Ha ha….i got 11 16 hens and 1 rooster. Mix of golden sex links, Rhode Island reds, Olive eggers , and brown leghorns. Free range. Olive eggs are my favorite tasting egg.

Standard and heritage Rhode Island Red are sturdy stock and really good layers over a longer period of time vs the sex links but for a few years the sex links are capable of over 300 eggs a year. I've always had red sex links but I'm wanting to try the brown sex links.

I've got some old Americaunas that have been really good. They are green egg layers.

how do FREE RANGE chickens work with hawks / critters running around?

I’ve lost a couple I think…not many. I have a dog outside with them quite a bit so I think that helps keep the critters away.

You find chicken guts hanging from the tree limbs.

thanks for the replies!

Wife had Easter eggers and Orpington chickens for a few years while learning about the farming process and now she has sex links breeds. They produce more and larger eggs 🥚. She found out that hens will produce less eggs as they age and started replacing chickens every few years

I have lost a few to red tail hawks,they normally swoop down and grab the chicken and fly a short ways off and destroy it,I saved one a few years back when I seen it happen,not much you can do unless you want a visit from the Game Warden,the main thing is to shut them up at night,owls are way more destructive to a chicken flock,same with big cats and dogs if they get them in a confined space.
Most of my laying hens are Rhode Island reds with a few barred rocks in the mix,my latest bunch of pullets are red star sex links,over all the sex links are the best layers, I have had red and black stars and prefer the black stars,the problem is,since covid you have a hard time finding them,my favorite hatchery is Murray & McMurry out of Ames Iowa,but getting what you want from them has been sketchy at best the last few years,If I was doing a back yard type of deal I would wait until around Easter and buy a few from the local ACE or TSC and learn from there,but I normally buy 20-30 at a time and you have to be set up to raise that many to laying size.