Picking up some chickens tomorrow and was looking for input on the breeds that are available. They have plenty of Rhode Island Reds, Buff Orpingtons, Isa Browns, Barred Rocks, and various colored Bantams. I have an 8x12 coop area and a fenced in area that's about 150'x100' with a few hardwood trees, a row of pine trees, and a few fruit trees.

The coop and fenced in area border my woods and predators are high (coyotes, fox, coons, possum and hawks. The hawks bother me the most.....the coop area has electricity so I'm going to install a motion activated light.

Anyway......out of the breeds listed above, does anyone have any recommendations? I will start with 12 chickens figuring I will lose a few once they get out to the coop and run.

My opinion:
RIR can be high strung and not friendly, but lay eggs well. I haveseen some extremely friendly ones though that were quite mello - with a lot of socialization
Barred rocks - my favorite. MEllow and friendly, great layers
Banties - scrappy, low maintenace, lots of personality, lay lots of small eggs depending...
ISA brown I know nothing about - I think quality egg layers 

I like eggs,, but my chickens are my pets and entertainment in the yard - I pick ones I like to see, and I like variety. Barred rocks for me based on looks and personality, and assorted bantams for the fun of it!

Thanks for the input. I've been doing some research and I'm leaning toward getting a mix with barred rocks being the majority. Everything I've read seems to make them a pretty good fit for what I'm looking for.

I did 60+ black australorps. They are all black and pretty in the sunlight. Avid egg layers.

I LOVE my Marans and they are easily my favorites.

Out of what you posted I would get the ISA Browns.  They are great layers and have big eggs

ISA Browns will be the friendliest and lay the biggest and most eggs. The only drawback is that after they are two years old they will most likely abruptly stop laying or lay thin shelled eggs because they just burn out. They are red sex link hybrids so you're guaranteed to end up with all hens, another plus.

Rhode Island Reds are excellent layers too but not quite as big of eggs as the ISA's. They tend to be very healthy and lay well for many years. They aren't as friendly but will surely be better at evading predators than ISA's.

Barred Rocks are a bigger, meatier bird, and they don't lay as frequently as the other two. They are perhaps the single most useful breed to have in your flock if you ever plan on doing any breeding of your own.

Buff Orpingtons are also a meatier bird, although not as big as a Rock, and they lay kinda small eggs. They are pretty, but frankly they just don't compare to any of the above when it comes to egg production. Their Australian cousin, the Black AustralOrp, is supposed to lay a lot better though.

Awesome response! Thanks for the info.

Based on what I've read it looks like I'll end up with more barred rocks than anything else. My kids are wanting a few different varieties so I'll prob end up getting something like 6 barred rocks, 2 ISA browns, 2 Rhode Island Reds, 2 buffs.

thanks again for the info

americanas are becoming one of our favorites. They lay colored eggs which all the kids love. Good looking chicken, and they lay steady. We are getting green eggs from ours.

we have 2 bantams , but must hide the eggs. The little girl does not let anyone break and eat the "baby" eggs,,,just the big ones.

I e had true RI reds, red sex links, partridge feathered Cochins, a single
Black austrolorp and a couple of splash rose combed banties.


The RI reds and sex links lay a lot of eggs.  The Cochins take breaks and are broody. The Banties lay every other day and take breaks.  In good weather they will also hide their eggs in the brush from you.  Find them and float check them.  Most are fine if you find the clutch.    Banties also will fly out of a coop if you're not too covered.  They are full of personality.   easter eggers are very friendly based on the two I had.

ETA my sex links layed eggs all winter.  Their first winter.  Only rarely did one miss a single day.

I have RIR, excellent layers, not all that friendly but not mean either (except the rooster once a month or so).

I live out in the sticks, so lots of predators here as well.  What I did was fence off an area, put my chicken shak and run inside it, then I have Lab/Great Pyrenees mix (Bonnie and Clyde) inside the fence.  B&G guard the chickens and their run and shak.  I've had zero problems with predators; I don't even close the shak's door anymore, the chickens have free run outside 24/7 (although they don't use it when it gets dark of course).

A night light won't stop a hawk because like chickens, they don't fly and/or hunt during the night.  The solution is guy wires above the chickens heads or lots of trees.

Good luck!

Should have mentioned the night light was for coons, coyotes, etc. my sentence structure wasn't very good there.

Thanks for the info!! I've read where some people run fishing line above the run in zig zag patterns. Apparently the hawks either avoid it or hit it and stop trying to get the chickens. Seems like a cheap deterrent if it works

See if you can get golden comets, they are a hybrid of RIR and White leghorn they are egg machines. Mine have laid daily since they were of age even through winter and while molting with nearly all of them being in the XL and Jumbo category with lots of double yokers.

Took the kids with me......ended up with 6 barred rocks, 4 ISA browns, and 2 buff orpingtons.

The ISA browns are sex linked so those should be all pullets......now to wait and see how many cockerels we end up with. I will only keep 1.......others will be donated or become stock.

I have 20 barred rocks. Their temperament is excellent, even the rooster. They also lay well. I've had other breeds and wouldn't have anything but barred rocks in the future. That's just my opinion though. 

Barred Rocks and Buff Orpingtons out of those you listed will be friendliest and hardiest and also lay good sized brown eggs.

Personally my favorite breed is silver laced wyandottes, but I tend to gravitate towards old heritage breeds.

We just got our first hens 3mos ago. We went with 4 buffs and they are super friendly and calm.

When I had chickens I had Buff Orpingtons and Isa Browns ( 4 of each)

Very friendly and easy going birds, plenty of good eggs and good in the winter.  Every day I was getting 7-8 eggs, so many I was selling them to people at work.

After about 2 years, the Isa Browns stopped laying (I could tell due to the egg size) and started eating the Buffs eggs.

When the Isa's were removed from the coop, I got another 6 months of eggs from the Buffs before they started drying up.