Breed selection-Please help

[Anguissette]

Hello everyone,

I was told this was the place to come for an answer to our question! Could you please read over this (since I can't get it to copy and paste with the pics correctly) and help our family select the best breed for us. Feel free to recommend one based on our criteria that we may have missed. Also if anyone has an idea if any of the eggs (aside from being amazing organic and fresh of course) might be more flavorful than othersl, that would also be most appreciated.

http://intentionalfamily.wordpress.com/2010/02/03/chicken-pickin/

Thanks so much in advance! Having just joined this looks like a great place to learn about chickens!

Ang

 

[JenEric Farms]

Where do you live? The climate may help your desicion as well...

 

[JenEric Farms]

OH and

!!!

 

[Anguissette]

Outside the Raleigh/Durham area of North Carolina. Hot summers, "usually" temperate winters.

 

[KKatknap]

I might also suggest considering Wyandottes. They come in a variety of colors, and are good layers. Mine is the friendliest of my group.

I will be getting Faverolles soon. I've heard lots of good things about them, too.

Have fun choosing...maybe try a small flock of a few of each of the ones you like to start with. See which ones "click" for you. That's what I did.

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

Buff Orpingtons, or Silkies or Cochins!

 

[Keri78]

I would say don't limit yourself to choosing just one breed(I think you did mention that you want a mixed flock). It's really cool to see all of their different personalities and looks running around your property!!! I have cochins(standard size & banties..frizzle and smooth)...but they are for fun and b/c I enjoy watching their big fluffy bums run around the yard!!!(LOL) Anyway..I also have buff orpington girls for laying(could also very easily be dual purpose birds)and they come in lots of pretty colors...not just buff! I also just ordered some cuckoo marans and speckled sussex(these breeds are also dual purpose birds...people have said that the maran meat is AWESOME...I don't know personally). I've chosen these breeds for the following reasons: big & sturdy(I like heavy breeds&winter hardy), great layers of brown eggs, GREAT personalities & very gentle with kids(I have little ones that LOVE to lug chickens around the backyard like they would a pet CAT!!!so this is VERY important! I just ordered some silkies for fun! Our chickens(especially the buff orps follow us around the yard like puppies would!(LOL) They LOVE attention and are just so cool! Here's a pic of my son holding one of our girl when she was just a few month old...THEY ARE ENORMOUS NOW! Oh yeah...I bought all of mine from ideal-poultry.com(great service! great birds!) And to answer your final question...FRESH EGGS are DELICIOSO!!!!

Once you taste them..there's no going back!!! We haven't bought eggs from the store since Nov. and we're LOVIN it! Blessings, Keri

 

[joletabey]

Ang, Welcome to BYC! You are correct- this is a great place to get answers, and also a great place just to hang out!

As far as your breed selection, I vote strongly in favor of Delawares. Check out the Delaware threads in the Breeds and Genetics section- you will see lots of pictures and learn a lot. I have 14 Delawares right now- 12 weeks old. I chose them because I wanted a dual purpose bird that was smart, friendly, and on the critical list. I LOVE MY DELS! They are very friendly - like to be with me, are curious, bold, very expressive. I can pick them up and cuddle. Whatever breed you get, I highly recommend getting them from a responsible breeder, though. These are the people who are trying to improve the stock, and from what I understand, the birds are more likely to be healthier over all and live longer.
Mine are dealing pretty well staying cooped up in this rotten weather- I think they would like the Raleigh area! There are three or four of us in NC breeding them, and several people in Georgia and Tennessee. Are you planning on hatching your own, getting chicks or started stock?

If you decide on a mixed flock, and still want to stick with Heritage birds, etc. also check out the Buckeye thread in the same section.

 

[newchickmom09]

I am going to second wyandottes. They are such eye candy plus good layers and mine are very sweet. Out of your list I would pick faverolles also.

I am an enabeler so I suggest gettting two or three of every kind you like.

That is what we did, our small flock includes Black Australorps, Silver Laced Wyandottes, Golden Laced Wyandottes, and Easter Eggers. Our BA are egg laying machines.

 

[Freeholder]

Just looking at the birds on your list, and your criteria, I would say strike off the Chanteclers and the Houdans. I'd like to have some of both breeds someday, but I don't think they'll fit your criteria of being pets for the children. The Delawares might; from what I've read the Buckeyes and the Faverolles probably would. Don't know about the Hollands or the Langshans. Dorkings might work for you, too. So now the list is narrowed down a little bit, you should probably just go by what appeals the most to you visually, as all of them are good dual-purpose breeds. One may lay a bit better than the others (I think the Delawares and Faverolles may be among the better layers on your list), but careful selection can bring the laying ability of successive generations up fairly quickly. Just don't forget to select for the other important things, like type, as well as laying ability!

As for egg flavor, that is totally a factor of what the chickens are eating. No one breed of chicken has intrinsically better-flavored eggs than another. You've got a range of egg colors in the breeds you are considering -- the Hollands lay white eggs, while the others all lay some shade of brown.

So, choose the breed you like the looks of, and go for it!

Unlike some of the other posters, if you are serious about raising chickens, I'd pick one breed and focus on it for right now -- you can always add another breed or two later on. It is fun to have a flower-garden of chickens in the backyard, but if you actually want to help preserve a breed on the critical list, what they need the most is people willing to make a commitment and keep a large-enough breeding flock to actually do some good (at least a couple dozen hens, and several roosters, and grow out -- and cull heavily -- a large number of chicks each year).

Kathleen