- Thread starter
- #31
The Kid Farmer
Chirping
You dressed a chicken up for halloween?!??! I need to do that sometime...
Convince me what the best breed is!
- Thread starter The Kid Farmer
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #32
The Kid Farmer
Chirping
How much do they lay and what color are the eggs?
It will be one of the Halloween contests here on BYC, look for it this fall!
- Thread starter
- #34
The Kid Farmer
Chirping
I'll be looking!
AmeraucanaHank
Blessed be the Name of God
I recommend these breed all the time!: Bielefelder Ameraucana ,and salmon faverolles! What color of eggs do your Easter eggers lay?
- Thread starter
- #36
The Kid Farmer
Chirping
They are 3 months old so not laying yet - but hopefully colorful eggs!
around 200 eggs a year, brownish-pink eggs.
Best depends on so many factors -- purpose for chicken-keeping, climate, management style, etc.
Everything I say about my flock needs to be filtered through the fact that I'm in a hot climate (the Steamy Southeast), want large adn extra-large eggs for egg sales, and practice a fairly hands-off management style.
Rather than trying to say which is "best" I'll go through what I've got in my flock, from my least favorites to my top favorites, and say why I chose them in the first place and what I consider their good and bad points.
Dominque: DH wanted some barred birds and he works at a colonial era historic site so I thought I'd try this historic breed. They have nice dispositions and the one I kept after selling the others is active and a reasonable layer. But I'm concerned that her rose comb will make trouble for her in the summer heat and she lays mostly medium eggs.
Orpington x Wyandottes: A gift from a friend. Big, sturdy girls who are high in the pecking order and lay good-sized, pinkish-brown eggs. Again, I'm concerned about the rose combs and the heat. Additionally, their soft, loose feathers have made them prone to rooster wear so I'm sewing up saddles for them.
Silver-Laced Cochin: This lovely thing is my son's pet. Not really my sort of chicken.
Silver-Laced Wyandotte: THE MOST BEAUTIFUL of hens, IMO. She was the most docile bird in the flock until we got my son's pet Cochin. But Popcorn suffered last summer in the heat with her rose comb. This particular hen is a poor layer of weird eggs, which is not reflective of the breed in general. I'd have culled her already if she weren't my granddaughter's favorite. I have, however, gotten several more from a different hatchery with the goal of trying to breed the silver-laced pattern into a more heat-tolerant breed.
Light Brahma: I actually prefer darks, but they keep being sold out when I try to get them. I keep a couple for their beauty alone, being a sucker for feathered feet and that "dinosaur" head. Despite the pea combs and feathered feet, Brahmas are weirdly heat-tolerant. The one I have now is a poor layer, but others I've had in the past were moderate layers of large eggs. In the history of my flock the Brahmas were the last to succumb to rooster-wear.
Black Langshan: A feather-footed breed supposed to be more suited to the heat than others and supposed to lay a purplish egg. This is a split decision. My Black Langshan rooster is astonishing -- a truly gorgeous bird, gentle, respectful, and good with his hens. The female, not so much. She lays a purple-pink egg, but it's only medium-sized (not breed standard). I had considered breeding the Black Langshans but changed my mind after exposure to breeds I liked better.
California White: My weird, quirky MACHINE for the production of daily 65g eggs. My smallest adult, but she's got an outsize personality and is the only bird I hav who is smart enough to fly back into the fence after she flies out. I would probably go nuts with a full flock of these birds, but she's the dash of hot peppers in the dish. I hatched a few of her eggs and I'm keeping one of her daughters.
French Cuckoo Marans: The ones with the feathered feet. They lay beautiful, large and extra-large, dark eggs almost daily (hatchery quality so not as dark as breeder birds, but well within range). I find them calm and pleasant to deal with. One of them is my Blue Australorp cockerel's favorite, but she's in no danger of needing a saddle.
