Chicken Breeds for new Chicken owner? Help

[206ChickenGuy]

Thanx for the pics loveblackstars! Beautiful birds you have there!

I new this would be a good thread for a newbie - lots of great ideas.

Red/Black stars
Wyandottes
Sex Links
all looking very good, many good positive comments about them
Thanks again everyone for the help!

 

[Alspal]

I have a mixture of Speckled Sussex and White Sussex birds. The breed is very quiet and frendly and not usually exitable. As they are big birds, they are good for meat as well as their lovely light brown eggs. These I find are the ideal breed for me. I also have some Barred Rock hens that are also a good breed.

 

[sepaditty1]

I bought golden sex links first because I didn't know anything and that is what was at the feed store. Now don't get me wrong, I love my 3 big girls. But, I wish I had planned better for egg sizes and colors. Now I have added 3 RIR and 1 Cochen. Being delivered next week are some Easter Eggers and some bantam orpingtons. Oh, and a couple polish.

If that doesn't give me a good variety of colors, then nothing will!

 

[Micky B]

I have both Buff Orps and Australorps .... As well as Easter Eggers and Red Stars... Out of the four the Red Stars are the best, IMO. I have little children as well... And all of the breeds I have are good with the kids but the EEs are standoffish and won't let any of us hold them now... They were fine as chicks but now that they are big..not so much.

Oh, but if you don't want broody hens.... Don't get Buff Orps. They are known to go broody.

This is my first flock ... We got our girls in April. Now that I know them and most are laying, I am selling off 4 of my 12. I'm getting rid of two of the three Buff Orps b/c I don't want to deal with a bunch of broody girls... And I'm getting rid of one of the EEs and one AL. All the Red Stars are staying b/c they lay fabulous large brown eggs and they are sweet girls. My Red Stars are each giving me an egg a day.

I have placed an order for 2 White Leghorns and 2 Barred Rocks... My thinking is to stagger my flock so I have plenty of eggs even when the older ones are molting.. The leghorns are prolific layers ... So even though I've heard they are not inclined to a lot of interaction with people.... They will put out the eggs. The Barred Rocks (I've read) are above average layers and friendly...

Our flock consists of a couple of leghorns (which I got first) and Orpingtons, black and buff. The Orpies are my favourites by far, especially the buffs. They are like ginger cats and have such a wonderful personality. Of all my hens I love my 5 buffs the most. They are docile and non-aggressive. They allow my 10 year old to remove eggs right from under them while my leghorns will peck. We carry them around without any fuss and we didn't even raise them, got them as POL hens 2 months ago.

My black Orpies are the broody ones; the buffs seem to be unfazed. They lay their eggs and leave the nest to go roll in the dirt en scavange for bugs.

In my opinion, leghorns might be good layers, but they lack personality. They are naturally skittish and unfriendly, the hens altogether b!tchy at best and the roosters and cockrels very antagonistic. My 3 Orpie roos never fight, but the 9 leghorns tear each other and the Orpies to pieces. I honestly don't like leghorns. They have by far the longest laying cycle, but as far as suave goes, this breed has none.

I'm getting Boschvelders and Koekoes next month and I heard that they are just as friendly as Orpingtons. If I have to fill my flock I would get Buff Orpingtons before any other breed.

 

[PioneerPrincess]

I haven't had any experience with B. Orpingtons or Black Australorps, though I have always wanted them. Out of all the chickens I've had, our RIR and New Hampshire Red hens were the best layers. The RIR and one of the NHRs was very friendly, too; the RIR especially talked back to you. The NHR's had nice large brown eggs. I have had one bantam wyandotte that was a very poor layer and too skittish; however, I have a Wyandotte/ game cross hen that lays excellently; I attribute that to the Wyandotte in her. Now, her broodiness, I attribute to the game in her, though she didn't go broody this year. She, too, isn't that tame or personable. Our White Plymouth Rocks are so friendly and have been pretty good layers of medium brown eggs. They are coming on five years old this October and are still laying decently. I hope that helps! : )

 

[Sydney Acres]

Everyone will have a favorite(s), but you have to think of the characteristics that you need in your flock.

First decide if you want them strictly for agricultural purposes (i.e., eggs or meat), or if you want them to also be pets. If you want them to be pets as well as provide eggs, then you need to consider not just how many eggs you get the first year (the hybrids will always win that contest), but how long they will live, how healthy they will be in the long run, how friendly they will be to your family/children, and if you plan on getting more than one breed, will the different breeds get along with each other. Also, since you live in the Seattle area, you have more of an issue with rain then extreme cold, so consider how easy the breed is to keep clean (I would avoid the breeds with heavily feathered feet, such as the cochins).

If you want them to be more than just egg laying machines, I would stick with the purebred, dual purpose class of birds. The hybrids can be very nice birds, and sometimes quite friendly, but their egg production is so heavy the first few years that they have a very high incidence of cancer of the reproductive tract in many lines, and there are several varieties that only lay for a few years then stop. These are production animals that are specifically developed for one purpose, and unfortunately don't stay healthy and productive long.

The "layer" group of birds tend to be quite flighty and high strung, and are not great for families with young children or close neighbors. These are the leghorns and similar breeds. The heritage versions are not quite as flighty (i.e., a Brown Leghorn will be a better bird than a California White in every category except commercial production), but are still not great pets by comparison.

The "meat" group of birds are hybrids that are developed to reach slaughter weight in 6-16 weeks, depending on the variety. They have wonderful personalities, but are not engineered for long life, so keeping most of these types of hybrids as pets usually ends tragically in less than a year.

