A Good Breed for Central Florida

[dengebre]

I am a newbie to raising chickens and this forum. I am looking for advice on what breed would be best for Central Florida. The chickens will be raised primarily for egg laying but I am interested in a good all around dual purpose breed. The coop will be located under the shade of a large oak tree with a decent sized pen (we have too many hawks for them to be free range), so the chickens must take confinement well. They will also have pet status with my young kids so I need a breed that has a friendly demeanor.

Buff Orpington was one breed that was recommended to me. Any thoughts?

 

[Hattie the Hen]

I think Dorkings might suit you. They are basically a Mediterranean breed which the Romans bought over to England because they produced plenty of eggs & were good to eat. They are fairly large, cope with heat well, lay 6-7 eggs a week & are very friendly. They are also lovely to look at Keeping them in a large pen will be fine -- they can be a bit flighty apparently but I haven't had problems with this. I think they are on the rare list in the US so you will also have the satisfaction of keeping a breed which is special. The males are especially stunning to look at. I have Silver-Greys but you can get other colours. I really love them.
Good Luck with your quest!

Hattie

 

[halo]

Ive never heard of any breed not doing well here. Pick out what you really like and go for it.

Buff orps are absolutely wonderful birds. Cant go wrong there.

 

[Freckle Face Farm]

I live in Central Florida I have Marans and buff Orpingtons silkies and americuna's...thought it would be a great color variety...
But the friendly ones, and great for kids is the Orpingtons..My Orps are soo cute they follow me around and let me pet them...

Hope you and your kids love your chickens and have lots of fun...

 

[paduanchook]

cubalayas are from a hot climate (cuba) and heat resistant. and extremely attractive. known for gentleness w/humans

 

[Cuban Longtails]

Quote:
The only issue is that the OP wants a good duel purpose bird and the cubalaya only lay about 5 eggs per week (on a good week) and generally only from late fall through Spring. The cocks only mature to about 6 pounds (exhibition stock, hatchery stock is much smaller). Hens, of course, will be a pound or two smaller at maturity. Cubalaya is a slow maturing breed, often not fully mature until the second or third year.

 

[GanjaXD]

I haven't had any problems with my Silkies here

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[paduanchook]

what i consider also is the longevity, and egg production over the long term, some of my games are several years old and still lay, while my regular dual purpose chickens have long burned out. a friend of mine has a 15 year old american game hen that still lays now and then, i personally hate killing hens that my family has gotten attached to, so i raise games that naturally take care of themselves, raise their own young and are disease resistant as well as eye candy. my games are people/kid friendly also which is very important to me as i have kids ranging fm 1 to 16

 

[aaronzclark]

Get you some brahmas! or cochins if they have shade you can almost keep any breed but personally I love brahmas. I live in south carolina I know it is not as hot but summers here have been getting up in the 100's and we have kept almost every breed before

 

[dengebre]

Thank you all for your informative posts!