aspiring hen owner

[Hanaruru]

I'm not yet a mother hen, but i hope to be one day. I am 25 and from washington state in the USA. My boyfriend and i have an apartment, and this means no yard for chickens.

(although we do have a very sweet hamster who is the size and fuzziness of a baby chick.)


i have been pining for pet hens since summer 2008. until then i browse Backyard Poultry magazine, spy on hatchery websites, and i thought it was finally time to jump into the huge pool that is backyardchickens.com!
i hope it is not too many more years until i can have my own birds. until the time comes, i put away a dollar a week into my "hen house fund". i want a flock of 3-6 girls, with the full rainbow of eggs. I'd love to know which eggs comes from which hen. right now i am looking for breeds that are friendly (because i like to pet my pets!), as well as fairly good egg producers. right now i'm dreaming of Australorp, golden campine, easter egger, RIR, maybe a Maran. my boyfriend loves to think of birds as mini dinosaurs so he would like a modern game/Malay/ jungle fowl ... something prehistoric looking.

i've been on the site for one day and i've already learned a lot. by drawing on the collective experience in this forum, i'm sure i'll be ready when i finally have my own yard and flock!

thanks!

 

[drdoolittle]

Welcome! Well, at least you're at the right spot to get great info ahead of time. I love the EE hens! They are very friendly, and lay beautifully colored eggs. In fact, I have 2 EE pulles coming in April (along with about 30 other chicks). Anyway, hope you don't have to wait too awfully long before you realise your dream of becoming a "mother hen"!

 

[ghillie]

 

[3goodeggs]

You'll enjoy this site even without chickens, read a bunch and keep adding to the hen house fund. you are on your way!

 

[dawg53]

Welcome to BYC. You might also want to consider Barred Rocks and Buff Orpingtons...they are very friendly.

 

[ThePigeonKid]

 

[Imp]

A warm welcome from an imp in Renton

Check out the Washingtonians thread in the Where are you forum. Lots of nice people there.

Imp

 

[4-H chicken mom]

and

from a cold and snowy Ohio.

 

[Pinky]

Hello and

 

[Hanaruru]

Thanks so much for all the nice replies everyone!

i will check out the Washington thread. I know there are at least a dozen chicken owners up here in Everett where i live. there is one coop that i bike past on my way to work.