not new to chickens but still appreciate lots of good advice :)

[raggles]

hi all! im new to this forum and am realy excited! we are thinking about having chickens again! i used to have o.e.bs' and they were great (until they flew over the fence and decided they liked it better with the old mans chickens.) they would come back at dusk and sure enough the next day Clarence Beaks (our male) would fly back over to see his other women (the man had no males) and Clementine and Clarabelle would follow. when we moved he kept them and they never flew over the fence again. now were settled in and we have 1.25 dogs ( a 5lb yorkie that we rescued named snickers and his girlfriend a 120lb choc. lab named baby ruth), 2 rabbits named rusty beans and buttons

, 2 toads and a large family of hawks that realy help with the squirrel population

. my dogs get along great with other animals. his best friend is his buddy rusty. i live near a wildlife preserve and three farms. im not too concerned about the wildlife because we have a large fenced in yard and i plan to build a habitat for the chikens and rabbits before they arrive. also the farmers nearby have yet to loose anything to the hawks. i plan on doing alot of research on the matter of a pen. i currently have a 16x16ft pen that i plan on putting a roof on, but any advice is always appreciated. per zoning laws i will not be allowed any roosters

.
i am interested on opinions as to what birds are best for laying eggs and what ones are best for eating. we plan on having 2 egg layers and one that will be for food. im leaning towards the ri red for the eggs as that is where i live and almost everyone in this town with chickens swears by them. but my husband is leaning towards the " white and black" ones. there is a farmer down the road that has these beautiful birds but she is not nice and no one will talk to her( she has a sign on her fence that reads " soliciters will be shot on sight! this means you") so im too afraid to ask about her birds. i tried to say hello once and she just stared at me. i wouldnt mind a couple of different types of birds but no bantams. i have enogh yard now where i want a good sized bird. also besides laying eggs i want something that i can let roam in my gardens. clarence was great for pest control and the dances and sounds he would make when he found bugs was the best! i was happy to find this forum because i want honest opinions not just what the locals want to sell me from their farms. some of the birds i visited wont even go near the farmers that raise them. i want birds that will tollerate dogs rabbits an kids. so as a recap: im looking for chickens that will handle a high volume of traffic and want to be involved in it. my clarence loved company; dogs,cats, kids, mostly women but some men too. i want my hens to be part of the family so i told my husband we have to get them young but he wants a 1yr old bird because thats what his boss told him. my husband is a construction worker who works for a farmer

. hes building the coops! thanks all for your time and input i look forward to your responses

 

[TwoCrows]

What adorable bunnies!!! They look so soft and cuddly.

As for breeds of chickens, you might want to stop by our Breeds section here on BYC to see what others are saying about the different breeds as far as laying, personalities, etc...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/category/chicken-breeds

Also, here is a great link to an external breeds page that gets into a bit more detail on the different chicken breeds...

http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html

And finally, if you need any tips and hints on raising your new flock, our learning center is a great place to start. Lots of good reads on all the aspects of keeping poultry from building the coop, raising the babies, feeding and keeping your flock safe...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center

Welcome to BYC! It is great to have you aboard and enjoy all your adventures in life!!

 

[Blooie]

hi all! im new to this forum and am realy excited! we are thinking about having chickens again! i used to have o.e.bs' and they were great (until they flew over the fence and decided they liked it better with the old mans chickens.) they would come back at dusk and sure enough the next day Clarence Beaks (our male) would fly back over to see his other women (the man had no males) and Clementine and Clarabelle would follow. when we moved he kept them and they never flew over the fence again. now were settled in and we have 1.25 dogs ( a 5lb yorkie that we rescued named snickers and his girlfriend a 120lb choc. lab named baby ruth), 2 rabbits named rusty beans and buttons

, 2 toads and a large family of hawks that realy help with the squirrel population

. my dogs get along great with other animals. his best friend is his buddy rusty. i live near a wildlife preserve and three farms. im not too concerned about the wildlife because we have a large fenced in yard and i plan to build a habitat for the chikens and rabbits before they arrive. also the farmers nearby have yet to loose anything to the hawks. i plan on doing alot of research on the matter of a pen. i currently have a 16x16ft pen that i plan on putting a roof on, but any advice is always appreciated. per zoning laws i will not be allowed any roosters

.
i am interested on opinions as to what birds are best for laying eggs and what ones are best for eating. we plan on having 2 egg layers and one that will be for food. im leaning towards the ri red for the eggs as that is where i live and almost everyone in this town with chickens swears by them. but my husband is leaning towards the " white and black" ones. there is a farmer down the road that has these beautiful birds but she is not nice and no one will talk to her( she has a sign on her fence that reads " soliciters will be shot on sight! this means you") so im too afraid to ask about her birds. i tried to say hello once and she just stared at me. i wouldnt mind a couple of different types of birds but no bantams. i have enogh yard now where i want a good sized bird. also besides laying eggs i want something that i can let roam in my gardens. clarence was great for pest control and the dances and sounds he would make when he found bugs was the best! i was happy to find this forum because i want honest opinions not just what the locals want to sell me from their farms. some of the birds i visited wont even go near the farmers that raise them. i want birds that will tollerate dogs rabbits an kids. so as a recap: im looking for chickens that will handle a high volume of traffic and want to be involved in it. my clarence loved company; dogs,cats, kids, mostly women but some men too. i want my hens to be part of the family so i told my husband we have to get them young but he wants a 1yr old bird because thats what his boss told him. my husband is a construction worker who works for a farmer

. hes building the coops! thanks all for your time and input i look forward to your responses

Welcome! I guess if you ask 100 people about their favorite kinds of chickens you'd get 100 different answers, and most of those answers would have multiple choices. It sounds like you want good layers and to be able to use some for the meat too. There are several really good dual purpose birds out there. I have Buff Orpingons, Golden Laced Wyandottes, Easter Eggers, and Red Stars. I just added Black Copper Marans and Speckled Sussex. The Easter Eggers I bought were for the grandkids - the idea of colored eggs appealed to them. Orpingons and Wyandottes are pretty safe bets for dual purpose, aren't real flighty and are (usually) pretty docile.

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! What adorable bunnies! TwoCrows gave you some great links for chicken breeds. Do you have a picture of the black and white chickens or can you describe what they look like? They could be Barred Plymouth Rocks, Plymouth Rocks are a popular duel purpose breed and come in quite a range of colors and the black/white ones are really popular. Feathersite has a bunch of pictures of all colors http://feathersite.com/Poultry/CGP/Rocks/BRKRocks.html
If you are looking for hens that are already laying, or for pullets that are close to laying, you might want to post in your state thread to see if anyone has or knows where to get local birds https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/270925/find-your-states-thread
Most people that raise birds to eat raise some sort of cornish X that is bred especially to grow really fast and be processed at like 10 weeks, you might want to try the Meat Birds forum for some ideas https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/21/meat-birds-etc

 

[sourland]

Welcome to BYC and back to poultry raising.

 

[gander007]

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