Can't decide the breed I want!

[Illia]

Quote:
Thanks so much for the reply.

Wow, that first picture is a beautiful female! I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Marans before. Or just totally skimmed over them. I’ve researched many breeds but must’ve skipped them! Where did you find a breeder that sold Marans?

I am in Washington State and breed Marans, Ameraucanas, and Jersey Giants too.

Other breeders of Marans in WA state include Cree Farms, and BYC users geebs, pinkchick, and cowgirlgrace.

There are some of us who do sell sexed chicks and laying hens.

 

[sharol]

I ordered 8 chicks of 6 different breeds. They are almost 16 weeks old now. 3 of them are white (2 Delawares and the EE), the other 4 are darker colored (yeah, I know, that is only 7, but one of them was DOA.) They do seem to be a bit color conscious. The white chickens hang together, and the brown chickens hang together when they are out in the yard. They all seem to get along fine (except for the GLW and the Golden Campine who are in competition for the "head chook" position right now). Even those two are fine when they aren't competing to see who can scare away my DH's mean truck first. They are crowded in their current coop, but so far there isn't any violence. The new coop building is supposed to be delivered sometime this week -- it can't be too soon for me.

I really like the Delawares. They are friendly and chatty with me. If I sit down in the run, they come over and hop up on my lap for a scratch. They do have a tendency to bite/nip clothing to see if it is edible, though. They don't bite me on the skin anymore, though. I tapped them on their little white heads a couple of times for that, so they moved on to clothing.

The Golden Campine is nervous and flighty, but she always comes over to greet me. She doesn't like to be handled though even though I handled them a lot when they were tiny. She is 2/3 the size of the others, but has enough chutzpa (sp?) to make up for it. She is funny to watch. She calls the others to come with her, and the other evening when they were scared back into their run by a hawk in the area and the EE, Lily, hadn't gone in yet, she was the one who came back out and called out to the missing girl to come in where it was safe. If I wasn't pretty sure by her comb that she is a girl.... My stepdaughter's boyfriend likes her the best and is cheering her on to win the competition for top hen. (Her name is Scout (from To Kill a Mockingbird) and that is also his web nickname.)

The welsummer is a lovely chicken. She is pretty and has a nice personality. I ordered her for the terracotta eggs, but now I enjoy her for herself. She is pretty calm and seems to relax more easily than the others when she is outside the run.

The prettiest chicken right now is the Partridge Rock. Her feathers are gorgeous in the sunlight with the red markings on the blue/black feathers. She is one of the shyer girls, but not at all difficult to work with.

My EE is pure white. She is a little aloof, but gets along well with the others, and is usually at the front of the line for treats. She also loves to fly off of the back of chairs. When we get the new coop fitted out, I imagine she will be the one roosting in the rafters.

Vic the Gold Laced Wyandotte is my husband's favorite. She is the largest of the chicks, and her gold lacing is just getting established. I think he likes her the best because she is named after a character in a book he really enjoyed (The Cold Dish by Johnson).

Waaaay more than you wanted to know.

Sharol

Quote:

 

[matthewschickens]

Umm, I don't know if Steve has what you want but he might ship older birds... But I don't think so. http://www.sandspoultry.com/chickens.htm. He is a BYC member so he might find this thread soon

Also,


http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGA/Brahma/BRKBrahma.html

I can't seem to find the Brahma club of America. All the links I see are broken...

Matthew

 

[kisat]

Illia


sharol


matthewschickens

Thank you all! Sorry it took so long to reply! lol I completely kept forgetting to come back and reply.

I appreciate the info and Sharol for providing such insight, I actually have a better understanding of the breeds when people talk about their own personality-wise. I'm going to have to think about this. I know some breeders are here in WA (I'm around Seattle area) and for me, it's the drive. I've driven an hour to pick up a parakeet lol so it's not too bad to have to do a long drive, but if I could, I'd rather not. I'm also not too interested in shipping of the birds, since, as I've said before, I'd rather than be a few months old by the time I get them--we don't have the ability/time/place to raise chicks so it'd be better for chickens ready to go outside in the pen. Luckily I've got until Spring to decide since I haven't been able to go outside and remake our hen house! For now, the only darn breed I'm sure about is ONE Rhode Island red! lol Just because I've always wanted one. My mom's already told me she wants one called "Ida" and one called "Pearl" though so we at least have names! lol