I would like a mixed flock of similar sized brown or colored egg layers

[Grumpy Lady]

Hello All,
Asking for some opinions and recommendations here.....which I know means I will probably get more than I asked for! Thank you BYC for being such a wonderful resource!
Background Info:
I live inside city limits in the Colorado Front Range. We get hot dry summers, and cold winters (although generally not a lot of snow in town) and always lots of wind. I am not limited by city regulations on the amount of chickens as long as they are well cared for. My coop and run space would allow for 6-8 comfortably, and probably maxed out at 10 if they had to stay exclusively in the run. When I am home in evenings or weekends I do allow them out for supervised "free range" time (yes, I know it is not free range since they are still confined in our fenced in back yard.) I am pretty new to urban chicken raising. I keep the girls primarily for eggs, but love the assistance on grasshopper and insect control as well. Plus they bring me enjoyment and provide therapy with their happy clucking and cute antics.
My current flock is down to 4. I was told I have one black australorp, one sapphire gem, two blue andalusians. I bought them as 6 month old pullets in September of 2023. Although I suspect the sapphire gem was an adult mature bird not a pullet when I got them, so she may be much older.
Request for input:
I would like to increase my flock this spring. I am mostly interested in either brown or colored eggs and regular sized chickens, no giants and probably not bantams. My sapphire gem and australorp are both larger than the andalusians, and while they fit through the chicken door and in the next boxes, I think anything that is much larger might be a little bit of a squeeze.
I have read multiple posts that recommend keeping chickens of similar size or breed, and the same amount of posts that suggest it might not matter if a mixed flock or single breed flock.
Just for the fun of asking and hearing what you all recommend, I am curious on some thoughts of what breeds I could get to increase my flock size, keeping with cold and heat tolerant birds that are decent egg layers.
The follow up decisions of course will be whether to order specific breeds as chicks from a hatchery, take a chance on what TSC has this spring, or wait and see if anyone local has extra pullets to sell come summer. That will be a later set of questions
Thank you in advance for thoughts/advice/opinions/input.
and Happy New Year.

 

[Debbie292d]

Here's an article showing several dozen breeds and the color of eggs they lay. It's alphabetical by chicken breed. You can scroll through to see the brown eggs.

Here's another article that discusses many of the different breeds and goes into their egg laying, broodiness, flightiness, etc.

Good luck on your venture!

 

[tlcmurphy]

How about Orpingtons? Very friendly, come in many colors, and are generally good layers of tan eggs

 

[FarmerGirl101]

Rhode Island Reds could be a good option. They lay brown eggs and are a cold hardy breed. I personally really liked mine and am getting more this spring. Other brown egg laying breeds I've liked are Buff Orpington, Golden Wyandotte, and Naked Neck (they do well in the cold despite the lack of feathers on their necks). All of these breeds I've found have had great personalities, good egg laying, and are great birds.

If you are looking for a hatchery, I personally use Murray McMurray Hatchery and have had good success with them. They have a wide selection and have plenty of brown egg layers available.

 

[RojoMarz]

Be sure to look for cold hardy birds. We are in Southern Colorado and at almost 9k feet, so our winters are likely colder, snowier and windy'er. We've had Orpingtons, Wyandottes, Brahamas, RIR and asst EEs, all have done well. I think Orpingtons, Wyandottes and Brahmas are larger than Australorps are, so maybe larger than you want?

Are you thinking mail order or local purchase? Where abouts are you? I know Colorado Springs has a nice independent store where I have gotten young pullets from, but they are closing down (unless they can sell to new owner.) I'm pretty sure there is a feed store in Ft Collins that also sells young pullets. On Facebook, I've found a Southern Colorado group...and in there, I found a local seller for EE's.

In case you haven't seen it, here is the Colorado thread. It may have some resources too.

 

[Penpal]

I have had both Brahma and Austrolorps. The Brahma are calm and will not fly out of the yard. The Austrolorps were calmer than RIR, but not as calm as the Brahma. They enjoyed flying out of the fenced area. I have had RIR roost on a perch 8 feet high.

Orpington are calm, but they lay medium sized eggs. Some will lay larger eggs, even jumbo. It depends on the line.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Easter Eggers! Cold and heat hardy and you'll get your blue/ green eggs, plus they're similar in size to what you already have. Calm, personable, no drama birds, or so I have found them to be. Hoover's Hatchery has Prairie Bluebell Eggers that lay a lovely blue egg and the birds may all look different. I love mine!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'll link to a chart that shows chicken characteristics so you can use a lot of time going through it. It can be habit-forming. I find it more reliable than some others out there about several things. This chart only has breeds on it, and certainly not all breeds are mentioned. A lot of chickens available are not breeds, they are hybrids, mixes, or some that have been developed but not yet recognized as a breed. It gets real hard to talk about them.

Henderson's Handy Dandy Chicken Chart (sagehenfarmlodi.com)

I find that each individual chicken is an individual. They have their own personality. You can read about a breed of chickens having a certain personality. If you have enou8gh for averages to mean much then you may see that, but you will have a limited number. Not all conform to that average. You may read that a certain breed lays s certain number of eggs a year. If you have enough for averages to mean much then the average will likely be close to that number, but an individual hen could be well below that or above that. That's the way averages work.

In your situation I'd consider Orpington, Sussex, Rocks, or Wyandotte. These are common breeds that have a lot of different colors/patterns available. I like the Black Astralorp but you already have one of those. I'd suggest the Ameraucana or Cream Legbar for blue eggs but different hatcheries have their own specialty blue egg layer for you to consider.

There are a tremendous number of different chickens out there that will meet your goals. If you do a little research you will probably be really happy with whatever you choose.

 

[MountainWoman73]

Hi Colorado neighbor! I'm in the front range too. For egg colors, I really love my black copper and wheaten marans and my olive eggers. Northern Colorado Feeders Supply in Fort Collins has the best variety of chicks in the area. They post a shipment list on their Facebook every week during the spring, and get new chicks once a week. It's a 3 hour round trip drive for me, and I think it's totally worth it once a year. My favorites I got from them last year are my wheaten marans, who lays the darkest eggs in my flock, and my Easter egger who lays a really pretty mint green and has lovely gold and silver feathers.(She's in the middle of the picture). My olive eggers are from Wardle Feed in Arvada.

 

[Mrs. K]

This time of year, planning is fun. I really enjoy production reds, and they lay eggs and are easy to find, I second the vote on the Hoovers Easter egger, always fun to get a colored egg.