I love my Rhode Islands! They all lay regularly and I haven't had a single problem with them. Their eggs are fairly large (a few are so big I can't close the carton).
I raised 52 meat birds in the spring of 2011. This was the first time I raised chickens, so I spent a lot of time doing research. I learned quickly that they are hungry all the time. A few of them would not leave the feeder until the food was gone. One developed slight leg problems because it just grew so fast. After a couple of days he recovered, but I've heard of a lot of people who weren't so lucky. The only other issue I encountered was that they were ALWAYS right under foot in the chicken yard and coop because they know that I = food.
