Did I pick the right chicks?

[lutherpug]

I'll be fascinated to hear it- I knew you were referring to the guy down the street so who knows exactly how he keeps his birds? I'm still fascinated with the concept, although my husband is saying he wants at least one egg every once in a while! lol

I don't know all of the ins and outs of his setup. I do know that he is on about 20 acres and keeps only roosters. He likes to watch them and they keep his bug population down. He's a nice guy but we don't interact regularly.

 

[SurferchickinSB]

I'm brand new to having chickens. My two predominant reasons for getting some were because of a heavy tick infestation here and because I wanted a friendly group that would be comfortable with each other. Many people gave me their opinions so I made my selections based on those. What I didn't think about were bantams possibly being different from the full-size birds and if these three types would do well together... :-( Now I'm afraid I might possibly have made a mistake, one I can correct if I need to since they won't arrive until August 12. I live where they need to be cold-hardy and they will easily return to their coop in the evening (I am getting a large one that can hold way more birds) due to the numbers of predators in this remote area. Egg production isn't an issue- they are really nice to have but we need very few of them. Mostly, I just want to keep them happy, which I can't if I bought breeds that won't do well together. My gals currently on order as one-day-old chicks (3 each) are: Black Frizzle Cochin Bantams, Buff Silkie Bantams, and Easter Egger Bantams. So, if anyone would share their opinion of any plusses or minuses to this group, I'd love to hear them. I can't find anything anywhere to indicate if they are decent foragers...

I think there is a height that ticks usually hang out and they attach them selves as you brush by. If the height they hang out is taller than the bantams you might want to get regular size chickens and then you will also have eggs.Many of the heritage breeds have also been bred to be good foragers, so you might look up the descriptions of the breeds on the site you ordered them from. Usually all the Hatcheries have really good descriptions of what the breed is supposed to do. I would get on the Internet and look up all the information about ticks snd the height locations of where they live and hang out and breed.

 

[SurferchickinSB]

I have no experience with guineas and my birds don't free range but I did have a thought-if eggs aren't important to you, why not keep a flock of just roosters? You could find an endless supply of them for free that you don't have to raise up from chicks and my understanding is that roosters can be housed with each other pretty easily provided there are no hens to fight over? If one gets picked off by a predator, you can easily replace it. Just a thought. I've never kept a bachelor flock before but I know a guy up the street from me does it for this exact reason. He is who gets all of my excess roosters

Great idea if all they want them for is ticks!

 

[SurferchickinSB]

I missed the part about no chicken experience. You're right, that would be a lot to contend with. My bad!

I misread that part-I was thinking no experience with guineas.

I didn’t see that part either!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I'm going to tag @varidgerunner to give you ideas on games that would work for your situation.

LofMc

 

[minaayindra]

I definitely would not go with Silkies or Bantam Cochins if you want free range foraging.

I have a heavy hawk area, and the only way I can keep those birds is under heavily netted and reinforced coop and run. They simply cannot run fast enough to avoid a predator.

I would go back to the drawing board and rethink your options.

I have heard good things about Egyptian Fayoumis and games for foraging and predator savvy.

Buckeyes are cold hearty, congenial birds, that forage well and are good at gleaning bugs and pests. Keeping a rooster can help the flock be more savvy to predators. (Not that you indicated interest, but Buckeyes are great for the table, so you could eat your extra hens and roosters as needed).

Most chickens, if started in the coop (locked in for a few days) will return to it each night, though games can tend to want to roost in trees.

You can also look at this handy chart for chicken characteristics. I would stay away from any heavy footed breeds, as that makes for slow runners, and any with really large combs, as that can make them more vulnerable to cold.

http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html


https://www.mypetchicken.com/catalog/Baby-Chicks/Egyptian-Fayoumi-p1260.aspx

Wow- the chart is fantastic! Does that come from your farm? It is invaluable since I am looking for the chickens reactions and behaviors in exactly those circumstances! Those Egyptian Fayoumi sound like great birds- little guineas with a far better chance at keeping themselves safe. You get an A+ for all the novel ideas (even for having the same hawk issues I have).

 

[Banditschickens]

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Wow- the chart is fantastic! Does that come from your farm? It is invaluable since I am looking for the chickens reactions and behaviors in exactly those circumstances! Those Egyptian Fayoumi sound like great birds- little guineas with a far better chance at keeping themselves safe. You get an A+ for all the novel ideas (even for having the same hawk issues I have).

No, that is not from my farm. Sage Hen Farms produces that very helpful chart.

I have used it frequently in making my buying choices.

Good luck in your breed search and ridding your property from ticks....I hate those things too. YUK! Let the birds gobble them up

LofMc

 

[minaayindra]

Okay, after research and taking in opinions of people who actually know what they’re doing (as in all of you), these are now the chickens I’m going to order: Egyptian Fayoumi, Cream Legbar, Blue/Black Ameraucana, Blue/Black Favaucana, Partridge Olive Egger, Barred Plymouth Rock and Black Copper Marans. I was told by the MyPetChicken reps that I could have one of each type without any issues, that a rooster would not be mean and could even get along with other roosters should I end up with a few male chicks, and they should all be fine in the same coop with each other. If anyone knows of some reason this combination would not work or if roosters would be an issue, please let me know before I commit! Thanks for all your help...

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I would not recommend multiple roosters in a confined coop. I would not recommend multiple roosters unless you are keeping many hens. I would not recommend roosters until you are more experienced because they can turn aggressive at maturity.

Mixing different standard breeds in a flock is fine.