Breed for my daughter

[ashyndin]

My daughter is 7 and she is really interested in raising. I am building her a brooder this week but I am wondering what y'all may suggest for her first breed to try. She loves the way Silkies look as well as the polish crested. I was thinking maybe more along the lines of Barred Rock. Cn y'all offer some suggestions? She will have her own coop separate from my mixed flock and she does intend on joining 4h when she is old enough and hopes to show.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

silkies are awesome birds

 

[ashyndin]

thanks for the input granny hatchet. she is really excited. tonight i asked her if she would be our chick momma when we incubate our mixed eggs and she was really happy about that. we are putting the brooder in her room and she promised to look after them.

 

[Laingcroft]

My daughter is 7 and she is really interested in raising. I am building her a brooder this week but I am wondering what y'all may suggest for her first breed to try. She loves the way Silkies look as well as the polish crested. I was thinking maybe more along the lines of Barred Rock. Cn y'all offer some suggestions? She will have her own coop separate from my mixed flock and she does intend on joining 4h when she is old enough and hopes to show.

Silkies are very sweet chickens. If she is interested in showing and likes giving animals a bath and styling (blow drying), silkies need that. They are also very popular at the shows, particularly with youth. It is a great breed to meet lots of other junior exhibitors; however, if your daughter is the kind of person who needs reinforcement by winning ribbons, be aware that it is also a very competitive breed/class.

Polish on the other hand, at least around here, aren't as common with either adults or juniors.

Now, I've only been to one poultry show. It was a long day as chickens are on-site from early a.m. entry to "coop out" after all winners are picked at the end of the day, which I understand may go into the dinner hour and beyond at some bigger shows. Having had more experience with dog, rabbit and other livestock shows, it was a bit of a surprise to find out that 1) ribbons were only awarded to the class winners; breed winners rec'd notations on the coop cards; 2) exhibitors don't need to be present during the actual judging, and 3) that there are monetary prizes for the class winners too. Adult and junior (kid) owned birds are judged separately and together i.e. child may not win up against the adult entries in the open show yet still "take the class" as the only junior entry in the junior show.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: Awards are unique to each show. Ribbons may or may not be available for breed wins, ditto other prizes, including $. Largest awards are typically to show and class champion and reserves Breed and variety awards are often not provided unless it is a national, state or special meet for a breed club. Ribbons are common, but not universal.

For many shows, coop-in begins the night before, and all birds must be in pace by the time judging begins. In some cases you can coop out after judging, but in others coop-out does not occur until the following morning. Youth may or may not have separate entries; in some shows it is common, in others, they are all judged together; I've seen it organized a number of different ways. If youth are judged separately, they usually must be present at some point during the show.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Is there a reason that your daughter must have only one breed? I'd suggest letter her look at different breeds on feathersite, and allow her to select which two or three breeds she most likes, with the understanding that she may later decide that she likes breed A better than breed B, and want to sell her breed B birds and get more breed As. Both polish and silkies are nice starter breeds for youngsters, but serama, moderns and brahmas are also good choices. But there are also many other good choices.

 

[gander007]

If she wants Silkies are a great bird to work with I had some at the age of 9 ......
Wish her well in 4 H ..........

gander007

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

The more you let her make the decisions (such as breed and variety), the more she will "OWN" the project and retain interest in it. Smaller birds are usually easier to handle from a size/weight standpoint, nd tend to be better choices than larger birds for younger kids, but if my 7 yo granddaughter wanted to show my largefowl barred rocks, I would let her. In her case, she finds the silkies too large to easily handle--so moderns, serama and bantam araucana have been her preferred choices. My son liked brahmas and polish, so those were his birds. He also liked silkies, but the other two were his favourites.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

The more you let her make the decisions (such as breed and variety), the more she will "OWN" the project and retain interest in it. Smaller birds are usually easier to handle from a size/weight standpoint, nd tend to be better choices than larger birds for younger kids, but if my 7 yo granddaughter wanted to show my largefowl barred rocks, I would let her. In her case, she finds the silkies too large to easily handle--so moderns, serama and bantam araucana have been her preferred choices. My son liked brahmas and polish, so those were his birds. He also liked silkies, but the other two were his favourites.

x2

 

[ashyndin]

you guys are great! her and i have a lot of talking to do. i was going to giver her the brooder for Christmas but i decided that she is going to help me build it the saturday after. I promised her that she could pick the colors, she is really excited to get started. i am building her a small coop as well and plowing a little garden near it for her to take care of. i would like her to win ribbons but really i just want her to have fun and learn responsibility.