With this being our first round of egg laying chickens, I did a bunch of research before we went to our local hatchery to pick up our chicks. I also wrote another article, Chicken 101, that goes over the basics and links some of the information that really helped us getting started.
We live in the midwest. To get technical, we live in Kansas City where we can have really cold winters and really hot summers. Our first winter with chicken, we had negative 15-20 degree temps. We felt like we weren’t prepared, but because we did our research on breeds, I had a flock of cold hardy hens that made it through our winter with no issues. It’s important to take into consideration your climate and where you live when selecting your breeds. It’s very easy to get wrapped up in cuteness and feather colors, and while that is fun, you need to make sure you pick the right kind of birds for your climate.
Barred Rock
Let me introduce you to Pepper, one of our two Barred Rocks. These birds lay tan/brown colored eggs. Are known to be heat and cold hardy, and are solid layers (4-5 eggs a week). They are also incredibly sweet and friendly, and great with kids. They are some of our biggest hens, and we love to snuggle them.
Silver Laced Wyandotte
Next up, our hen Bandita. She is a silver-laced Wyandotte. She lays 4-5 eggs a week and she’s cold and heat tolerant. We only have one Wyandotte hen, and Bandita likes to keep to herself mostly. She’s not friendly and social like some of our other hens, but she’s beautiful and good forager, does well free ranging.
Buff Orphingtons
We have two buff orphingtons, one buff and one lavender. They are very sweet, gentle birds. They are also big hens, and some have been known to use this breed as dual purpose (meat and eggs). I will say, when these girls were young, they were more skittish and wanted very little to do with us. Now that they’re grown, they are some of our sweetest chickens who love to follow us around and be held. They are also very reliable egg layers, laying 3-4 light brown eggs a week.
Rhode Island Red
This is Reba, our Rhode Island Red, and also my husband’s favorite chicken. We joke that my husband has a type, I have red hair and his favorite chicken is red. These chickens are high production egg layers, heat and cold tolerant, and very sweet. From what I’ve read, they can be known to be aggressive, but we haven’t found that to be the case with our Reba. Our local hatchery happened to just throw her in the tub in case one of our other chicks didn’t make the ride home, so she was a pleasant surprise!
Welsummers
This is Thelma, one our Welsummer hens. Welsummers are curious birds, lay beautiful speckled eggs, and are heat and cold tolerant. This is a hen that will always be in our flock, they are sweet and their eggs are gorgeous. They lay about 3-5 eggs a week.
Silkies
Here is our silkie, Fancy. She was not on my list, but I fell prey to her cuteness. She is tiny, not cold tolerant at all, and only lays about 2-3 white eggs a week. They are known to fall to the bottom of the pecking order because of their size and appearance, but Fancy holds her own. She goes up against some of our biggest hens. I’m not going to beat around the bush, I was really worried about her this winter. Because we have a large flock, the other chickens helped keep her warm and got her through our tough winter. I won’t say we won’t ever get another silkie, because they are so cute, but they aren’t built well for midwest winters.
Easter Egger
Well hello Barbara Jean. She’s our Easter Egger and lays very pretty blue eggs. She lays 4-5 eggs a week and is a really good free range forager. She’s sweet but doesn’t really like to be held. These birds are heat and cold tolerant and the perfect addition to a flock if you want add some color to your egg basket. Everyone always comments that she looks like a hawk.
Olive Egger
Now, let me introduce you to Edie’s favorite chicken, Dixie Chick. She’s our Olive Egger that lays the most beautiful green eggs. These birds are also heat and cold tolerant, lay 4-5 eggs a week, and are great with kids. I plan on adding more of these hens to our flock for their gorgeous egg color.
Crested Cream Legbar
Meet Frankie. She inspired our front door color because she lays the most beautiful green/blue eggs. She is one of our sweetest chickens and I will be adding more to our flock. She lays about 3-4 eggs a week, and is heat and cold tolerant. Because of her large comb, you have to be careful in winter about frostbite.
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