So many different breeds - How did you decide?

[kemclaughlin]

I also have little kids and won't tolerate an animal that anyone is afraid of. I started with brown egg layers. White eggs are boring. Also, I knew I wanted colored eggs, so at least one easter egger was on my list. Then I went for temperament and weather tolerance. It's really cold here in the winter and really hot here in the summer. It's dry heat though and I can keep them reasonably cool. Then I picked between what I liked the look of, what lays the best, and what is commonly available around here. I have 1 easter egger, 1 buff orpington, 1 Rhode Island Red (not originally on my list), 2 red sex-links (also not originally on my list), and three barred rock. My original list was buff orpington, barred rock, easter egger, and australorp. We are probably going to rehome two of the barred rock. We are allowed to have three, but I am keeping six.

 

[sharol]

I chose based on the physical appearance of the birds along with their egg color. I wanted a colorful egg basket. I get a green egg (EE), a pink egg (GLW), brown eggs (Delawares), a white egg (Golden Campine), and a dark brown egg (Welsumer). I have one hen who doesn't lay (ever) - a Partridge Rock.

I love the variety. And the girls are so varied in appearance, they are the ultimate yard art.

My new girls are 4 EE's and a Buff Orp. More variety.

 

[gale65]

Quote:
Where did you get that cool egg holder thing?? I love that!

 

[sharol]

It is called an Egg Skelter. I ordered it from Great Britain. If you do a google search for it you can find it, or you can go to http://www.egg-skelter.co.uk/ and order it directly from the guy who developed them. I think it is a bit cheaper on the shipping from the dealers, though.

I love it.

Quote:
Where did you get that cool egg holder thing?? I love that!

 

[mtnviewfarms]

DH and I have been planning to have chickens for years and we used the chicken selector
to help us about what the different breeds are like and what we could expect. Another
resource that helped to 'educate' us about the different breeds was to contact several
hatcheries and have them send you a catalog. We ordered ours in February from Meyer
Hatchery in Ohio.

We originally ordered Welsummers - 15 females and 2 males. The day before we were
supposed to get them via USPS we got a phone call from the hatchery telling us that the
female Welsummers didn't hatch out so she gave us a choice of three other breeds.

Luckily when she called DH was home and I had the Meyer catalog handy so while she
was on the phone we quickly read the info on the breeds she could send.

We chose Barred Plymouth Rocks as they are a Heritage/Heirloom Breed, lay large
brown eggs - 4-5 per week per pullet at about 20-24 weeks of age, are active
but very friendly and easily handled, adapt well to confinement and/or free range
situations and tolerate both cold and hot weather well.

At first we were disappointed because we wanted and had researched Welsummers
but with the price lower for the Barred Rock chicks they said we would get total of
27 BR chicks - 3 males and 24 females. DH is a woodworker and he had built a great
brooder box more than adequate for that amount of chicks.

When we called the post office the next morning to see if they arrived the woman
laughed and said - Oh yes, they're here just peeping up a storm! DH brought the
two boxes full of little 'peepers' home and we started putting them into the prewarmed
brooder box. Thought it sure looked like more than 27 chicks and we did a headcount
and they had accidentally doubled our order so we ended up with 54 chicks!!!!!!!!

I started researching and learning all about Barred Plymouth Rocks and now we are
so glad that we ended up with BRs vs. the original Welsummers we thought we wanted.

We sold many of the chicks and now have the number we want for our home flock -
24 pullets and 4 roos.

Heritage Breed chickens are great because they have not had the broodiness,
ability to forage, good disease resistance, etc. 'bred out of them'.

I highly recommend the Plymouth Barred Rock breed. We love our BRs and are now
'addicted' to the whole chicken raising experience. We had cable turned off as we
were so tired of all the commercials - who needs TV when you've got a healthy
flock of chickens!!!! Our flock is very healthy and now 15 weeks old - won't be long
until we're getting our first of many large brown eggs. The roos are just starting
to attempt 'crowing' but haven't mastered it yet - so much fun - these chickens.

Good luck with your selection process - it is good to 'do your homework' like you are
doing now to choose the breed that best meets your needs.

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
I thought about what I wanted from my flock and I chose breeds that would most likely fulfill that need...and then I chose the prettiest birds with those traits. I wanted exceptional egg laying, brown eggs only as they sell better, hardy in all weathers, thrifty on feed, likely to reproduce, dual purpose so we could eat the retired or culled hens.

It all comes down to if you want a working flock or a pet/pleasure flock...or a little bit of both.

 

[hcppam]

I first looked up chickens that were cold hardy for my circumstances. Then looked for calm temperament, then brown and blue egg layers, and then a verity of breeds I liked the looks of.

 

[PartridgeRooster]

I chose at first based on color and broodiness. Eggs weren't so important to me at the time but now eggs are part of my income, lol. My first batch I got Partridge Rocks, Columbian Wyandotte, Light, Dark and Buff Brahma banties and Black Australorps.

 

[PartridgeRooster]

Of course now I have many more of varying breeds. I enjoy keeping the breeds pure, just my thing maybe not others. I keep one mixed flock for the splash of color I like. We have some harsh, cold winters and Hot, humid summers so have sturdy insulated coops is important and good ventilation. If on really hot days, I may water down the runs so they can lay on the wet muddy ground to cool off.

 

[jenkassai]

Once I learned that there were breeds of chickens, I started looking at the chicken charts and looked for traits I wanted (friendly, can free-range or be okay with confinement, cold-hardy). Then I looked to see if I liked the appearance of the adults. Then I stumbled onto the ALBC site (American Livestock Breed Conservancy) and decided THAT would be my deciding factor, I would go with breeds that met my original requirement and were on one of their lists. Once I narrowed it down considerably I "double checked" by lurking on the various breed forums to see what people were saying about those breeds. I did a couple chicks of each of the breeds I was originally interested in, thinking that in the future I will go to a breeder to get the breed I want to concentrate on. It seems like it has worked out well so far (this is my first time with chickens!), although I DO have one or two more breeds I want to try before my final decision (waiting until next year to add any more). So far I ADORE my Dominiques, two of them are super friendly, I can't stick my hand/arm in the brooder to do anything without them running over to be picked up, and if I don't pick them up right away they hop onto my arm