I recommend Dominque hens. They are a small breed that is a very thrifty eater, forages very well, and lays early. They are also the oldest American breed.

Welsumers are OUTSTANDING foragers, are larger bodied so they can double as meat birds, but were slow to start laying.

Delawares are big dual purpose birds that lay big eggs. They are faster to start laying than Welsumers but slower than Doms.

All three of our breeds go broody.

My wife selected our breeds after E X T E N S I VE research. We wanted self sufficient birds that required the minimal maintenance while also being social, etc.

We did not want show birds or birds bred for commercial applications. Those types are not appropriate for a small farm.

For reference we were paying $3.79 to $4.19 a dozen for store bought organic eggs before we started our flock. Store bought aren't free range and didn't taste as good or look as rich as our own.

A flock of chickens will provide lots of Black Gold too (chicken manure is perfect for the garden due to its composition . We choose to compost it first though).

Chickens are also very entertaining. Since we hand raised ours - they come up to us and let us pick them up, etc. At least the hens do (roosters are stand offish).

You should have 1 Ro for every 10-12 Hens. More roosters and the hens will be over worked by them.

If you buy straight run chicks you'll get approximately 50% male 50% female. You can buy sexed birds but it isn't foolproof and costs more.

If you plan on meat bird straight run works well. Cull the cockerels (roosters that haven't reached sexual maturity) before they discover girls.

Chicken poop has the same texture and consistency as whipped butter. I was a bare-footed little kid and had it squish between my toes many times.

Sorry for the derail, but that was the first thing I thought of when you mentioned chicken manure.

Do you ever have a problem with birds of prey, Gary?

Or snakes?

Adam,
We keep our chicks protected for over head predation until they we too large to be in danger.

Coyotes were an issue before we competed our 48" woven wire fence and 3 lines of 8800 volts (minimum) electric wire. I had several calls from my wife (while I'm in town trying to earn enough cash to keep us above water) stating she jus took a shot at a coyote.

It's funny you asked about snakes because my wife saw one of our hens carrying one around a few days ago. I found it in the yard while working yesterday.

A larger snake would be a threat to the eggs but not full grown birds. Again, our chicks are protected in our barn until large enough to be safe.

We have few species of venomous snakes here. Mostly water centered varieties although timber rattlesnakes have been found too.

Yes, I was talking about the snakes being a threat to your eggs. Around here chicken snakes are a problem.