hi from Vermont!

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Good morning and welcome to BYC! Good idea to be thinking about winterizing your coop now.
 
I have 3 assorted bantams and one full size mix (I forget what she is) that's a good egg layer. The big one is a pretty reliable egg layer, but the bantams are not at all. I would like to get some more chickens that lay regularly. Any suggestions?
 
Thanks, those are really good suggestions! Our coop is in an old barn, so I think we'll be alright. I just need to get them some more bedding.
 
mollyandjosh said:
I would like to get some more chickens that lay regularly. Any suggestions?
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I've raised dozens of breeds over the past 50 years and would recommend going with Black Australorps. They are extremely hardy (both cold and heat). I raised them in northern Kansas where the temperature dropped to 30 F below zero one winter, and in CA where summer temperatures frequently reached 117-118 F (123 F once), and in both climate extremes, my Australorps came through like troopers. They are very calm and gentle birds. My children, and now my granddaughter, made lap pets out of ours. In addition, they are the best layers of the standard, brown egg laying breeds. A BA holds the brown egg laying record with 364 eggs in 365 days, and while none of mine ever reached that kind of production (and likely never will), I had a few of them lay over 300 eggs in a year. Whatever breed you decide to get, good luck with your flock.
 
I'm thinking of buying some chicks online. Do any of you have favorite sites or advice about online buying? I've tried to find local people to buy from, but no one is selling this time of year. Thanks!
 
A good online place is my pet chicken. They sell many rare breeds. For breeds I recommend black star and Easter egger ( they lay green/blue eggs
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mollyandjosh said:
I'm thinking of buying some chicks online. Do any of you have favorite sites or advice about online buying? I've tried to find local people to buy from, but no one is selling this time of year. Thanks!
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You may run into the same lack of availability with the online hatcheries (spring is the time most people get chicks, shipping is difficult once the weather starts to get cold). However, you can still check some out to see what they do have now.

I've used Murray McMurray and really liked them. Also heard good things about Ideal and Meyer. Just keep in mind that when people start giving opinions on hatcheries, it's like anything else, you'll get both good and bad reviews based on their personal experience.

One thing that helped us was letting our local post office know in advance that chicks were coming, when they were expected to arrive and we gave them our phone number so we could be called as soon as they were unloaded from the truck for us to pick them up asap (that way the chicks didn't have to ride along all day in a mailman's delivery truck).

When you get the chicks home, immediately pick them up one at a time, dip their beaks in the water and feeder so they'll know where it is and because they'll be thirsty after their trip.

Good luck and let us know what you end up getting!
 
Thank you so much for the advice! I will definitely post when I figure out what I"m going to get. I have also heard good things about murray mcmurray, so I might go with them.
 

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