Poultry Breeds
There are dozens of breeds, and many hybrids (cross-breeds), that are suitable for free-range production. Once you've decided why you're keeping poultry, you can pick appropriate breeds.
We bought our first hens in March 2002 - a Black Rock, which is a hybrid, a Light Sussex and a Rhode Island Red, which are pure breeds. There was no particular logic to the choice of breeds but they looked pretty. Generally, pure breeds will lay fewer eggs per year but will lay for more years and the hybrids will lay more eggs per year but for fewer years - physically, hens are born with a finite number of eggs; when they're gone, they're gone.
As you might expect, hybrids are cheaper to buy than pure breeds. Three hens kept us supplied for most of the year, with a small surplus that we gave to friends.
In March 2003, we purchased a further three hens - a second Light Sussex, a second Rhode Island Red and a Brown Leghorn. The Brown Leghorn was an impulse buy because she was so pretty and laid lovely white eggs, which are a bit of a novelty these days. The Light Sussex and the RIR are dual purpose breeds i.e. produce good eggs and a decent carcase. The Brown Leghorn is a different shape altogether and wouldn't produce a good carcase, being a bit long and lean.
Our flock now consists of one Brown Leghorn, three RIR, two Black Rocks, five Light Sussex and one Light Sussex x RIR. Our stock cockerel is a Light Sussex.
Many breeds are ornamental and don't lay particularly well, so check before you buy. Breeds with feathery feet don't scratch the ground as much as those without feathers so don't make as much mess. Some breeds have bantam (miniature) versions - bantams lay smaller eggs and tend to be broodier that large hens, so if you want to hatch eggs naturally, it might be worth keeping a couple of bantams.
You may be limited by what your local breeders can supply, but whatever you buy we can guarantee you'll become attached to them! Magazines such as "Country Smallholding" have pages of adverts for poultry; if you live in a rural area, the local paper might also be a source.