About my flock

I have about 20 chickens right now, 18 hens and two roosters. (I have two roosters because I answered the phone too early one morning and agreed to take 3 chickens from my neighbor without asking if there was a rooster.) These are their breeds and why I like them:

Partridge Rocks are my favorite chicken because they are pretty, the roosters are level-headed, and the hens are good setters and good mothers. They are a heavy breed and make good eating, although the feathers are dark and it is hard to pluck them all. The chicks look like little chipmunk colored birds.

Black Australorps are good calm hens, hardy in winter, good layers. But the roosters are dinks.

Buff Orpingtons are beautiful golden birds. I have a couple right now who want to go broody, I just hope they still want to sit on eggs when spring comes. Those roosters are also always looking to kick someone's okole, which is why I don't have any. The hens lay well and are large, strong birds. My kids used to think those hens were mean.

Red Star in a newer breed, bred for high egg production. They are skinny, scruffy looking birds with kind of a hyper, ditzy personality. When we had our chickens out in the pen in the yard, the Red Stars were the hardest to catch when it was time to put them in a night. They spook easily and couldn't seem to see the door when it was right in front of them. They would roost in the pine trees, so they weren't dumb. They do lay eggs; they started early and have been laying all winter, lights or no lights.