don't have the heart to tell her that though. Don't know if it's normal for her breed but she's the FRIENDLIEST and most social hen in my flock with my Buff girl running a close second. When the other girls cross the chickie heaven bridge, I will replenish my flock with just these two breeds as they are the easiest to handle and are not big scaredy cats about being picked up and examined when needed. If you are choosing for eggs, though, these two are my least productive, but that's OK with me.

Oh, that sounds a lot like a few (ahem, probably all) of our girls…if I’m in our coop to grab just the poop scraper tool or oyster shell from our storage (above nest boxes) they have GOT to check things out & talk to me! I even have the one California White not skip a beat if I’m collecting eggs & she’s doing her egg song…She pretty much keeps up the singing in my face so funny when one can’t really tell them they’re not helping love our chicky babies!
And yes, any Orpington (Black Australorp, too) is so sweet I could see wanting to have those gals and the SS as main flock Thanks for sharing about your flock & your SS gal, she sounds absolutely lovely.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Yes, nice to have variety of color both in the eggs & breeds We’re happy with all the temperaments & chatter with everyone, so maybe I’m overthinking the docile thing if they imprint well with us as chicks? When I was a kid we had barnyard mixes (egg layers) and quite a few were Ameraucana & a good rooster we named Red (maybe he was RIR or something of a RIR cross, idk?). Just trying to keep pecking issues down if they have to be in coop during SUPER cold temps like we just had…thanks for sharing!

Oh I'm right there with you! I work really hard in planning my additions for egg color, chicken breed/color AND personality! I do love RIR's but I no longer get them because I've had mean ones in the past. Another bummer is no Delawares... CCL is THE sweetest breed in my flock, I always add them due to sweetness and blue egg laying. They're also very pretty! You did get personality right with Orpingtons and Sussex for sure. But also I've never had a mean Wyandotte or Maran's. I've only had nice OE's and EE's and my Barnevelder is nice but so shy, fradey chicken, low gal on the order (so that's why I didnt recommend that breed.) My Welsummer is grumpy and I don't recommend them also if nice/sweet is paramount for you. Have Fun!!

 

[chickenmomma1108]

Oh I'm right there with you! I work really hard in planning my additions for egg color, chicken breed/color AND personality! I do love RIR's but I no longer get them because I've had mean ones in the past. Another bummer is no Delawares... CCL is THE sweetest breed in my flock, I always add them due to sweetness and blue egg laying. They're also very pretty! You did get personality right with Orpingtons and Sussex for sure. But also I've never had a mean Wyandotte or Maran's. I've only had nice OE's and EE's and my Barnevelder is nice but so shy, fradey chicken, low gal on the order (so that's why I didnt recommend that breed.) My Welsummer is grumpy and I don't recommend them also if nice/sweet is paramount for you. Have Fun!!

I forgot to mention the Delaware, Black Copper Maran, or Wyandotte breed..maybe since there are so many out there! Hm, glad to hear your CCLs are so nice and OEs, EEs and Marans
We have our one RIR hen who I think makes up for being small by picking on others and the other is a love bug. I’m thinking of making a chicken sling to carry the cuddle chicks around if they want to hang out & I can use both my hands. Some will probably like it, others will be “meh..put me down I was busy!”which is fine either way. The sweetest in our flock is probably the Buff Brahmas, the only terror coming from them is chasing a sparrow who dares to squeeze through the chicken wire (roof of their run) for a bit of their feed.

 

[chickenmomma1108]

silver laced wyandottes

We love the coloring of the wyandottes. Thanks for suggesting them.

 

[wrathsfarm]

There's Whiting True Blues, @TexasBlues has a thread with videos of them and Marans that's super cool to follow as they grow. https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-lots-of-videos🎥.1607191/page-8#post-27463804

 

[Obsessed With Silkies]

I'd recommend Silkies as they are one of the most unique breeds but are so sweet