I could use some breed suggestions or a reality check.

[talkinboutchickens]

Here me out: I know you are not the biggest fan of red sexlinks...But you NEED to get an ISA brown. I'm sick of breed stereotypes like "all easter eggers are friendly" etc. (because mine is VERY flighty), but man do ISA's live up to the stereotypeThey are friendly, don't care to be handled, and smart. Again, not all individuals of one breed will be smart, friendly, look a certain way, etc. There is a chance that you can get a flighty or aggressive ISA brown, as with any breed. But what I am saying is that they generally live up to the stereotype!

Next up are sapphire gems. I cannot say enough about this breed. Hands-down the best layer, and the friendliest chicken there is (ofc IMO). My sapphire gem rooster is the friendliest chicken I've ever had. He is an absolute angel. Doesn't mind being handled at all. Super sweet to his girls. Ok, these babies are very prone to frostbite however.
They are a stunning gray color. This breed is a sexlink however, so their color may vary. I've seen reddish leakage on their neck. The males are a light gray and have barring. One of my female sapphire gems is in my pfp. Her name is Gert. She loves to help garden.
So far, (and knock on wood), they haven't gotten sick at all. No health issues. And my SG's are 3 years old.
ANOTHER great thing about sapphire gems is that (IME), their offspring has like the same personality as their parents. Last year, I hatched 12 chicks. Almost all of them were sapphire gem mixes. Every. Single. One. Was the sweetest thing ever. Unfortunately they were almost all boys. (Basically this shows that generally the males will be nice.)
One more good thing...They are very large! Gert is one beefy girl..And man, Ledo is HUGE. Except for their daughter, Opal, who is small.

@CascadiaRiver, I agree- my welsummer was CHONKYYY. Her body shape is the same as my SG's. I did like my welsummer, but she was very shy.

Plymouth rocks are another great choice. Great layer, friendly, comes in many colors. I have 3.

1st is Prudence, a barred rock. Despite being raised by hens, she is very sweet.

2nd is Aretha, another barred rock. My dad found her in an intersection She is about a month old, and despite being frightened still, she is a sweetie!

Next, I have 1 white rock. She is very sweet and smart. Her sister Agnes (passed), was probably the nicest hen I've had. The way she ran up to me so enthusiastically when I came outside always made me smile!

plz note that plymouth rocks typically aren't broody. Rose is just..unusual

I know that none of these breeds completely fits your preferences.

And I hate to be someone who rights you on this, but I'm pretty sure you can't have a large breed that doesn't eat a lot of food. Larger body = hungrier chicken. At least IME. You can definitely have a breed that fits most of those preferences, but not all.


Hope this helps. And sorry for the long post.

 

[Not-so Slick Chicken]

My sapphire gem rooster is the friendliest chicken I've ever had.

Okay, I might have to agree.

We (*my mom) had Sapphire Gems. But, I don't know if our stock was different from the current stock that's around.
We got our first ones.... 10+ years ago? I think they were "new" at the time. And I think our last one passed about 5 years ago.
They were very nice.
We don't handle our birds unless we need to. But the roosters were SO sweet when we had to.

However, I don't recall them having barring. I know it doesn't show up well on blue, but there was literally nothing noticeable on the roosters we ended up with. (We bought pullets, but ended up with several cockerels every time. My mom knows what to look for with sex links, so it wasn't her.)
So I'm wondering if they had an issue with the sex-link cross back then?

Also.... who are those gorgeous birds with the blue + tan coloration? I've occasionally seen pictures like that (black and chocolate splotches), but I don't know what causes that type of mix of colors.

 

[talkinboutchickens]

Also just wanted to note that my black sexlink has not had one illness or egg production problem so far (knock on wood), and is by far one of the healthiest birds in the flock, and she is still going strong at five years old. My 2 sapphire gems are 3 years old and doing great. They are sexlinks.
I believe when you said that your sexlinks kept dying from egg problems and that they were dumb, it's not coincidental that they all were like that. That type of thing can happen to individuals, but when it happens to many birds of the same breed, from the same hatchery, it's time to wonder if they are just not bred to be healthy. Sexlinks normally are not like that (generally.) You see, if the hatchery bred for health, then the majority of your birds should not be dying off from just egg problems. I am not a breeder, I have hatched chicks once. And I am not an expert or a vet... Just guessing
I don't know about Sandhill, but they may just be breeding chickens for the money and don't care to breed for egg quality, feather quality, health, and temperament. And I may of course be wrong.
But truly, try out other sexlinks from a different hatchery and I'm sure you'll see a difference in the quality. Because sexlinks are a wonderful breed. Or possibly try a private breeder, that's always a good way to go.

