sewbizgirl, your remark, "We raised chickens and meat rabbits for years when our kids were young and I got stay at home and homeschool them. What a great life that was." reminds me of the FW stories. :-) I lived in the country, raised chickens there... homeschooled my sons... I can say the same as you, 'what a great life that was.' I feel blessed to have lived in the country. I like the life there better than city life.
I've had several different breeds of chickens. To my way of thinking, nothing beats the Isa Brown for brown egg production! But have you seen the Black Copper Maran eggs? Here's a picture to show you how lovely they are. I've had some nice blue and olive green eggs from Americaunas, but the Maran eggs sure give a startling surprise with their rich color.