Howdy Folks! I've been lurking on your site for quite a while now. I have wanted chickens for years but have not had authorization from the control tower (read: wife). Two days ago while welding in the driveway, a neighbors chicken (bout a month old at an uneducated guess) wanders into the garage. To make a long story into a medium length story, the chick wound up in the house for a few hours (neighbors werent home yet) and got photo-ed and cute-ed and I got non verbal permission. We have six children (4 married & moved, 1 leaving this week & 1 Junior in HS) and ten grandchildren. A dog, two very large fish, three snakes and assorted small mammalian snake foods. I teach welding and Video Game Development at our local HS and welding at the community college. Id like a small (six or so) flock ochickens for grandchildren fascination (must be gentle and handle-able) and for the obvious egg benefit as well. I have read too many pages on this site to actually assimilate all of the information and plan on saying hi to my fellow AZ peeps for advice (BTW all advice is encouraged and welcome!) on coop design and hot weather breeds. Thanks for a great site and all the fantastic information Ive already gleaned! Mikey
Hilarious beginnings to "chickening." Have you checked out the 'Breeds' section along the top of your screen??? You'll want to look at breeds listed as friendly/docile/etc. My advice, especially since this a partly for your grandkids, is to go with a totally mixed flock so that each looks unique. From personal experience, buff orpingtons, black australorps, and barred plymouth rocks are great choices based on those qualities. Silkies are another great "pet" choice - some lay well, and some not so great though. D'uccles are another good "pet" choice (the latter two are bantam). So check the chart out. Various hatcheries allow small order mixtures of chicks. Have fun!!
Hello and . Here is a link to the breed pages, as teach1rusl mentioned. https://www.backyardchickens.com/breeds/breed-chart
Thanks for the warm welcome folks! Here is a link to my first post in the AZ thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=31227&p=1471 It outlines our (strict?) guidlines for our up-coming chicken adventures. Thanks Sunny & Teach (I am a teacher as well!) my wife is poking fun at how long I have studied the breeds page I have been perusing it for many months (years maybe?) and thought that the Crevecoeur would be ideal for the heat tolerance and temperament. In speaking with someone from Ideal Poultry (check the link) I've been lead otherwise. Any suggestions ya'll have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again! Mikey