 

[Folly's place]

I just got three Sapphire Gems this May and so far they are beautiful!
Also, nearly all breeders, not only hatcheries, breed birds no older than two, and many younger, because that's when the young hens produce best. Nearly nobody keeps birds in production older, and tries for longevity and health after that first year or two.
So, health issues, especially in high producing hens, happens often by three years of age. In theory chickens (except for predation) should live longer, but most don't. And wild jungle fowl? Again, think predation, and short lives.
We have had THREE hens who lived to be nine years of age. Three, in thirty years! Predation was a factor, and abdominal disasters. Our roosters died too, but many moved on to other places, because there's only so many generations that one male can cover.
Mary

 

[CascadiaRiver]

It's all great proof that chickens are individuals I'd probably suggest that OP get a bunch of breeds they like, and select those that fit what they want, cull/rehome the rest, and breed their birds with the traits they like to get more with a likelihood of the future chicks inheriting some of those good traits!

My Easter Eggers were all, always, docile, stupid and loud as hell My Welsummer was SO bossy and forward and insanely friendly, I used her for 4H showmanship where its basically "do you wanna touch my bird" and she was so good, downside being size (big!) and she was LOUD! Not like the EE's but still. I love my big dumb birds, I enjoy my medium flighty birds, I adore my crazy bantams. Find what kind of birds you like the look/size/egg of with traits you enjoy like combs/colors, and get a bunch and hold back the ones with the personality you want

 

[la dee da]

You all have given me a lot to think about. It’s good to know that not all sexlinks are prone to egg related deaths. Walking into the coop to see one of your favorite hens dead in the nesting box isn’t fun. I do sometimes miss the eggs from those girls, but I honestly don’t know what I’d do with so many now. My parents and brothers ate a lot of eggs; my husband and I just don’t eat too many.

I think I’m favoring Plymouth Rock (preferably buff) or Sussex (maybe red, since I loved my RIR color) next. The Sapphire Gems tempt me (beautiful with nice personalities!), but obtaining some looks like a challenge, and I’d like to breed my birds for replacements. Since I free range, I know I’ll lose a few each year to predation, and I don’t want my flock to dwindle to three or five before I have the money and space to buy replacement chicks. I’m not well connected, so I can’t just go into a group purchase, either.

I’m now seriously debating on trying hatchery Plymouths or Sussex for the food efficiency. I knew bigger birds would mean less food efficiency, but given the frequent warnings by y’all, I wonder if it’s a big enough difference to make me want the smaller hatchery stock. I don’t need super layers, just birds that lay decently without eating me out of house and home. If you guys have had good experiences with hatchery stock, maybe I just got bad hatchery stock.

I only have space for about 15 chickens total, and probably won’t be able to build another coop for several years. That’s why I want to get just one breed this time, especially if I have to buy hatching eggs. I also prefer looking out to see one breed. I don’t know why, but I do.

I guess I should just pick a breed and try it. What are your experiences with different hatcheries’ Buff Plymouth Rocks and Red Sussex? Do their combs and wattles get really long, and thus are prone to frostbite?

Or is Speckled Sussex the only Sussex you’d recommend? I love their color, but I worry about breeding bad color if I try to breed them myself.

 

[Not-so Slick Chicken]

You all have given me a lot to think about. It’s good to know that not all sexlinks are prone to egg related deaths. Walking into the coop to see one of your favorite hens dead in the nesting box isn’t fun. I do sometimes miss the eggs from those girls, but I honestly don’t know what I’d do with so many now. My parents and brothers ate a lot of eggs; my husband and I just don’t eat too many.

I think I’m favoring Plymouth Rock (preferably buff) or Sussex (maybe red, since I loved my RIR color) next. The Sapphire Gems tempt me (beautiful with nice personalities!), but obtaining some looks like a challenge, and I’d like to breed my birds for replacements. Since I free range, I know I’ll lose a few each year to predation, and I don’t want my flock to dwindle to three or five before I have the money and space to buy replacement chicks. I’m not well connected, so I can’t just go into a group purchase, either.

