Selecting the Right Breed of Chicken

Since we're somewhat new to this those of you who are pros with chickens will probably say, well yea...duh, but it is amazing how some breeds are just nicer than others. As you might recall we bought 25 chickens of various breeds and then bought 10 newborn pullets and after watching them for awhile some breeds have unique personality traits. I've read about this over and over and that is why some breeds are more popular than others.

For example the Partridge Rock roosters we had seemed to be mean to the other roosters and hens that we had. They are now in our freezer and causing no trouble, we'll see if they digest okay. Here's a funny little excerpt from a thread I was reading:

Beware dogs and chickens!

Our dog likes to flake out on the lawn in the summer sun. Hens, on the loose, still thinking they are 400 pound dinosaur thingys, stalk the sleeping dog! Silently they close in, acting as if they are browsing for bugs. It is a lie. They are drawn irresistibly to his black, rubbery dog lips. They grab! Dog, who weighs over 100 pounds, screeches, leaps up and RUNS AWAY FROM THE HENS!!!

I have seen dog go toe to toe with bears that wander into the yard. But he runs from the chickens. If I throw scraps outside and the chickens get there first, dog will NOT challenge them. We are ashamed. Either our dog needs therapy or we have really mean hens.
source: Poultry Discussions - The-Coop.org

Anyway humor aside here is a good chart for selecting the right breed of chicken, it goes through most of the breeds you'll find available and covers rarity, variety, egg color and size, origins, brooding, hardiness, maturing, etc.

The ICYouSee Handy-Dandy Chicken Chart