Favorite breed for mini farm/ homestead?

[jamband]

thanks. Yeah I wont order from a hatchery. There is a heritage poultry coalition her so access to quality breeds is pretty easy

 

[Majestic Lane Poultry]

Erin~TheChickenLover :

I suggest partridge rocks.

If you like barred rocks you will like these too! They are gorgeous, good egg layers, occasionally go broody, and people friendly, not to mention hardy and great foragers.

I agree with this poster. I had some hatchery partridge rocks from Ideal Poultry. They were the best. Plus because of their coloring, they blended into the leaves. This, I felt, kept them safer from overhead predators.​

 

[JaxBirchmuck]

You must look at what cover you have and the surrounding area to determine what breed will blend in with your cover. Buffs here on the farm blend into the tall field grass beautifully. that might not work if they were on manicured laws. I do notice our Orp.s when not in the tall cover instintively know to run from tree or over heard cover to the same, then causually mill around again.
Good luck with your choice, keep us posted!

 

[Chris09]

I will be the odd ball out and say for a "homestead" I would commend 2 breeds that should fit the bill.
One breed I would recommend is a good line of Rhode Island Reds, they will make a great starting breed for a homestead, the R.I. Red has a good amount of meat, and lay a good amount of brown eggs.
I have had Red for some time now and cant say that I have ever been disappointed with them.
The second breed that I would recommend if you are going to butcher your birds for the table would be a good Cornish Rooster.
In early summer take 3 or 4 Rhode Island Red hen and put them in a pen with the Cornish Rooster and hatch out there eggs for a great table fowl.
The Cornish X Rhode Island Red cross produces a yellow skinned bird which can be greatly enhanced in colour by feeding corn and allowing access to fresh green grass. The Rhode Island Red is a fast growing breed which dominates the slower growing Cornish. Cornish cocks should be at least a year old so that fertility is high. Since Rhode Island Reds are prolific layers, there is never any shortage of hatching egg.

Chris

 

[Majestic Lane Poultry]

If you are looking for a dual purpose...I have always found this interesting:

http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Breeding-Poultry.html

 

[Arielle]

You have asked a great question; the answer as you see is more complex. THere are so many breeds of chickens that there is one for every situation.

Are you free ranging? Woods? Fields? mowed lawns? Or will they be confined most of the time? OR some of the time?

What preditors are a problem? Hawks? Coyote? Domestic dogs?

Are you breeding to increase the numbers or buying replacements? Do you need a broody hen or will you use an incubator?

For Eggs? FOr meat? for both?

My boys are 7 and 9, and they are on guard when the roosters are free ranging. THe black sexlink roosters have flogged the boys. THe boys play with the Lt sussex hen, the buff orpington and the speckled sussex. THe SS are underfoot when I'm weeding looking for a treat! LOL I will be adding buckeye as I have heard of the gentle temperament of the roosters, the very good meat and moderate egg production.

I bought a few of many kinds of breeds to see which would work for me and my family; then I figured I could focus on the breeds that worked best for us.

THe co-op will be good in that you will be able to ask all the important questions about temperament. We have one EE that is a real peach. So I bought 10 more from another source. Only 1 was a sweetie like my first one.

Live and learn. Read all the breed threads too.

GL

 

[DreadElliot]

I have (2) GL Wyandottes, Australorps and a Barred Rock. I say mix it up with beautiful, friendly, useful ladies.

 

[jamband]

Quote:
I like that idea but want my hens to go broody and hatch babies and I dont want them to be mixed breeds.

 

[GatorChickenRanch]

I'm going to mix it up a bit and say jersey giants. They are my personal favorite, as i have seen the roo's get up to 16 pounds, and the hens lay jumbo eggs. I love mine.

 

[jamband]

Quote:
They are in a electric poultry netting setup that moves every 7-8 days to new grass which is basically pasture right now. i will be planting fruit tres etc.

Hawks are def around. They have a portable hoop coop with door always open.

I want a dual purpose breed to raise for meet and eggs

The flogging would be the last thing that rooster did. I wont keep aggressive ones. After speaking with a very knowledgeable poultry expert today he assured me that getting good breeder quality birds is the biggest key and all breeds can be around children.

Thanks for the help