Heritage Egg Layer - but not broody or flighty

Hi All,
I normally want broodiness in my chickens, but I'm trying to find something that would work for my mom. She has no interest in broodiness. She has a small permanent area for the chickens so I'm looking for something bigger boned that might be less likely to fly over, and preferably something less skittish than the white leghorns. Also, prefer heritage over commercial.

This is so far different than I have researched that I was hoping some other people would have some recommendations?

Orpingtons, Wyandottes, and Dominques are great heritage birds that are good layers (average in the 200s per year), tough, and dual purpose. They aren't flighty and tend to be even tempered.
The ones I've had are mellow to the point of laid-back hippies. Well, okay. The Dominiques have attitude and wanted to be Hen Bosses, the Wyandottes were a bit Mean Girl, and the Orpington hung out with the Cochin and they did a lot of chill wandering around the yard.

http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html is a great site and has a lot of good information on the most common heritage breeds, as well as a few uncommon ones.

https://www.chickensandmore.com/chicken-breeds/ is another great site I frequently send people to for basics about all chicken breeds that they can find. It's got a lot of breed specific information that can help with narrowing down your options.

Most mail order hatcheries will have descriptions of what the birds are likely to be like, so buyers don't end up with 25 baby fluffybutts of something completely inappropriate - Cubalayas in Canada? Buckeyes in the Caribbean?
Most dual-purpose will be pretty much what you're looking for, but there will be availability differences depending on where you are, what your local farmers want, what age of bird you're looking for, and a dozen other random factors.
Check out the information you can find on English dual purpose, and work out from there. There's all kinds of help all over the 'Net.

Hi Kristine,
I have heard orpingtons (at least buff orpingtons) can be broody, but I'll look into the Wynadottes and Dominiques.

Russian Orloff hens are really nice and I think not at all broody.  They do great in cold weather, not as well in heat.

Matt McSpadden wrote:I have heard orpingtons (at least buff orpingtons) can be broody, but I'll look into the Wynadottes and Dominiques.

Well, yes. All heritage breeds *can* be broody. That's one of the ways they stayed around long enough to be considered heritage breeds.
Dorkings and Silkies are heritage breeds that are well known for their broodiness. In fact, I have 4 broody Dorkings right now, along with one Mama Angry Broody. So, out of 7 new Dorkings, 4 of them are broody or have chicks. Out of the previous 10 from a different hatchery, I have 1 potentially broody bird.
I can only speak to my own experiences and those I have heard of.

In the 5 years I have had 2 Wyandottes, an Orpington, a Cochin, 2 Dominique, and a Barred Rock, none of them have gone broody. The Cochin considered it once but gave it up as too much bother. The Orpington considered it very briefly (less than a day) and changed her mind. I wouldn't base all my opinion on my experience, but I have been talking with other chicken handlers/owners/keepers and they've had similar experiences.
The Big Difference I have noted between potentially annoyingly broody birds and non-broody heritage breeds seems to be where you get them. If you get chicks from a Big Commercial Hatchery (Murray McMurray, for instance), you are more likely to end up with NON-broody birds.
No matter the breed or variety of chicken from Murray McMurray, in my experience, they do not brood aside from the very rare stubborn hen.
Smaller breeders or potentially other commercial hatcheries (I have experience with birds from two other Big Names, but chose breeds known to Not Be Broody so ...?) might give you different results.

While my Dominiques, and the majority of people I have chatted with about Dominiques have not had their birds go broody, I know of at least one broody Dominique who lived at a local "Living History" Museum where she lost most of her clutch to a hungry pig. I know of people who gleefully watch their Very Large and Fluffy Hens go broody regularly - Orpingtons, Cochins, Brahma and other Large Fluffy Birds who are known for their good, quiet personalities, being good with kids, and being decent layers do tend to like to sit still for long periods of time.

Your Mileage May Vary in dealing with livestock. Even the best bloodlines and most careful breeder of any critter has no control over the whims of genetics, random life experiences, and handling differences.

@Trace
I had actually never come across the Russian Orloff one before. It sounds cool, though lower in egg production than I would have liked. Cold hardy is good.

@Kristine
That is a really good point about them going broody which is why they have survived as a heritage breed :)... that is one of those things that you kind of know, but need someone else to point out to you.

I had almost a 1/3 of my Australorps go broody on me and my friend google told me Australorps and Orpingtons were about the same broodiness. That was why I was hesitant for the Orpingtons in this situation. Both the Wyandottes and the Dominiques look like possibilities. Both are cold hardy. It looks like the Dominiques lay more eggs on average, but the Wyandottes lay larger eggs on average.

Matt McSpadden wrote:@Trace
I had actually never come across the Russian Orloff one before. It sounds cool, though lower in egg production than I would have liked. Cold hardy is good.

@Kristine
That is a really good point about them going broody which is why they have survived as a heritage breed :)... that is one of those things that you kind of know, but need someone else to point out to you.

I had almost a 1/3 of my Australorps go broody on me and my friend google told me Australorps and Orpingtons were about the same broodiness. That was why I was hesitant for the Orpingtons in this situation. Both the Wyandottes and the Dominiques look like possibilities. Both are cold hardy. It looks like the Dominiques lay more eggs on average, but the Wyandottes lay larger eggs on average.

Hey Matt, I read that same thing about them being infrequent layers, but you wouldn't know it from mine.  From the way they are laying now, I expect about 175-200 eggs a years from mine.  They are a true dual purpose breed, being bigger than most layers, so they definitely won't be laying 300+ eggs a year, but that is the case with most dual purpose heritage breeds I believe.  I have quite a few chickens, so egg production alone isn't really an issue for me.  If a person has only a few chickens and is counting on them for eggs, I can see that being a very important issue.

My Americanas and Norwegian Jearhons have been really great layers, don't fly heavily, and don't seem prone to broodiness. Bresse are another great one, although I have had a flighty or broody hen on occasion. As another option, you could always get something like a Brown Leghorn that isn't broody and lays well, and then trim their wings. There are different tips on how to effectively trim them, but if done right, it isn't even apparent unless they attempt to fly.
My Orpingtons were always going broody, so while they fit the gentleness bill and lay a fair amount, they will brood like crazy. I had a few Wyandottes for a while, and they weren't very hardy, good layers, or particularly gentle. Although I would definitely love some more just to look at their beautiful feathers, lol! I've always wanted to try Dominiques, but never have, so I can't speak for them. Russian Orloffs from my understanding are great dual purpose birds for cold climates, but they won't lay a ton.
When I was first getting into chickens I ran across this chart that compared breeds, and really liked it! It goes over pretty much all the heritage breeds, and gives compact information on all of them. I would suggest using the sorting features most hatcheries have now, because they know their breeds really well. You may also consider messaging the hatchery in specific to ask for some suggestions. I know that at least Murray McMurray (one of my favorite hatcheries) has a great messaging system in place, although you do have to get on early if you want to avoid the line.
Is she just wanting them for the eggs? If that's the case, maybe she aught to look into ducks instead. They aren't flighty, and it's way easier to find a good layer that isn't broody. Besides that, they are super adorable and walk around in a group all the time!