First Time Flock Builder

[TheUrbanUndertaking]

Hello, everyone! After literal years of research, we're finally getting ready to take the plunge and get our own flock of chickens. I'd love to get some perspective on the breeds I've chosen (or alternate recommendations) to make sure our girls get along and enjoy a good life together.

Here are the parameters I'm working with.

• We have a limit of 6 chickens (hens only)
• We live in southwest Michigan, so it gets cold
• The girls will largely be in their coop and outdoor run, but will have opportunities to get out in the yard whenever weather permits and we're able to keep an eye on them, we live in a neighborhood with a good-sized, fenced backyard
• They're going to be used mostly as pets, the eggs are an added benefit
• Planning on getting them from Murray McMurray Hatchery
• Personality is our top priority

Here's what I'm thinking: White Orpington, Barred Rock, Ameraucana, Speckled Sussex, Black Australorp, and either a Salmon Faverolle OR a Wyandotte (I've heard good things about both, but wondered if there was one better suited based on our setup). If we're looking for gentle, approachable hens that will be raised from chicks, how does this lineup look?

Any advice/recommendations are greatly appreciated!

 

[wrathsfarm]

Hi from another Mi'er.

If I had those choicest, I would get the Favorelle over the Wyandotte. My personal experience is I'm not a fan of mine as both were bullies. I've read of others experiences as well but have seen others still that love them so maybe it's just the individual birds and not breed trait.

Of your other choices, I have Black Australorps and Barred Rocks, both are really great breeds and I highly recommend them to others as they are very friendly and docile.

You should get some nicely colored eggs from your choices. I'd like to add a few Ameraucana's this year for blue eggs to breed to my Black Copper Marans to make more Olive colored eggs. I just got my very first Olive Egger egg on Christmas.

Best of luck with your new arrivals..

 

[TheUrbanUndertaking]

Thank you! And good to know about the other two breeds. I'm really looking forward to all of the different egg colors we should be getting.

So exciting about your Olive Egger egg, those are absolutely gorgeous!

Thank you again for the advice and well wishes and hopefully you're staying dry and warm in this good 'ol Michigan weather!

 

[wrathsfarm]

Your welcome, hopefully others will chime in also on your other picks. I've read that Orpingtons and Speckled Sussex are real friendly breeds also but no personal experience with them.

Every breed has their individual personality so it's best to take advise with the grain just learn thru your own experience. But I think you've made some great choices.

 

[nuthatched]

Every bird has their own temperament and personality, so i wouldn't bank on any bird being friends. Bit that's a good line up.

 

[TheUrbanUndertaking]

Every bird has their own temperament and personality, so i wouldn't bank on any bird being friends. Bit that's a good line up.

Thank you! And absolutely, intent is more or less to pad the roster with birds that are 'more likely' to have the desired traits. Appreciate the input!

 

[Seaslug]

I think that one of the best things you can do is get your hens as day old chicks and make sure to spend a decent amount of time with them every day, talking to them and interacting with them. This will help them to become as docile and friendly with you as possible. Like most living things, they do have personality changes from chicks to pullets to hens, and while chicks can usually be counted on to snuggle with you pullets and hens do not always continue to enjoy that (sort of like human babies, they grow up!) But, there are a lot of ways to interact with them.

I have a few Speckled Sussex and they are similar to what I read about them. First and foremost, they are curious birds. We got 4 which we raised together. They are very biddable -- they will come when I call them and I can call them over if I find good treats in the yard. They can be picked up, and although I am not certain that they love it, they will come over to me if I am sitting in the yard and in general I get the sense that they trust me and do not mind sharing some of their time with me. They are docile and will often talk quietly to me and the other hens. They are able to forage and will often take some of the first bites of a novel food, teaching the other hens that something tastes good. They are also very pretty, looking a bit like a tiny wild turkey. They fit into our flock and home right away. There eggs are not huge but they lay regularly and had a fast molt (which can be important where it is colder.) They are suppose to be natural cold weather layers, but my girls went off laying when one of their sisters was killed by our neighbor's dog (a newly adopted dog from the pound, neither of us had any idea she had come down here and done that -- what can you do? I think she was bold, use to our dogs, and no one knew it was going to happen.)

Just this year I got an Austrolorp, who I raised with a Sapphire Gem. Both of those girls are very sweet -- I am not sure if we just spent more time with these two as chicks or what... we did make sure to just sit and hold them and this has resulted in hens that are much more comfortable with being held. The Austrolorp is low in the pecking order -- she just avoids the other hens when she sees that they may be interested in starting something. She is beautiful. She is very attached to her "sister." She is docile, for sure, and permits handling. She is laying large size medium brown eggs. I would like to get a blue Austrolorp. The Sapphire Gem is part Barred Rock, and she is a wonderful chicken as well.

I have no experience with your other breeds, so I can not comment. One thing I wish we would have done (and it is really hard to do, so I totally understand if you feel you can't do this) is, since our chickens are our pets and our egg producers, we are keeping them regardless of how productive they are. We probably should have started with 4 rather than 6, then gotten 3 more either the next year or two years after starting, so that we could stagger our production over time without inflating our numbers. But it is hard to wait, and introductions are time consuming. So it just depends. As a Christmas baking family, it is nice to have some laying in winter.

Hope you enjoy your flock.

