BREED VOTE!

Coturnix Quail

Songster
5 Years
Jul 3, 2016
673
301
201
TIME TO VOTE!!

If I remember correctly, I posted a thread on very "important" things. Well,very loudly, I announced what I've chosen. WELL. I'm changing my order! Hah. It sound stupid, right? Well, back then I was just looking to pre-order my breeds as quick as possible. Now that I've done A LOT of research, (and read a lot of books too) I've decided the breeds I've chosen I needed to re-think my choices. So, lets begin with what I chose and how many. I chose 5 in total. The breeds are, 1 EE Bantam, 1 EE, 2 Blue Cochins, and 1 Buff Orpington. Now, later after doing some deep intense digging, I've found someone nearby sells Silkies and other breeds, where MPC (My Pet Chicken) was out of Silkies. But, after reading a great book about a journey of raising chickens for the first time, I now want a Barred Rock! (or a Dominiqe) So I'm faced with the decision. Barred Rock/Dominiqe, or Silkie? Also, this could be my final order, 1 EE Bantam, 1 EE, 1 Blue Cochin, 1 Buff Orpington, 1 Australorp, and a Silkie, or a Barred Rock/Dominiqe. WISH ME LUCK AND THANKS FOR ANY SUGGESTIONS
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Dominiques are rare. Folk are working hard to bring them back. Any you get from a hatchery will not be like the historic bird which has intrigued you. You have two small breeds already. A Barred Rock is a good addition. They are an old popular breed and do well in many climates.
Best,
Karen in western PA, USA
 
I'd never get one Silkie, (or any!) because they are small, can't cope well with either very cold or very hot weather, and seem to be hawk bait. Obviously I've had a bad experience with them, back when I started with chickens. I didn't understand that they need more care than my other (more normal) birds, and things didn't go well for them. I'd get another bantam EE myself, so there's more than one bantam in your flock. Plymouth Rocks are nice, and so are Dominiques. Mary
 
My Buff Orpingtons are my sweetest chickens/very docile and friendly. Theyvatent the best layers but they are my favorite because they ate so sweet. My Barred Rocks ate my best layers. They are friendly but not overly so. My Barred Rock rooster isn't super friendly but is very good with the hens and does an excellent job of watching over them.
 
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TIME TO VOTE!!

If I remember correctly, I posted a thread on very "important" things. Well,very loudly, I announced what I've chosen. WELL. I'm changing my order! Hah. It sound stupid, right? Well, back then I was just looking to pre-order my breeds as quick as possible. Now that I've done A LOT of research, (and read a lot of books too) I've decided the breeds I've chosen I needed to re-think my choices. So, lets begin with what I chose and how many. I chose 5 in total. The breeds are, 1 EE Bantam, 1 EE, 2 Blue Cochins, and 1 Buff Orpington. Now, later after doing some deep intense digging, I've found someone nearby sells Silkies and other breeds, where MPC (My Pet Chicken) was out of Silkies. But, after reading a great book about a journey of raising chickens for the first time, I now want a Barred Rock! (or a Dominiqe) So I'm faced with the decision. Barred Rock/Dominiqe, or Silkie? Also, this could be my final order, 1 EE Bantam, 1 EE, 1 Blue Cochin, 1 Buff Orpington, 1 Australorp, and a Silkie, or a Barred Rock/Dominiqe. WISH ME LUCK AND THANKS FOR ANY SUGGESTIONS
celebrate.gif
If I were in your shoes I'd get the Barred Rock hands-down. My first Barred Rocks were from a hatchery and I still have some of them. They are great layers and tolerant of a wide range of climates. I attended a couple of poultry shows and saw SOP Barred Rocks that blew my mind. I was so impressed I obtained a quad last year and started breeding them to the SOP this year. You can probably tell I'm a little biased toward Barred Rocks but they are a really wonderful bird, especially those that are bred to the SOP.

I also really like Dominiques but have never owned any. If I get them eventually I'd only be interested in a pair/trio/quad of SOP Dominiques from a good breeder - that's what I'd want to do is breed them. Like the other poster said, they are somewhat rare and could benefit by people breeding them. As much as I like Dominiques I think the more common Barred Rocks have an edge over them in the utility department. Dominiques are somewhat smaller that Barred Rocks and lay smaller eggs on average. So from a utility perspective you'd get more bang for your buck with the Barred Rock if you wanted a true dual-purpose bird. Nonetheless I still want to start a breeding program for them at some point in the future.

One thing you should consider in deciding is what are your goals of owning these breeds? If it's eggs I'd stick with the breeds known to lay well, and most hatchery birds fit that bill nicely. If they'll strictly be pets then you can't go wrong with just about any breed known for being friendly. If it's for breeding, which it doesn't sound like you're pursuing at the moment but you might want to at some point, then of course you'd want to contact a good breeder and maybe join a club that specializes in the breed(s) you're interested in, such as the Dominique Club of America (http://www.dominiqueclub.org/). A specialty club will offer network opportunities, breeder contacts, and you'll learn more information about your breed than you ever wanted to know.

I'm not into ornamental breeds such as Silkies and Polish's myself so I can't offer any advice on them. I do know they sometimes have a hard time living with other breeds because the other breeds often can't resist picking their crests, like in the example of the Polish breed. I don't know how Silkies would fare but I never heard of any problems mixing them with other breeds.

Anyway, good luck deciding. If you really can't choose just get them all - that's what I'd do. You can never have too many chickens.
 
Hey! Thanks everyone! So, seems the Dominique/Barred Rock is winning so far. I'm starting to doubt the Silkie now because poo can get stuck on their tooshies, can't see very well, and might get picked on... But baised on what I've heard, Silkies are like the dog of chicken world.. I might just end up getting both! About the EE Bantam, those lil' girls are pretty expensive if you want them to be girls. 13.70 or something like that.. I'll compromise with my family and see what we agree on based off of what you guys told me... I still need ore votes, so keep voting!!
 

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