Finding our breeds/chicks

[Ccort]

Hi!
I'm trying to decide what "day Olds" to get for our small backyard flock of 3 or 4 and where from. I saw the one website...Cackle Hatchery...offers a "City Town Special" where we can receive all females. Has anyone ordered from there? I dont understand how they know they will be all female at that age?
Also, can you offer recommendations on breeds for us? I have been researching but finding it so hard to decide! Were in Kentucky so they need to tolerate the cold, want all females, and would like the more friendly/docile birds as well as more quiet, per the hubby's request. Egg production isn't as important to us and their chicken run will be totally enclosed so flightness doesn't matter as much either. I would love recommendations from the more experienced than I! I've been looking at Orpingtons and Cochins but open to ideas!

 

[JCinNM]

Orpingtons are notoriously friendly and handle the cold. All my Cochins have been sweethearts too but I found their feathered feet to get sloppy wet in mud and slush. Always worried about wet feathers turning icy. Also I found that Cochins become broody more so than Orps. Orps gets broody too but not as much as Cochins. Both breeds come in many colors so you can always tell them apart. There are many breeds but you will hear from many people that Orps are the friendliest of them all.
My 2 cents…

 

[MountainWoman73]

The "sexed female" chicks will usually be 80-90% female. They use a technique called vent sexing which is only so accurate. If it's super important to you not to get a surprise rooster, stick with sex linked breeds, which should be sexable by their color. I'd guess that the City/Town special is sexlinks?

The "flightiness" basically means skittish/not into handling.

Some of my backyard favorites are Australorps, Barred Rocks, Welsummers, and ISA Browns. I also really love my Speckled Sussex and Sicilian Buttercup for looks and friendliness, but they aren't my best layers.

 

[Ccort]

The City/Town special are not sex linked. They give a short list of breeds to pick from, Orps included. My worry with sex linked is their short lifespan.
From what I am hearing, Orpingtons are a great fit for us. What would be the next recommendation? I'm so interested in Brahmas and Sussex.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

The City/Town special are not sex linked. They give a short list of breeds to pick from, Orps included. My worry with sex linked is their short lifespan.
From what I am hearing, Orpingtons are a great fit for us. What would be the next recommendation? I'm so interested in Brahmas and Sussex.

Orps are great, versatile and friendly! Brahmas are awesome too! I have 1 of each. Maybe look at another hatchery where you can pick a few different breeds, or see if you can mix and match

 

[Ccort]

I take that back...they do offer sex linked chicks as well as ones that aren't with that City/Town special.

 

[Floof]

I would recommend wyondottes, ameraucanas, and easter eggers. They are all very friendly, lay moderately well, have combs that suffer less in the cold, and are less likely to suffer reproduction issues (compared to the high production sex links).

 

[MadamContrary]

I personally love Brahmas, but they are very large and slow growing. Hatchery stock won't usually get as large, but they're still going to be good sized and very hungry for the first two years. They are hit or miss on being quiet, they can be bossy with other birds, but are known to be easy to handle even if they look a little mean. I wouldn't keep them in confinement they are great foragers, and you'll need to have a large coop and entrance to accommodate them once they hit full size. Cochin seem to span the personality spectrum to me, from super timid to head hen and a little mean. They are adorable and have the fluffiest butts lol! Bantam Cochin have big personalities and mature super quick, so any boys would stand out early enough to re-home before crowing starts. I don't have a full blood Orpington, she's half Brahma and she goes broody when the wind changed directions. Honestly I would research birds that bear confinement well and cold temperature well, then pick other traits you like after narrowing it down.

 

[Ccort]

Thanks everyone! Easter eggers...aren't they known for being very noisy?

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC. If you put your general location into your profile it will help people give targeted advice.

Go Ahead, Pick the Prettiest Chickens!​

Seriously, most chicken breeds are available as sexed females -- with about a 90% accuracy so you aren't limited by that marketing package.

If you're going to have limited space, look for "Tolerates confinement" in the hatchery breed blurbs and avoid variations of "Active forager" because those breeds are likely to need more than the recommended minimums of space to be happy.

Speaking of space, what do you have in mind for a coop and run?

Most of those prefab coops you see at the farm store are flimsy, poorly-designed, badly-ventilated, and WAY TOO SMALL.

The usual guidelines for space are that for each adult, standard-sized hen you need:

• 4 square feet in the coop (.37 square meters)
• 10 square feet in the run (.93 square meters),
• 1 linear foot of roost (.3 meters),
• 1/4 of a nest box,
• And 1 square foot (.09 square meters) of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation, preferably located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.

So for a flock of 4 you need:

• 16 square feet in the coop. 4'x4' is the only really practical build for this given the common dimensions of lumber.
• 4 feet of roost
• 40 square feet in the run. 4'x10' or 5'x8'. 6'x6' is a bit too small, 6'x8' is more generous and easier to build than 5'x8'.
• 4 square feet of ventilation. A 2'x2' window is theoretically enough, but in practice doesn't create any air FLOW so better to spread the venting around (and even better to exceed the minimums, especially in warm climates).
• 2 nest boxes, to give the hens a choice

My first coop here was designed specifically (with the help of the experts here), to meet all the minimums for a flock of 4 in a compact footprint: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-little-monitor-coop.76275/ If you were to copy the original attached run, I recommend that you make it full height.

One way to get around the problem of hatchery order minimums and high small order fees is to find someone nearby who also wants chicks and to split an order with them. One good way to do that is to ask in your state thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=110

Thanks everyone! Easter eggers...aren't they known for being very noisy?

When it comes to chickens "quiet" is both a relative term and a matter of individual personality rather than breed.

I find that my chickens are quieter when they have abundant food and water and plenty of chicken things to do -- such as scratching, dustbathing, perching, etc. They are, however, very proud of their eggs and tell the world all about them.