Mixing breeds in my flock

[jdublu]

Hi! Just joined, and getting ready for my first backyard chickens. I'll be placing my first chick order soon and have been doing a ton of research on what breeds to get. I know I want a mixed flock, and can only start with 6. I've narrowed it down to these 5 breeds: buff Orpington, Rhode Island Red, barred rock, Sussex, and ameraucana. Should I get one of each and double up on one breed, or 2 each of 3 breeds? I need them to be docile since I have 4 boys under the age of 6, and they will be my helpers....and we eat a lot of eggs so I want producers. What are your opinions? Thanks in advance!

 

[lazy gardener]

I'd opt for 2 each of 3 breeds, or 3 each of 2 breeds. I'm not fond of RIR. IMO, they tend to be a bit on the aggressive side. Where are you located. Climate can affect breed selection. Large combs do well in warm climates, while smaller combs do better in colder climates. My personal preference is to avoid feathered feet no matter what the climate, as those feathers are magnets for ice, snow, and mud, as well as chicken poo, which can then be tracked into the nest.

Ameraucana's (EE) are a must have, though, unless you buy from a breeder, what is called Ameraucana by the hatchery or feed store they are really Easter Eggers. Lovely birds, and they provide some nice color for the egg basket.

Check out Henderson's Chicken Breeds Chart.

 

[jdublu]

So, I thought I’d update you all with a pic of my flock! They are currently 24 weeks old..and we got oir 1st egg a few days ago, from the Black Australorp...it’s so exciting we’ve all been checking the coop 6 times a day waiting for our next one!

Chicken math is crazy by the way...I planned on getting 6, ended up with 8, and am already trying to figure out how/when I can get more!

2 BO’s are super mellow, but I’d say nothing stands out about them except they’re easy to catch
1 BA she’s the alpha female and super smart..even as a chick...again super docile.
2 EE’s are smart and fun to watch...one is very shy of humans, the other stands her own and is probably 2nd in pecking order.
1 Dominique, she is a sweetheart, but very shy, she’s my little runt..the girly girl.
1 speckled Sussex, which is my favorite so far...she’s always the first one by my side and will follow me rather than her flock.
Lastly a Dorking Roo!!! This was the straight run mystery chick...he’s just starting to get onery, and he’s a giant! I never wanted a roo, but now that I have one I really want to hatch our own mutts in the spring, but he may be dinner if he doesn’t behave. His spurs are just starting to grow, and he has jumped at the kids and my husband...he doesn’t bother me, but I can tell when he’s bothered by me.

All of them get along well, and I can’t wait to add some more!

 

[tmarsh83]

Breed recommendations are tricky, because individuals aren't the group. If you want them to be docile, you'll need to put a lot of time and effort into conditioning the birds when they are young. If you don't do that you may well have trouble regardless.

X2 on climate being a consideration.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Welcome to BYC!

I've had all those breeds except Sussex which I suspect are also very good. I love having birds that don't look the same and it makes it much easier to tell their eggs apart and notice if someone is having any health issue. I will probably always have Orps, Rocks, and EE in my flock. I get blue, green, and olive eggs from my hatchery EE. I always fear getting brown eggs from them but never have so far.

What ridge runner says about not having enough for tendencies to really add up in your instance is true. My birds are all such individuals. 50% of my EE are super friendly lap birds, while the other two (and 1 in the past) were quite flighty. And we all keep talking about EE because most hatchery birds don't fit the Ameraucana breed standard, so it's a big controversy, but really irrelevant.. they are great birds!

My rocks have always been the top hen, but not bully. First in my flock of 3 and now in my flock of 50+. And I have read from people with Reds, that which hatchery theirs came from made a big difference in the aggression level though I can't remember which was which. My red was spry but not a bully and also not a lap chicken but definitely enjoy hanging around our feet. Guess I haven't added 1 to my second flock though. I would consider getting a New Hampshire instead of the red as they are very close but allegedly friendlier, though I can't confirm. And some hatcheries have both RIR and production reds, don't know how the difference between those two is.

You might be surprised by liking something you didn't expect to. I got a white leghorn just because I needed 1 more chick and they said she would lay at 16 weeks. I thought she would be the first one over the fence and gone to predators. When brooding I thought I wouldn't get them again because her flightyness was rubbing of on all the other chicks. Well she didn't lay until 22 weeks, 2 weeks later than my PBR. But she has proven to be a really entertaining member of the flock even though she avoids actual human contact. And it's my EE who insist on going over the fence.

