Buff Orpington. Good year-round layers and calm temperament. They also make excellent mothers and will sit on a nest or adopt chicks very readily.

We sell direct to customers here on the farm from our farmstand and at farmer’s markets, as well as to the local coop and restaurants. Eggs are a small portion of our bottom line overall, but chickens fit in so well to a farm/farmstead I consider them essential regardless. 

 I agree. They are worth keeping just for fertility. Everything else can be viewed as a bonus. 

I raised a batch of 20 freedom rangers for meat 2 years ago. I did free range and will not do that again. I now have 8 laying hens. I'm pretty new to this. I'm using deep bedding to produce compost. Every couple days I add carbon and biochar then feed them on top of this. Seems to be working well.