Blue Australorps: When the Delawares I wanted didn't arrive at the farm store because the hatchery didn't send any, I needed to pick substitutes. They had these Blue Australorps so I got a couple pullets. They turned out to so perfectly fit my mental idea of "chicken" that I ordered a large batch including straight runs so I could start breeding them. They lay large eggs, deal well with the heat, are peaceful in the flock, and are really lovely to look at. The cockerel -- the best choice out of 5 options -- is every bit as gorgeous as the Black Langshan and is very nearly as gentle.
Everything I say about my flock needs to be filtered through the fact that I'm in a hot climate (the Steamy Southeast), want large adn extra-large eggs for egg sales, and practice a fairly hands-off management style.
Rather than trying to say which is "best" I'll go through what I've got in my flock, from my least favorites to my top favorites, and say why I chose them in the first place and what I consider their good and bad points.
Dominque: DH wanted some barred birds and he works at a colonial era historic site so I thought I'd try this historic breed. They have nice dispositions and the one I kept after selling the others is active and a reasonable layer. But I'm concerned that her rose comb will make trouble for her in the summer heat and she lays mostly medium eggs.
Orpington x Wyandottes: A gift from a friend. Big, sturdy girls who are high in the pecking order and lay good-sized, pinkish-brown eggs. Again, I'm concerned about the rose combs and the heat. Additionally, their soft, loose feathers have made them prone to rooster wear so I'm sewing up saddles for them.
Silver-Laced Cochin: This lovely thing is my son's pet. Not really my sort of chicken.
Silver-Laced Wyandotte: THE MOST BEAUTIFUL of hens, IMO. She was the most docile bird in the flock until we got my son's pet Cochin. But Popcorn suffered last summer in the heat with her rose comb. This particular hen is a poor layer of weird eggs, which is not reflective of the breed in general. I'd have culled her already if she weren't my granddaughter's favorite. I have, however, gotten several more from a different hatchery with the goal of trying to breed the silver-laced pattern into a more heat-tolerant breed.
Light Brahma: I actually prefer darks, but they keep being sold out when I try to get them. I keep a couple for their beauty alone, being a sucker for feathered feet and that "dinosaur" head. Despite the pea combs and feathered feet, Brahmas are weirdly heat-tolerant. The one I have now is a poor layer, but others I've had in the past were moderate layers of large eggs. In the history of my flock the Brahmas were the last to succumb to rooster-wear.
Black Langshan: A feather-footed breed supposed to be more suited to the heat than others and supposed to lay a purplish egg. This is a split decision. My Black Langshan rooster is astonishing -- a truly gorgeous bird, gentle, respectful, and good with his hens. The female, not so much. She lays a purple-pink egg, but it's only medium-sized (not breed standard). I had considered breeding the Black Langshans but changed my mind after exposure to breeds I liked better.
California White: My weird, quirky MACHINE for the production of daily 65g eggs. My smallest adult, but she's got an outsize personality and is the only bird I hav who is smart enough to fly back into the fence after she flies out. I would probably go nuts with a full flock of these birds, but she's the dash of hot peppers in the dish. I hatched a few of her eggs and I'm keeping one of her daughters.
French Cuckoo Marans: The ones with the feathered feet. They lay beautiful, large and extra-large, dark eggs almost daily (hatchery quality so not as dark as breeder birds, but well within range). I find them calm and pleasant to deal with. One of them is my Blue Australorp cockerel's favorite, but she's in no danger of needing a saddle.
Blue Australorps: When the Delawares I wanted didn't arrive at the farm store because the hatchery didn't send any, I needed to pick substitutes. They had these Blue Australorps so I got a couple pullets. They turned out to so perfectly fit my mental idea of "chicken" that I ordered a large batch including straight runs so I could start breeding them. They lay large eggs, deal well with the heat, are peaceful in the flock, and are really lovely to look at. The cockerel -- the best choice out of 5 options -- is every bit as gorgeous as the Black Langshan and is very nearly as gentle.
P.S. I can't think of any "bad points" about either the FCMs or the Blue Australorps.
Standard wise, I love my pheonixes. But my true love are my bantam Cornish. They're pretty stupid and flighty, but they're so adorable and my males have yet to cause me any nerves after a few years still.
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