I kind of like having 2 of each bird... but I'm gonna vote for really mix it up! Although I would suggest getting chicks at your LFS (local feed store). I have lost countless chicks to shipping. So if you order what you want and loose some you may end up with half as many birds as you were hoping for aside from your kids possibly encountering dead chicks. It was an issue with USPS, so you might not have the same problem but at least you will know it's a possibility. Going with a hatchery close to you should help minimize loss. Feed stores have usually absorbed all the casualties before we buy. Just be sure to look out for pasty butt. And if you are going mail order, prepare ahead of time with electrolytes and probiotics.... something like Sav a Chick or Nutri Drench is recommended.

Also if you haven't got your heat source yet... many people like mama heating pad. But if you are going with a lamp, red is much preferred for it's calming effect and it reducing pecking issues as well as not being as disruptive to sleep as white light.

All your girls will molt next year. You might consider getting 3 or 4 this year and adding 2 or 3 next year to keep you in eggs. But having multiple breeds should help to spread the molt out so some might still be giving eggs while others molt.

MIX IT UP!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Sounds like a fun flock!

Which Sussex? I love the look of the speckled.

Of course they are all beautiful though....

So build bigger and beware of chicken math... 1+1=3... 3+3 = 10... 10-2= 48!!!

 

[song of joy]

I've had flock dynamics issues with more than half of the hatchery barred rocks I've gotten. They haven't been people-aggressive, but some have been very grumpy on the roost with flock mates, so much so that a few had to be culled. They were all good layers though.

I've only had a couple of RIR hens. One was a little bit people-aggressive, but I corrected that behavior via training. Unfortunately, my RIR experienced what appeared to be egg yolk peritonitis (internal laying) and had to be put down. This can happen with high production breeds.

I love variety, so if it were me, I'd opt for 1 of each breed. It's a great way to get to know the breeds, although keep in mind that each hen has its own personality so don't pass judgment on an entire breed based on the character of one or two individuals.

You may want to consider dominiques. They're good layers and usually have a very nice temperament. I'd also highly recommend black australorps. Easter eggers are just plain fun with their fluffy beards and colored eggs.

 

[lazy gardener]

Quote: Agreed. If you are wanting large eggs, than the Dom may not be your first choice. However, all of the many advantages of them outweigh this little detail. I'm adding some Doms back into my flock this year. I think I went 1 or 2 years without them, and that was 1 or 2 years too long. An other plus: paired with just about any roo other than a white one or a barred one, those Dom hens will make some lovely little Black Sex Link Chicks. Paired with my EE roo, I get BSL's that lay lovely olive colored eggs, and those eggs are larger than their Dom mother's eggs were! And they have a stylish little walnut comb.

 

[donrae]

From these breeds...

buff Orpington, Rhode Island Red, barred rock, Sussex, and ameraucana.

Myself, I would nix the Red, but that's my personal preference. I'd go with one each of the Orpington, Rock and Sussex, and three EE. I think kiddos and Easter eggers are just a match made in heaven. Different colored hens, different colored eggs, usually decently calm and friendly birds.

Other good breeds with kiddos are Australorps, Faverolles (they're not as productive, though) and Wyandottes.

 

[Ridgerunner]

As you can see we all have different opinions. Mine goes along more with Donrae and I suggest a really mixed flock. EE’s are a mix so no two should look alike, you should easily be able to tell them apart. There is no guarantee what color of egg EE’s will lay either so having a few gives you a much better chance of getting blue or green eggs.

With the numbers you are getting breed behavior doesn’t mean very much. Breeds do have tendencies, but the person breeding them has to breed for those tendencies to reinforce them. I just don’t see that much difference between a lot of breeds behaviorally, especially chickens from hatcheries. Each chicken is an individual so while breeds may have tendencies you have to have a statistically relevant number for those averages to mean a lot. You won’t. Still, breed is your best guide.

I don’t have any pure bred chickens in my flock right now. Some look similar to others but a lot don’t. That’s part of my goal, to have a really different-looking flock. I have not observed any behavioral problems because some chickens look different from each other. Sometimes I do see issues based on individual personalities. I have had purebreds in my flock at points in the past. In my opinion, I’ve had just as many behavioral problems between chickens of the same breed as between chickens that look different. It’s quite obvious other people have a different opinion. Many of them are people I highly respect for their knowledge and observation skills. We’ve just seen different things, had different experiences.

In my opinion you will be happy whichever way you go but my personal preference would be to really mix it up.

And welcome.to the forum. If you stick around (and I hope you do) you'll see that we often have different opinions. Our experiences and knowledge bases are different.