What chickens should I start with?

[lordpaul]

I want to start raising chickens mainly for the eggs and not the meat. So my questions are as follows :
1. How many should I start with, ?
2. What breed ?
3. What's the best feed ?
That's all for now thanks for any advice.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I would start out with about 5, on the breed, Buff Orpingtons are one of the best breeds for beginners, and I give my chickens Nutrena feed.

 

[junebuggena]

Such loaded questions to ask here. We all have our favorite breeds. Start with at least 3 to 5. If you are within city limits, you need a permit and neighbor permission before acquiring your flock.
For breeds go with what you like, most breeds mix well. Easter Eggers are an interesting bunch; Australorps and Orpingtons are fairly docile, Rocks are vocal and very inquisitive.

 

[CherriesBrood]

Hello and

We are glad you joined us!

Well a good number to start with all depends on how many you want, but you should always start off with at least three. That way if one dies the two can still have each other for company. Chickens need to be with other chickens.
This also depends on what you want. Do you want a docile breed? Hardy breed? Docile breeds are mostly Buff Orpingtons, Brahmas, Rhode island reds, Americanas and many more. (these all lay good eggs)
Hardy Breeds are mostly Barred Rocks, Maroons, Leghorns, Jersey Giants, Americanas, and many more. (these also lay good eggs)
May I suggest with going for a mixed breed flock?
Also the best feed in my opinion is the Purina Crumble. Chickens (from my experiences) seem to like this the best. If you get feed without enough calcium in it though like the Purina crumble make sure you get a bag of scratch to give as a treat to them once a day. Give them about a handful of this each day. Chickens eggs are made up of 99% calcium so its important that they have this.
Also check out the learning center articles they have some great info. in there!
I hope this helps.

CherriesBrood~

 

[Michael OShay]

Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to join our flock. If sheer egg production is your main priority. I would suggest going with either White Leghorns (for white eggs) or sex links (for brown eggs). These are the best layers in the chicken world and the hens that are used by commercial laying houses for this very reason. I especially love the Black Sex Links (Black Stars) as they are very friendly and hardy egg laying machines that consistently churn out more than 300 large brown eggs per hen per year. If you want pure breeds (sex links are hybrids) good laying breeds that have a reputation for being calm and gentle include Australorps (excellent layers), Faverolles, Sussex, and Brahmas. There is a good article at http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/11/feeding-chickens-at-different-ages.html on feeding chickens at different ages. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Cheers.

 

[lordpaul]

Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to join our flock. If sheer egg production is your main priority. I would suggest going with either White Leghorns (for white eggs) or sex links (for brown eggs). These are the best layers in the chicken world and the hens that are used by commercial laying houses for this very reason. I especially love the Black Sex Links (Black Stars) as they are very friendly and hardy egg laying machines that consistently churn out more than 300 large brown eggs per hen per year. If you want pure breeds (sex links are hybrids) good laying breeds that have a reputation for being calm and gentle include Australorps (excellent layers), Faverolles, Sussex, and Brahmas. There is a good article at http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/11/feeding-chickens-at-different-ages.html on feeding chickens at different ages. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Cheers.

 

[drumstick diva]

Glad you joined us at Backyard chickens.

 

[NickyKnack]

Hello!

Welcome to BYC and the coop! There's a lot of great peeps here! Feel free to ask lots of questions. But most of all, make yourself at home. I'm so glad you decided to joined the BYC family. I look forward to seeing you around BYC. I love the sex links. They are egg machines.

 

[dlp40]

Welcome to BYC.
As fellow (relatively) new comer myself, let me say, this forum rocks and everyone is very nice and helpful. That help often comes with a side of passion and can seem kind of harsh at times but, it is always helpful none the less.

On to your questions:
I wanted egg layers, i also wanted variety(to help choose futer flocks). So went with 3 mix breeds( blk Sexlink, olive egger,easter egger) the olive egger is a lavender americana x blue copper maran and she is super sweet. The other 2 not sweet but not mean either. My other 3 birds are heritage breeds, white leghorn, barred rock, and buff orpington. My leghorn is flighty and not very fun for kids. Plus unlike 99% of her breed she lays poorly( go figure). My barred rock is kind of layed back but doesn't like to be touched. Then my favorite bird of all of my layers my buff orp. Loves to be with people( kids included). Loves life in general i think. Easily picked up but she gets picked on sometimes by all 5 of the others.
I think 6 is a good strater flock size.
I have tried many foods
Dumor
Nutrea
Southern states brand
An organic blend
And for my money and the chickend overall health
Layena with added omega3 is my favorite. But i mix that with regular layena, i do not have a good reason for doing this, i just do.

Again welcome and i hope you enjoy.

 

[hodor]

How many eggs do you need/want? this will determine how many chickens you need, plenty of info here as to average eggs per week, this varies from bird to bird. As already stated chickens need companions so you'll need atleast 3 even if you don't need that many eggs.