I’m now seriously debating on trying hatchery Plymouths or Sussex for the food efficiency. I knew bigger birds would mean less food efficiency, but given the frequent warnings by y’all, I wonder if it’s a big enough difference to make me want the smaller hatchery stock. I don’t need super layers, just birds that lay decently without eating me out of house and home. If you guys have had good experiences with hatchery stock, maybe I just got bad hatchery stock.

I only have space for about 15 chickens total, and probably won’t be able to build another coop for several years. That’s why I want to get just one breed this time, especially if I have to buy hatching eggs. I also prefer looking out to see one breed. I don’t know why, but I do.

I guess I should just pick a breed and try it. What are your experiences with different hatcheries’ Buff Plymouth Rocks and Red Sussex? Do their combs and wattles get really long, and thus are prone to frostbite?

Or is Speckled Sussex the only Sussex you’d recommend? I love their color, but I worry about breeding bad color if I try to breed them myself.

I'm not sure what you mean by breeding bad color?

Speckled is the Mottling gene, which needs 2 copies to show. I don't know what Speckled Sussex looks like when crossed, but maybe it'll look similar to Red Sussex? But, the offspring will be split for mottling, and may randomly pop up in the flock when 2 copies match up.

(With or without Speckled Sussex)
If you're going Red Sussex and Buff Rock, you might get all solid buff the first generation, then later generations chances of red or buff, and self/solid or columbian pattern. Depending on what genes are hidden.
It could be very fun to see what'll hatch!

 

[la dee da]

I'm not sure what you mean by breeding bad color?

I mean like with RIR you can mess up their deep red color if you don’t breed them right for color, which is why hatchery RIR don’t have the beautiful deep, deep red of the heritage ones. I researched RIR breeding ages ago, so I don’t remember the details, but I do remember that much.

Speckled is the Mottling gene, which needs 2 copies to show. I don't know what Speckled Sussex looks like when crossed, but maybe it'll look similar to Red Sussex? But, the offspring will be split for mottling, and may randomly pop up in the flock when 2 copies match up.

(With or without Speckled Sussex)
If you're going Red Sussex and Buff Rock, you might get all solid buff the first generation, then later generations chances of red or buff, and self/solid or columbian pattern. Depending on what genes are hidden.
It could be very fun to see what'll hatch!

A red columbian color pattern would be gorgeous! Now I have to look if there are any columbian patterns other than white.

I was actually saying Buff Rock or Red Sussex, but a mix would give me more genetics to work with. Sometimes I get stuck on one thought and can’t break out of it until other people tell me often enough to think outside my box. That’s probably what I’m doing again…. Buff Rocks and Red or Speckled Sussex could be interesting to play with. I wonder what color I’d end up with in ten years.

 

[NatJ]

I mean like with RIR you can mess up their deep red color if you don’t breed them right for color, which is why hatchery RIR don’t have the beautiful deep, deep red of the heritage ones. I researched RIR breeding ages ago, so I don’t remember the details, but I do remember that much.

For breeding the "right" color of Rhode Island Reds, it is mostly a matter of choosing ones with the right color to use as breeding stock.

Hatcheries are more likely to breed the best layers, no matter what shade of red they are. Someone who cares about color will breed the ones with the correct color, even if they do not lay as well.

It's just a matter of what the priorities are. If egg production is most important, hatchery birds are better. But if the correct appearance is more important than egg production, then birds from certain private breeders are better (but their birds will typically not lay as well.)

With Speckled Sussex, if the hen and the rooster look red with speckles, their chicks should also grow up to be red with speckles. The color could be "wrong" by having the wrong shade of red, or too many speckles, or not enough speckles, or speckles of the wrong size. But they should still have red and show some amount of speckles.

Or is Speckled Sussex the only Sussex you’d recommend? I love their color, but I worry about breeding bad color if I try to breed them myself.

"Bad color" would only be a problem if you are entering them in a show or selling them to people that really care about them being correct, or if you really care what other people think about your chickens.

If none of those are true, then breed any birds that look good to you, and enjoy the results.

 

[Folly's place]

The buff Plymouth Rocks we bought from MurrayMcMurray years ago were very very nice! Also Speckled Sussex females from Cackle, very nice.
We tried SS straight run from three different hatcheries, and loved the females from everyone. However, half the males (the larger birds, of course) were human aggressive. The nice cockerels generally just didn't grow large enough to fit the breed standard, and we wanted the larger birds to breed on. I gave up on having a breeding group of SS, but will always have some hens, beautiful, produce pretty well, and are so interactive!
Haven't tried Plymouth Rock roosters here, just never was interested.
Mary