Are any of these breeds more piggish than the other?

[Intheswamp]

I'm still trying to decide on a primary breed for my flock. I've already chosen a secondary breed.

Of the following breeds is there one here that is more feed conservative?

Barred Rock
Buff Orp
Speckled Sussex

From looking at Henderson's List it looks like the Sussex has a tad higher egg production than the other two.

Thoughts?

Ed

 

[patandchickens]

I have only had the Sussexes, of those 3; but I would not describe them as easy on the feed. I can't see that either of the other two are likely to eat *more* than the sussexes, although it might be the *same*.

Similarly, I seriously doubt that sussexes on average produce more eggs than decent BR, and probably not more (or not much more) than your average Orp.

I really, really would not sweat this decision though. You know what, line and individual bird make much more difference (in this type comparison) than breed does. If you care about laying, see what you can get, of those 3 breeds, that is a good LAYING line; or just pick whatever you think is purtiest; or flip a coin. With small numbers of birds, you can't usefully predict on the basis of breed, for fairly-similar breeds.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Intheswamp]

This is what happens when I have too much time on my hands to *think*.

My coop building has kept getting put off by business, family, economy, blah, blah, blah, so the time I have I contantly research and read (too much, I think).

From what I've read the Sussex tend to have eggs on the medium size and aren't high production birds. I'm not necessarily looking for high production but rather constant production over a long life, though a medium-large/large egg would be nice.

I've actually got another thread going trying to get an idea of how good the egg production is of older hens of different breeds..."The Old Biddies Club" . But, like you said, this will probably have more to do with lineage and individual birds than anything else...but maybe it'll shove in a direction to go in.

Initially I had decided on buff orps and still have them at least tied for top choice, but several remarks about them being "pigs"(heavy eaters) and "hawk bait" (I guess slow and kind of, well...slow

) has somewhat got me concerned.

The secondary chicken that I've chosen is Easter Eggers...for the colored eggs, miscellaneous feather coloration, and apparent docile nature. Since EE's have white skin and a pea comb I would like for the primary breed to be yellow skinned with a single comb (if that makes sense). It's not a deal breaker on either of these traits (thus the listing of orps and sussex), though another that I've considered is Welsumers which would give a yellow skin and single comb. Buckeyes would be nice and would help a critical breed but there again...they have a pea comb. <sigh>I'm making to big of a deal out of all this I guess.

As for visual appeal I like a bird with a single comb. I don't want a white/light colored bird due to possible hawk predation. Coloration like the old farm chickens (Welsumer being an example, along with some of the Old English breeds)...I'm not sure about the names of the colorations but I think "wheaton" might be what I'm thinking of. It may seem odd, but I'm really not that attracted to the current "blue" lines that are being worked on...there some beautiful blue chickens out there, but for me personally I want the old timey "chicken colored" birds.

Anyhow, that's enough of rambling on from me for the moment. Thanks for the feedback, Pat, yours is always welcomed.
Ed

 

[rainnotebook]

I'm not sure how many birds you plan on having but I have 10 chickens and they don't eat a lot like I thought the would. I bought a 25lb bag of food for around ten bucks and its lasted about a month. I find that pretty economical! I understand what you mean though, we put our coop off and finally got some money and my honey built it for me for Valentines day. Oh and I also feed my girls any and all leftovers and vegetables that we get from the house so they love eating that too.

 

[Intheswamp]

Howdy rainnotebook, sounds like your chickens have the "good life".

What breed are your girls? How old are they? Laying yet? 25# for 10 chickens in a month's time sounds good.

My plans are to get a dozen easter egger eggs and maybe a dozen and a half of whatever breed I decide on for my primary breed. I'm really figuring on starting with a small number of birds. Figuring on hopefully a 50% hatch and 50% pullets out of the hatch these numbers will break down to ~3 EE hens and ~5 hens of the other breed. It will just take a little coordinating to get the eggs delivered around the same time (if they come from different breeders). I figure with a couple of roosters added (will have to cull a few) in I'll have around 10-12 chickens to start out with. From there I'm hoping to coast for a while and get a little experience under my belt. Once I feel comfortable with my setup I'll decide whether to increase the flock's size. Seven or eight hens should give us plenty of eggs but I'm hoping to sell a few dozen a week to help with the feed bill. If I decide to increase the size of the flock I'll be looking at maybe adding another dozen or so hens by hatching some of my own chicken's eggs. Best plans of mice and men, yeah...right...sometimes I wonder if it'll ever happen.

So anyhow,..