 

[TheUrbanUndertaking]

I think that one of the best things you can do is get your hens as day old chicks and make sure to spend a decent amount of time with them every day, talking to them and interacting with them. This will help them to become as docile and friendly with you as possible. Like most living things, they do have personality changes from chicks to pullets to hens, and while chicks can usually be counted on to snuggle with you pullets and hens do not always continue to enjoy that (sort of like human babies, they grow up!) But, there are a lot of ways to interact with them.

I have a few Speckled Sussex and they are similar to what I read about them. First and foremost, they are curious birds. We got 4 which we raised together. They are very biddable -- they will come when I call them and I can call them over if I find good treats in the yard. They can be picked up, and although I am not certain that they love it, they will come over to me if I am sitting in the yard and in general I get the sense that they trust me and do not mind sharing some of their time with me. They are docile and will often talk quietly to me and the other hens. They are able to forage and will often take some of the first bites of a novel food, teaching the other hens that something tastes good. They are also very pretty, looking a bit like a tiny wild turkey. They fit into our flock and home right away. There eggs are not huge but they lay regularly and had a fast molt (which can be important where it is colder.) They are suppose to be natural cold weather layers, but my girls went off laying when one of their sisters was killed by our neighbor's dog (a newly adopted dog from the pound, neither of us had any idea she had come down here and done that -- what can you do? I think she was bold, use to our dogs, and no one knew it was going to happen.)

Just this year I got an Austrolorp, who I raised with a Sapphire Gem. Both of those girls are very sweet -- I am not sure if we just spent more time with these two as chicks or what... we did make sure to just sit and hold them and this has resulted in hens that are much more comfortable with being held. The Austrolorp is low in the pecking order -- she just avoids the other hens when she sees that they may be interested in starting something. She is beautiful. She is very attached to her "sister." She is docile, for sure, and permits handling. She is laying large size medium brown eggs. I would like to get a blue Austrolorp. The Sapphire Gem is part Barred Rock, and she is a wonderful chicken as well.

I have no experience with your other breeds, so I can not comment. One thing I wish we would have done (and it is really hard to do, so I totally understand if you feel you can't do this) is, since our chickens are our pets and our egg producers, we are keeping them regardless of how productive they are. We probably should have started with 4 rather than 6, then gotten 3 more either the next year or two years after starting, so that we could stagger our production over time without inflating our numbers. But it is hard to wait, and introductions are time consuming. So it just depends. As a Christmas baking family, it is nice to have some laying in winter.

Hope you enjoy your flock.

Thank you so much, all of that is incredibly helpful and it sounds like you have a wonderful flock!

I absolutely agree, I’m trying to decide on staggering for egg production since 6 hens is our limit, and I don’t intend to kick anyone out after they stop laying. With such a small number, it’s difficult to find hatcheries either nearby or willing to ship a few birds at a time, so I’m left with local stores and hatching times and miss out on some of the harder-to-come-by breeds. I’ve also been curious about the health and quality of birds from places like TSC or Blain’s as opposed to larger hatcheries.

As a fellow Christmas baker, I have to admit I was daydreaming this year of the day we get to use eggs from our own backyard.

Thank you again!

 

[wrathsfarm]

Thank you so much, all of that is incredibly helpful and it sounds like you have a wonderful flock!

I absolutely agree, I’m trying to decide on staggering for egg production since 6 hens is our limit, and I don’t intend to kick anyone out after they stop laying. With such a small number, it’s difficult to find hatcheries either nearby or willing to ship a few birds at a time, so I’m left with local stores and hatching times and miss out on some of the harder-to-come-by breeds. I’ve also been curious about the health and quality of birds from places like TSC or Blain’s as opposed to larger hatcheries.

As a fellow Christmas baker, I have to admit I was daydreaming this year of the day we get to use eggs from our own backyard.

Thank you again!

I did a quick search for Michigan TSC and Blain's to see what hatcheries they use.

I found that Blain's uses Cackle and TSC uses Hoover's. This may not be correct so it's best to call YOUR local feed stores and ask.

With that being said, you can then peruse their hatchery catalogs and place the order thru whichever feed store to have shipped in with their delivery to the store.

This way your not limited to just what they had shipped on that date but your getting what you'd like.

Even if you needed to get all your breeds from both TSC and Blain's if you time the deliveries within a few days the chicks would still integrate at days old. But most feed stores all get their chicks in on the same day of the week and as far as I know you can order as few as you'd like.

Hope this helps.

 

[AGeese]

Hello, everyone! After literal years of research, we're finally getting ready to take the plunge and get our own flock of chickens. I'd love to get some perspective on the breeds I've chosen (or alternate recommendations) to make sure our girls get along and enjoy a good life together.

Here are the parameters I'm working with.

• We have a limit of 6 chickens (hens only)
• We live in southwest Michigan, so it gets cold
• The girls will largely be in their coop and outdoor run, but will have opportunities to get out in the yard whenever weather permits and we're able to keep an eye on them, we live in a neighborhood with a good-sized, fenced backyard
• They're going to be used mostly as pets, the eggs are an added benefit
• Planning on getting them from Murray McMurray Hatchery
• Personality is our top priority

Here's what I'm thinking: White Orpington, Barred Rock, Ameraucana, Speckled Sussex, Black Australorp, and either a Salmon Faverolle OR a Wyandotte (I've heard good things about both, but wondered if there was one better suited based on our setup). If we're looking for gentle, approachable hens that will be raised from chicks, how does this lineup look?

Any advice/recommendations are greatly appreciated!

Just curious if you're in Michigan why you picked Murry in Iowa over Meyer Hatchery in Ohio? Assuming you're getting these shipped as chicks? The USPS has been having some struggles lately.