what kind of chickens should i get?

[Denninmi]

4. I have Rhode Island Reds and ISA Browns.

I'm very pleased with the production level and especially the egg size from the ISA Browns. The eggs are xtra large to super jumbo. They started to lay last year at 4 1/2 months old, in late October, and have continued virtually non-stop ever since, without any supplemental lighting in the winter. I have heard that these birds tend to die relatively young since this level of production is hard on them. Being only a year and a half old, I haven't had any losses on them yet. My 3 1/2 year old RIR's, by contrast, aren't laying nearly as well as they used to, and stopped completely about a month ago, won't start up again until the days begin to lengthen in Feb.