The game birds can be good layers, but are often a bit aggressive for young children, and often don't get along with other birds.

So that leaves the dual-purpose breeds. These are the purebred breeds (i.e., not hybrids) that typically lay 180 - 250 eggs per year, remain in production for more than 4 years (although most of mine have stayed in production for 7-10 years, with some decline in numbers with each year), and have enough meat on them that extra birds could be slaughtered for dinner. Most of them do go broody occasionally, some frequently, but usually not enough to cause significant loss in egg production from a non-commercial basis. Most of them tame down quite well, many become true lap pets, and it is rare to see an aggressive hen that is a concern around young children (roosters are more variable).

If you decide to get more than one breed, be sure that the breeds have similar personalities. I have numerous friends that have selected the "assortment pack" of hens, only to find that some breeds tend to bully, and other breeds tend to be bullied. This can create a miserable situation if the birds can't get away from each other.

The breeds that I have loved as both pets and egg layers have been Sussex (especially the speckled ones), Dorkings, Wyandottes, Orpingtons (these tend to be easily bullied by other breeds), Plymouth Rocks, Australorps (amazing egg layers, very sweet to people, but did bully my buff orps), Buckeyes, Croad Langshans (the feet are lightly feathered, but will do well in Seattle if you don't have them on mud), and Brahmas (more feathers than Langshans, but less than Cochins). I have not been happy (from a pet/family aspect) with the Rhode Island Reds, Barnevelders, or Dominiques (however, I know many people who love these breeds, and I have only known each of these breeds from one source, which may have an unpleasant line of each).

There are many books and tables and charts that list the characteristics of each purebred, rating personality, ease of taming, egg production, broodiness, likelihood to bully or be bullied, etc. Once you decide what best fits your needs, start looking for a source of that breed early in the year. If you only want hens, you will need to either buy from a hatchery that sexes their day-old chicks before shipping, or you will need to wait until the chicks are old enough to tell a male from a female if you get them from a private breeder (typically 5-6 weeks, depending on the breed). If you order directly from a hatchery, you may need to order 25 chicks at a time. (Some hatcheries do allow smaller orders, but find out exactly how they handle small orders -- some hatcheries ship the chicks with a heat pack, some just ship out a few chicks knowing that a high percentage will die in transport, and others will only make you pay for the few chicks you want, but will still ship out a total of 25 chicks to maintain body heat, so you're stuck with free live "packing peanuts"). If you only want a few chicks, only want hens, and want babies instead of teenagers, then you can either share an order of 25 from a hatchery with some friends, or get some chicks from a local feed store. Some feed stores have lists of what breeds they will have available on what days, allowing you to plan ahead. Some also have "heritage days", where you can pre-order from a large list of breeds and get exactly what you want. Sometimes deciding where you will get your chicks can help you narrow down what breeds to consider. There's no use in wishing for a rare breed that you can't get.

Good luck. Backyard chickens are wonderful.

 

[Hannahs Hollow]

That is all wonderful advice! Than you
Sydney Acres!

 

[crittercarepets]

Hi, I do like the buffs and astros. My daughter showed a buff at 4H last year and they were only 6 mon old. Very docile. None are broody yet. We have had 2 wyandottes and I can honestly say those 2 are the meanest chickens we have ever had.

THey are SO mean to the other (read newer) chickens. I am continually amazed how mean Wynona and Wilma can be and fell bad for the new girls. My daughter doesn't like them because of this either. She has given us the green light to process them the next time we raise meat chickens. And that's saying a lot for my daughter lol. Our family rule is not to eat the ones we name. But she's going to make an exception this time.

We also like Brahmas, though they take the longest to mature. They are BIG! And fairly docile. We also really like the gray Andalusians and Salmon Favorelles. The Salmons really talk more to you and have really nice personalities.

Good Luck on choosing!

 

[206ChickenGuy]

Thanx again everyone for sharing your experiences with the various breeds ya'll have had! As expected i remain as undecided as ever, however i do think i am narrowing down my breed list.

I am curious to know if those who have had really nice chickens bought them as 1 day olds or even hatched them and raised them themselves creating a better bond between chick and owner? Are the mean ones more often than not bought as older pullets or laying hens and arent socialized like the ones raised by their owners? Probably a little of both but i wish i added that to my intial questions.
Does raising your chickens from chicks really increase the likelyhood they will be docile and loving? I would assume it would generally

Thanx again all

 

[Wyandottes7]

Thanx again everyone for sharing your experiences with the various breeds ya'll have had! As expected i remain as undecided as ever, however i do think i am narrowing down my breed list.

I am curious to know if those who have had really nice chickens bought them as 1 day olds or even hatched them and raised them themselves creating a better bond between chick and owner? Are the mean ones more often than not bought as older pullets or laying hens and arent socialized like the ones raised by their owners? Probably a little of both but i wish i added that to my intial questions.
Does raising your chickens from chicks really increase the likelyhood they will be docile and loving? I would assume it would generally

Thanx again all

I've raised most of my birds from chicks, and that is probably one reason why they are docile, since they were handled nearly every day. I believe that raising chicks makes tamer chickens than getting started pullets, as they can bond with you and learn to trust you. However, I've also bought some started pullets and cockerels before, and they tamed down nicely too. It really depends on the bird. Some will naturally be tame, sweet, and trusting, and others will always be flighty or agressive, no matter how much you handle them.