Santa gave me a "Chick" gift card (for day old chicks)

write2caroline

Crowing
13 Years
Jun 21, 2009
2,161
112
316
Jacksonville
My husband has always been a little less than enthusiastic about my chickens but has always ben reluctantly supportive. He built my run, coops and feeders. I know he is not really a chicken lover. He does it for me. Usually, when I tell him I want to order more chickens he is not super happy about it? Last fall the neighbors dog killed a bunch of my chickens as they had just started to lay eggs. I found the owner and she was really nice about keeping the dog on a leash or in the pen in her yard - she was letting him run in her yard and had no idea he was getting out. Of course it would have been nice if she had offered to buy new chicks but I am at least happy she is keeping her dog in her yard. Anyway. Imagine my surprise to find in my stocking a gift card earmarked just for new baby chicks.

I was really excited and happy. Question now is : What to order. Marans or Buffs.....I have had so many different breeds I have no clue what to order.
Caroline
 
Nice Gift! Sorry for the loss of your older birds, dratted dog.
Do you have any idea what you are looking for in new birds? Or where you would be getting them?
Different egg colors for the egg basket? (Most people get Marans for the dark egg color.) Breeder birds usually have darker eggs than hatchery birds though. Buffs are nice all around birds, nice broodys if you want to hatch eggs.
Any color patterns you particularly like? Breeds like Plymouth Rocks and Wyandottes come in a lot of neat patterns.
 
sorry about your chickens yes we lost a couple to dogs, and not our own
so now we can't let them run out in the orchard anymore, made new coup with a run in it and a way to go out when I want them to out to the fenced back yard, too many dogs getting out every now and then.
 
Why not get a couple of each? :D

I ordered myself a few Marans, I've never had them before, so I'm excited to try them out! I also got some Easter Eggers and Chenteclers, both are breeds I've previously owned and loved, so I decided to give them another go ;)

Good luck!
 
Order a few of several different breeds! Why limit yourself? I find the more breeds I experience the more I learn. Some I've fallen in love with on paper, and not liked so much in reality. Some I got reluctantly, not thinking I'd like them so much, and now they're the backbone of my flock. So cast your net wide
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Order a few of several different breeds! Why limit yourself? I find the more breeds I experience the more I learn. Some I've fallen in love with on paper, and not liked so much in reality. Some I got reluctantly, not thinking I'd like them so much, and now they're the backbone of my flock. So cast your net wide :)

x2
 
ok here is a question, I have three chickens left I have one bantum americana the easter egg chicken, also have one that is slightly bigger that lays blue eggs.
then another hen I have no idea what she is my daughter can't remember what kind.
she lays brown eggs. I'm trying to figure out what other hens to get this spring that will go well with my other three
they have to be on the med to bigger size but not too big. one of my hens does go broody she is the one that lays brown speckled eggs
temperments, the bigger americana is queen of the coup the bantum is next in line, and my brown hen that lays the speckled eggs is last.
but she will fight back if need be.,
usually with the chance of loosing a chick or one being a rooster, I think I will get four chicks,
last year we ended up with one rooster, out of four then we ended up loosing two chickens one to a dog and raccoon,
and then last spring I lost the buff orpington she just died.
so the brown one is left from the four we got two years ago,
but now we have new coup with a pen and raccoon proof, and they free range in fenced back yard when I 'm home.
but of course the new little ones will have to watch them until they get big enough that they can't go through the fence.
what do you all think? my other chicken I lost this winter she was old, that is the hen that I use for my pic,
she was a very good chicken.
 
Although there is not guarantee the hens will be nice, specific breeds tend to be. I tend to get a little complex with my chicken picking. I want to lean toward hens that are said to be calm and nice, lay at least large eggs, as well as, more often a dual purpose bird. I like the idea of a dual purpose bird in the event I actually breed or end up with roosters that I do not wish to keep. I do like the different colors and looks of many, but due to my limited coop space I wanted them for eggs and meat. I guess I'm saying in a long way, you need to decide what the main purpose of your hens are for. Your family size also depends on the egg size and how productive your hens needs to be. Even though EE's are said mostly to lay med size eggs and only ok egg production, mine laid the largest eggs and usually 6 days a week. Love my EE's. Another thing we did, as our babies got larger we handled them a lot. they all turned out very friendly. Not sure if that was just luck, but remember reading on here somewhere that helped.
 

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