Do you keep food critters

[MaryN]

O.K., NR, I keep chickens for eggs only at the moment. There are a lot of variables in the poultry world, but if you want a lot of good sized eggs I would recommend hybrids - Warren, Golden Highline, Golden Comets etc. - as they are bred to lay lots of eggs. They have also largely had the urge to go broody bred out of them, so you would not have the problems of a lot of hot and unnecessary hens trying to hatch things. (Hens stop laying when they go broody). The larger purebreeds - Sussex, Welsummer, Orpingtons etc. - will also lay a goodly number of eggs, but not as many as the hybrids. They will also try and be Mums, so you lose a few weeks of eggs in the chick season. I know a lot of people keep bantams purely as mother hens, but personally I wouldn't bother with them - the eggs are small and hardly worth the effort.