Switching chickens.

Why? Why start over with the birds after so much time?

I have decided to write on this, because I think some of you who read this blog might one day keep a flock (I hope anyway) and I would like to give you the benefit of what I've learned. The answers have come to be important to my goals, and I would have liked to figure this out before I started.

Reason 1: Because I can't get what I want. 
What I want is a flock of birds that lay multi-colored eggs. I want to collect the eggs and get the full rainbow- greens, blues, pinkish brown, white, dark chocolate brown, light brown with dark speckles, and olive green. Why can't I have it? In a sense you could say that I can have it. I've basically got it now, and I got it by buying birds from others who breed for one of these egg colors. The problem is now that they are here in my eclectic little flock, they are breeding. Let them breed right? Why not? Well, the reason is that they will not breed true. I can hatch these multicolored eggs and get offspring, but I can't get offspring that will lay multicolored eggs themselves. Over time, there will be winning genes and losing genes and as it turns out the winner is likely to be greenish "Easter egger" type eggs. They will be pretty on their own, but they will be all the same, and if I had to choose one egg color this is not likely to be the one I would strive for.
Chicken egg shells are really only two colors after all, white or blue. If you don't believe me, take any colored egg you like and crack it open. Look at the shell on the outside, you might see brown, but on the inside under that 'skin' that is under the shell, you'll see it is as white as those in the store. Likewise with the green egg, the inside under the same membrane is as blue as the truest Ameraucana. The brown pigment is simply an 'overspray' of bilirubin, a byproduct of the breakdown of hemoblobin, the pigment in our (and chickens) red blood cells. So a green egg is really a blue egg coated in some amount of bilirubin, and likewise an olive egg is really a blue egg with even more bilirubin. A brown is a white egg with various amounts of the same, the depth of it's shade is just a result of more or less of the pigment.
But the genetics of the bird make the egg blue or white, and different genes determine how much bilirubin is 'oversprayed' in the oviduct. And while all the genes are represented in my flock, some will be dominant over the others. Blue egg shell appears to be dominant (maybe that's why white eggs became the standard, after all it would have been hard to isolate in a mixed flock, and we tend to like best things that are 'rare') over white, and some amount of bilirubin seems to be dominant as well. Every bird I've hatched has grown up to give me a green egg, some getting close to blue but not quite there.
Long story short, if I can't get what I want, should I pick my breed by the color of the shell? I'm deciding not to, for reasons I'll explain later.

Reason 2: Because I don't know what I'll get. 
I'm actually pretty sure of what I'll get in egg color. Varying shades of green right? But egg color is not the end all be all of the breed. If you want them for lots of eggs, there are breeds out there which will do that for you. They tend to be smaller birds, because their bodies don't put a great deal of energy in building lots of muscle, they need those proteins for making eggs. Conversely, if you want a meat breed, you'll probably find that they are not the best layers. I decided long ago that I wanted the 'complete package' from my birds. I want decent layers, who also dress out nicely; so that the concept of too many birds just doesn't mean anything. While I'm after eggs, I will need to cull those who are less productive, and that process will provide me with a secondary product: the occasional dressed oven ready bird. Now you might be wondering, why can't you do that with yours? After all if the egg color becomes secondary, what's wrong with just culling my own flock for these qualities?
The answer is that there's actually nothing wrong with it! If you have quite a few years to spend on this process that is. If that is your aim, there are hundreds of heritage breeds out there that people have been breeding for these qualities again and again, for a long long time. I wouldn't discourage anyone from making a new one if that's their aim, but it isn't mine. I'd just as soon build on the work that's been done for me.
And the simplicity of this route isn't the only reason either.

Reason 3: Because the occasional sale can be so much more effective than they are now.
Lets face it, if I think I'm going to make easy money on chickens or eggs, I'm fooling myself. I've always raised my own chickens and eggs at a loss, even when I sell them occasionally. But that's fine, because it's a hobby! I enjoy having them around, and I'd keep them even if they cost me a bit more. There's just no way I know of to factor in the joy of raising them for me, let alone the flavor difference of having the eggs so fresh. I do know however, every chicken or rooster I've ever had eats about the same amount. Rhode Island Reds, Buff Orpingtons, Easter Eggers, Barred Rocks, Welsummers, etc.. Not a one has been noticeably more expensive to feed than any other. In the past, when I've evaluated my hatches for who I will keep and who I will let go, I've noticed a big difference in what I've been able to sell them for. And the ones I've been able to sell for the most, have been the Marans. Marans are a fad! Everybody wants the big fluffy, friendly bird, with the big dark eggs. Other breeds I've had, may or may not be able to sell at all depending on the season and the age of the birds.

But do they fit my other requirements?

They are a dual purpose breed- as good in the egg boxes as they are in the oven, so yes. The downside I have seen in the past is that you'll wait a bit longer for that first egg, but they are large enough (and pretty enough) eggs that it's worth the wait. I don't intend on selling any more than I do now, but these occasional sales can buy more than just a bag or two of chicken feed.

I'm buying some Wheaten Marans, and hatching some eggs for Blue Splash Marans as well. Just different enough (in color) from those I've been able to find close by to be different, but maybe familiar enough to the beginner to still be desirable. From them I'll pick my keepers, and sell the rest (probably for a quite a bit more than I bought them- though not a profit when you factor in feed). Eventually I'll  choose between the two lines which one I like best, and focus on it. Of course my current flock will stay with me, until the new girls are laying.