Orpingtons.

Utility Orps 9which lay well) look very different from exhibition orps (which are floofy, but tend not to lay very well).

Orps tend to lay a small egg (supermarket medium) in comparison to body mass.

But they do have a reputation for being placid

While hatching chicks is nice for the kids, have you thought about all the extra equipment you'll need, not to mention what will you do with all of the resulting cockerels (at least 50%).  Not trying to put you off, but a lot of people dive in to hatching and don't really think about what happens for the 12 weeks after hatching

I bought my mum two orps for mothers day, she already has three ex batts a Peking and some sort of white bantam. They have fit in really well and seem to  Have a calming effect on the other hens. You would think that because of their size they would be top of the pecking order but actually that's the white bantam. The orps are the most people friendly of the hens any lay lovely pinkish eggs

Orps make great pets but I doubt they will satisfy your egg needs so bear that in mind.  Another alternative would be Buff Sussex which are almost as big as Orps though they aren't quite as fluffy as they are big heavy birds, docile and very easy to keep.  Proper looking chickens.  They are much better layers generally than Orps and make good broodies (much better than children ) but as with any pure breed you must enquire about their egg laying performance as laying can be very strain dependant.



Here are a couple of mine.




HF

Hillfooter your chicken pictures look fantastic, is that a really fancy camera you use?

Re: Orpingtons We have three large fowl orps and although they came of laying age late last year we didnt start getting any until second week in january. Since then we get 2 or 3 eggs most days, they tend to not bother laying if its a really nasty day but if the following day is just as bad they give in and lay one anyway.

 We have a little boy of two years who likes to chase them around the garden and sometimes grabs at them a little rough if me or his mum dont get to him fast enough. This doesnt seem to bother them at all and they will just move away and certainly dont show any signs of retaliation, I do handle them alot though so I dont know if this is more due to that rather than the breed itself.
Hope this helps a bit

We got a freak massive egg today, I am going to take a photo and make a new topic for maximum exposure please have a look, I weighed it at 99 grams !!

That sounds a good tip, I'll try some tomorrow down at their level cheers for that

OK just a couple more shots of my Buff & Light Sussex.  One thing I would say is that provided the breed is docile which applies to Sussex and Orps and you handle them regularly and hand feed etc they will become very friendly.  There are more nervy breeds which even if you hand feed and try to handle will always try to stay out of range and refuse to be petted.



The cockerel is a leghorn but the hens are Light & Buff Sussex



The cock in this photo is in fact Sylvester a Vorwerk not a Buff Sussex.
HF