I think you made good choices. Buff orpingtons are good, calm, gentle and productive. I've never had production reds, but I have had the black sex links. They are a cross between Rhode Island reds and barred rocks. They are excellent egg layers, probably the best I ever had, but are "pecky". They peck everything, including the people who are feeding them. I'd be reluctant to have them around young children and I'm not sure I'd have them for myself either.