Chickens

[SeanBlack]

what chickens should I get

 

[A.T. Hagan]

You haven't given us enough information to help you with your choice.

Do you want chickens just for eggs? If so, then I would suggest either red, gold, or black sex-links, or White Leghorns. These are the working birds of the poultry world and will outlay anything else out there. Any decent hatchery will have them.

If you want chickens both for the eggs and to hatch your own chicks then you will want pure-breds most likely. Big array of choices there. The historic "dual purpose" breeds would be the ones I would look at first, namely Rhode Island Reds, New Hampshires, Barred or White Plymouth Rocks, Delawares, and Wyandottes.

If you want birds that can be raised fast then slaughtered for meat you likely want some form of commercial broiler cross commonly known as "Cornish Cross"

If you want something slower growing that can reproduce itself then the cockerels of the dual-purpose breeds I mentioned above may fill the bill and you can have both meat and eggs so long as you realize that they cannot perform as well as birds bred specifically as layers or broilers.

Lastly would be birds to show in poultry shows. Enormous number of choices so you'll want to attend a few shows to see live in person the birds you may be interested in.

If you want mobile yard art then any or all of the above.

So, what's your pleasure?

 

[SeanBlack]

Egg layers

 

[janinepeters]

Here is a neat chart of the different chicken breeds:
http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html
Maybe that will help you figure out what you want.

 

[TXchickmum]

We have golden comets (aka red sex links, golden sex links, red stars). -supposed to be really excellent egg layers. -would recommend them.

 

[Wallygator]

Do you live in a hot or cold environment?

 

[Wallygator]

Do you live in a hot or cold environment?

 

[SeanBlack]

cold

 

[Ridgerunner]

As far as chickens go, I don't consider Ireland's climate cold at all. How often do you really see it below 0 Fahrenhiet, which is about -18 C? Remember that chickens wear a down coat all year round. Heat is much more of a danger than cold. Ireland's climate should be great for chickens based on that.

The biggest danger to a healthy chicken from cold is frostbite. If you have good ventilation in your coop above their heads when they are sleeping they should be very safe from that.

As far as egg laying breeds and chickens, your choices in Ireland will probably be a bit different than ours in the States. For egg production, Leghorns are always a good choice. You should be able to get some type of commercial chicken bred especially for egg laying. I don't know what they are called in Ireland.

Several hatcheries we chicken hobbyists use here in the States offer sex links with various names. Some of these are based on the commercial breeds and some are just crosses of regular breeds. They all lay pretty well but the commercial egg layers beat the regular breed crosses hands down as far as egg prodcution. You might look at the hatcheries you have available an see what they offer. Any of the dual purpose breeds should suit you well. I believe Sussex and Orpington are pretty popular over there.

 

[Wallygator]

Ya I agree with ridge and maybe Wyandotte? Can I sugest a tool for u to choose your breed? This helps you http://www.mypetchicken.com/chicken-breeds/which-breed-is-right-for-me.aspx