Beginner: What Chickens should I get?

[Texas4T]

I have not ever had a Barred Rock be aggressive (I suppose it is possible that some bloodlines might be--mine would quat down and let the children pick them up.) If it were me, I would try one of each breed. You have to decide what is right for you. Do you like uniformity (all the same color and/or breed) or do you like to mix it up? I like lots of variation in my flock and egg basket. My best friend only wants to see one flock of a single color foraging across her pasture. Up to you. Have fun!

 

[Robotmomma]

Thanks Texas4T. Do you have a very large space for your chickens? I was gathering that the Barred Rocks get bossy with the others if they don't have a lot of space. I do plan to free range while I am out in the yard to watch them and keep them out of my garden beds. But my pen isn't super large so I was just trying to avoid any possible issues especially because we are going to go away for three days in August and they will have to stay locked up. I had also read they can be good predator lookouts and can be good mousers. I like that idea. We have a couple of hawks living in the trees near our house and they hang out now and then in the tree over our chicken run so I am concerned a bit about free ranging.

I admit, I may be over-thinking this... LoL. I do want to adopt many different breeds so we can form some opinions of our own. Thanks again.

 

[dekel18042]

I mistakingly thought when the hatchery said pullets, they meant they weren't day old chicks but they are day old chicks!

I found someone who has ten weekers for $15. He has Austrolorps, Barred Rocks and "Americaunas" and someone else that has 12 week Buff Orphingtons for $15. This seems better to me than starting with chicks right now because I can just get a smaller amount instead of six and stagger my flock a little bit. Is this unwise? I was thinking of starting with three or four.

I was interested in the Barred Rocks but I keep reading they can be aggressive to the other birds.

Would anyone be willing to tell me which selection would be easiest of these choices?

Not sure if either would be "easier", but some thoughts. Austrolorps are wonderful birds and if the same person has Americaunas or Easter eggers you could get one or two which lays colored eggs. (Can you tell I like a variety of egg colors?) If you got them from the same person at the same time you wouldn't have to worry about quarantine and introducing chickens to an existing flock. Whichever way you go, you might want to considering getting them at the same time from the same person because of biosecurity issues and worries about bird flu. (Although it does appear the problem is with the big battery barns, but you can't be too careful.)

 

[Michael OShay]

I mistakingly thought when the hatchery said pullets, they meant they weren't day old chicks but they are day old chicks!

I found someone who has ten weekers for $15. He has Austrolorps, Barred Rocks and "Americaunas" and someone else that has 12 week Buff Orphingtons for $15. This seems better to me than starting with chicks right now because I can just get a smaller amount instead of six and stagger my flock a little bit. Is this unwise? I was thinking of starting with three or four.

I was interested in the Barred Rocks but I keep reading they can be aggressive to the other birds.

Would anyone be willing to tell me which selection would be easiest of these choices?

I've had all those breeds and they are all good breeds. Barred Rocks are generally docile, but I have occasionally had an aggressive one. The "Ameraucanas" will not be true Ameraucanas which are relatively rare and expensive, but Easter Egger hybrids. As always, you will get different opinions on this, but I would personally go with either the Australorps or the Buff Orpingtons. In my 50 years experience with chickens, they are typically the calmest and most gentle of these breeds. My children and granddaughter (pictured in my avatar) made lap pets of them. If egg production is a priority, Australorps are the best layers of these breeds.

 

[Texas4T]

Thanks Texas4T. Do you have a very large space for your chickens? I was gathering that the Barred Rocks get bossy with the others if they don't have a lot of space. I do plan to free range while I am out in the yard to watch them and keep them out of my garden beds. But my pen isn't super large so I was just trying to avoid any possible issues especially because we are going to go away for three days in August and they will have to stay locked up. I had also read they can be good predator lookouts and can be good mousers. I like that idea. We have a couple of hawks living in the trees near our house and they hang out now and then in the tree over our chicken run so I am concerned a bit about free ranging.

I admit, I may be over-thinking this... LoL. I do want to adopt many different breeds so we can form some opinions of our own. Thanks again.

You are welcome!
I do have a large space for them to free-range 24/365. I have two fenced acres just for my layer flock. They share an 10x12 coop at night. I usually have 20-50 layers in there.

 

[aim30]

IMO if you are looking strictly for eggs you may want to stick to red sex links or black sex links. Baby chicks are nice because they get used to you but several hatcheries sell started pullets, I know McMurray does:
https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/started_pullets.html

 

[Michael OShay]

...

IMO if you are looking strictly for eggs you may want to stick to red sex links or black sex links.. . .I have never had a black sex link but my neighbor has and IMO they are super pretty (prettier than the reds) and very friendly as they always greet me when I come over. I believe this cross is made with an australorp and rhode island red.

Black sex links are actually produced by crossing solid colored roosters (usually RIRs) with barred hens (usually barred rocks). Not only can the offspring be sexed by color from hatching, but they are egg laying machines, outlaying either parent breed. It's one of the interesting quirks of hybridization. I raised black sex links for years ( along with dozens of other breeds & hybrids), and they have been my best layers, consistently churning out more than 300 eggs per hen per year.

 

[Robotmomma]

Thanks for all the good advice everyone.

dekel18042, I think you are right, getting them from the same person does seem simpler due to the quarantine issue.

Michael, I love the idea of having them be lap pets. I know my kids would love that. And I think you are right about the Easter Eggers.

I went ahead and got one of each. Brought them home a couple of hours ago. I wasn't really pleased with the conditions of the seller's set up and he scooped the birds up with a big net. The whole place smelled bad and the birds seem very frightened. I didn't really know what to expect but I didn't expect that. The Barred Rock is already pecking the other two. I can't believe it! And the barred rock has some missing feathers on her back... and I am

worried she is a he. They pooped quite a lot on the way home and it looked like they might be sick... smelled terrible and looked a little bit rosy like maybe some blood in there. Guess I will just wait and see.

The "Americauna" is quite beautiful and seems very friendly and curious. The Austrolorp is also very pretty and seems to be adapting well. I don't think they have ever touched grass before now.

The Barred Rock seems to be the bravest so far. They all ran under the coop and the Barred Rock is the only one who would step out from under it. But the Americauna is the first one to look out from under it and she looked up at the sky for awhile... I don't think they have been outside at all.

They did climb the ramp and put themselves to bed last night and I was so thrilled. They started peeping and carrying on quite a lot as the sun went down. They seemed upset. The Americauna was the first one to notice the chicken door into the coop and the first to try to get in, but the Barred jumped on her back and sat there and pecked her head until she jumped down. The Austrolorp was the last to go in and I tried to catch her and she kicked up a fuss and the Barred came back out to see what was going on! He (or she) led her into the coop. Very handy. How fun they are already.

 

[chicken pickin]

The barred rock looks to be a cockerel. The others look like pullets. If you have any thoughts they might be sick you should definitely consider bringing them back to the seller and getting your money back. Often sick chickens can be cured of symptoms but will still be carriers of what ever it is they had and they can shed the disease and pass it to other chickens in the future.

If they aren't showing any physical symptoms they might not be sick at all and just have stinky poop. I hope they are healthy and they will be the start of a nice flock for you.

Keep us updated.

 

[Robotmomma]

Could you tell me what to look for as far as physical signs of illness? The Americauna is the one who had the strange poops. The poops under the roost look pretty normal to me now but I don know much about chicken poop (yet).