Currently I'm looking at building anything from an 8x12 to a 12x16 coop. I'm looking at a run of at least a couple of thousand feet, plus free-ranging at times. I'm having trouble deciding on a cement or wood frame floor...wood I think I could handle building but I'm not sure about working with cement. If I go with framed floor I may go with pole construction for wind resistance (we have the occasional hurricane to blow through even being 100 miles inland from the coast. I guess I could go with with platform construction and anchor things down with anchor screws.

Well, that's probably more info than you wanted, but that's the lines I'm thinking along at the moment.

Thanks for the feedback!
Ed

 

[Hozer]

Shopping is half the fun.

I have Welsummers, Americaunas, 2 black copper marans, 1 EE (I "rustled" her from the neighbors), and 2 Polish banties.

The Welsummers are a wonderful breed and my primary target....and of course the wonderful dark eggs everyone drools over. They are everything I expected and classical in their appearance, especilly the roosters. They are vigorous in their eating and foraging...fairly economical with their feed...I wouldn't call them piggish. Mine do tend to bill their feed. I switched over to pellets and added a feeder ring and have cut my feed usge in half. A little smalish in size and thinner frame compared to say a Rhode Island Red....definately more egg layer build. Good layers...I would guess the best layers of the dark egg breeds. I would say I currently get an average of 4-6 eggs a day out of 8 hens ( they are a little off right now...about to molt, I think) and when they are on I get 1 egg a day per hen. Of course you can read all about them in the Welsummer thread.

The Ameraucanas are the best "keepers" of the bunch. Economical with their feed. They don't tend to waste food and are the best foragers of my little bunch. Tidy little hens that eat treats along with the rest, but seem to get "full" quicker and move on to other things. Extremely friendly and tame...the roosters are also friendly and mild. I have one hen that I call Polly because she likes to perch on your arm or shoulder and you can walk around with her like that. I can pick them up any time without a fuss. I gave away one black roster to my neighbors and he has turned out nice. Irridescent black and very tame and mild. His hens look really nice...not beat up at all. I would encourage you to consider Ameraucanas instead of EE's. EE will give you a wonderful mixed bag and hybrid vigor, but I think you will also see a mixed blessing personality and egg color wise. Funny thing is sometimes their eggs and the EE hen's eggs can be a little asymetrical (lop-sided). As much as I wanted and like the Welsummers, if I could only keep one breed, I would have to give the Ameraucanas the nod. I wish I had gotten more.

The Marans I would characterize as piggish, especially considering their lower productivity. The first to get into the treats and the last to get full. My 2 are the clean up crew. They continue to feed when the rest have moved on. This may seem like blasphemy to the Marans folks, but I am not that impressed. Not as friendly and not as quick on the uptake. Of course I am basing all this on a small sample size and the strain of a single breeder, but the Marans appear to be inconsistent in type and still a work in progress. The black copper roosters can be a thing of beauty, if you get a vigorous one. My best one was very rough on the gals, but robust and very nice to look at. I also had some with congenital foot problems and inconsistent type including coloration and squirrel tails. Of my 2 hens, one has feathered shanks and one doesn't. They both have squirrel tails. On the plus side, they are heavily feathered, beefy birds for their size and seem to be immune to the wet and cold (not a problem for you). Egg wise they also appear to be inconsistent. Sometimes I get a classical roundish dark egg and sometimes not near so dark. Of course, it is hard to tell mixed in with Welsumer eggs. The Marans eggs are more rounded (I think) and the Welsummer's more pointed.

The Polish banties are a little on the "dumb" side and not friendly (flighty). They freak out when you try to pick them up. These are hatchery birds and may not represent well. I got them as a rescue and I am impressed with their medium sized white eggs. My favorite eggs to eat. The yolks are dark and large for the size of the egg. Never mean and definately the bottom of the pecking order. A nice addition if you wand to get a thick shelled white egg...nothing like those anoemic white "store boughten" eggs.

Excuse the long winded diatribe...just kinda thinking out loud (and avoiding chores on a Sunday).

 

[cubalaya]

the op asked about barred rocks , speckled sussex, and buff orpingtons. out of those three the barred rock would lay more eggs and consume less feed.

 

[newchicksnducks]

I have BO, SS, but no BR. I do have Dominiques that look similar to the BR. I'm not real good at figuring out which hen laid which egg (except for my two EE that lay blue-green eggs!), but I've been getting 10-11 eggs a day from my 13 girls for the past couple of weeks

 

[Hozer]

Quote:
Just sayin' I wasn't coming from completely out of left field.

 

[Beekissed]

From that list? BOs are the piggiest....they consume huge amounts of feed and aren't consistent layers. Never had one go broody like folks suggested either. They also are the first to have bare backs....much too willing and docile, can't keep the roos off them.