which breed

Happyhenz. · **Joined:** Mon Aug 20, 2007 10:49 am **Posts:** 607

ok i know this has probably been done to death but...

my inlaws were down today and asked if i had any eggs for them to take home and i had to say no becasue the the bloody hens are molting :roll:

My father in law FIL asked if there was another breed of chook that laid pretty much most of the year?

I said probably RIR or Australopes (well theya re the ones i thought of) and he said well get half a doz and i'll pay for them :shock:

he olnly comes down every month or 6 weeks and he want to be able to take fresh eggs home when he does so he can have fresh eggs for a week when he goes home.

Now he isnt usually the most tactful of people when iut comes to my animals and in fact we have only ever had words twice both times over my show dogs (which he thought were a waste of money and i said he was a waste of beer, :roll:

) but he like the idea of his grandkids having "useful" animals such as the chooks and ducks as you can eat them and eggs they produce.

So question which breeds would you recommend for a backyard flock which already consists of 4 hylines,4 leghorn x newhampshires (bloody nerotic) 2 commerical blacks and a silkie roo (who im thinking of homing if i can find a suitable quiet breed of roo to breed with my layers)and they share the main pen and shed with my mussies?????

They do get to free range and all my mates (who get eggs in return) bring up their scraps and one even brings garbage bags of bread from the local bakery and vegie off loads from the green groccer (so i like to pack him up with eggs

)

Some breeds i thought of where :RIR & Australopes what else could i get?

Cheers HH (sorry for the rant but im still in shock :lol:

)

County Lodge · **Posted:** Wed Jan 30, 2008 3:21 pm

Hi,
I have australopes and they also are very broody chooks. I don't know about RIR's. Why not Isa browns if you only want layers? The commercial breeds that hatcheries use lay and lay and never go broody. One can pick them up as day old chicks from most produce stores. I have one Isa brown and I don't think she has ever been broody and only stops laying for a short time in the moulting time. A very reliable layer.

Happyhenz. · **Joined:** Mon Aug 20, 2007 10:49 am **Posts:** 607

Hi There i already have just layers in my Hylines and leghorn x's but im after i guess a dual purpose breed in that i can eat the roos i breed.
Someone said sussex?
The only experience i have with these are we owned a nasty light sussex roo as a kid who soon became soup

County Lodge · **Posted:** Wed Jan 30, 2008 4:00 pm

Hi,

I have a light sussex roo who comes up above my knee and he is the sweetest boy. Not a problem at all. The girls (light sussex) also are incline to be broody but not as broody as the australorps. I breed light sussex, pekin bantams and silkies and I have found so far that the silkies are the least likely to go broody but I believe this is not the norm. My little x bantams hatch out the silkie eggs at our place. I personally really like the light sussex but I am bias I think.

Happyhenz. · **Joined:** Mon Aug 20, 2007 10:49 am **Posts:** 607

are they good layers and meaters?

I only ask about meat as i want to be a bit self sufficent with eggs and meat and breeding our own birds we will get roos that will need to be culled i see no point in wasting them so a good pot bird will be a bonus.

Deans' Poultry · **Posted:** Wed Jan 30, 2008 4:38 pm

Orpingtons are a beautiful, big dual purpose chook :-D

Our large buff orp rooster is about 18 months old and is an absolute delight. He'd have to be the nicest rooster i've owned and he is huge lol. He's about as tall as our light sussex roo but quite a bit larger :-D

Cheers n chooks

Darren

Stt · **Joined:** Sun Aug 19, 2007 7:01 pm **Posts:** 3006

hi hh i would suggest standard australorp as they are large birds great for eggs and the roos are a good eating size.

County Lodge · **Posted:** Wed Jan 30, 2008 5:45 pm

Hi,

Light sussex are nice big meat birds and good layers of good size eggs. I have often had double yolkers from my older light sussex as well and they are so pretty to have around. :lol:

terrencep08 · **Posted:** Wed Jan 30, 2008 6:07 pm

leghorns are good too

jo-chicken · **Posted:** Fri Feb 01, 2008 11:44 am

You have some of the best breeds for layers, i.e. hylines and leghorn. Some might say a good corss for these to produce really good layers is the Ancona, or I would think a wyndotte perhaps. You could breed some really good laying cross bred with these, but if you are after a more tame type use Austrlorp or RIR (my personal Fav). The trick to have hens laying all year round though is to have a few hens each at different ages as when some go off the lay others come on. I do think that hylines become a bit spent once they get a couple of years on them though.
Hope this is of some help

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