Flock choice? Advice for a newbie....

[anngili]

I currently have 3 3-month old chickens and each is different: a Barred Rock, a Buff Orpington, and a Golden Sex Link. The Golden Sex Link acts just like an RIR and is nice, but not overly friendly, kind of standoffish. The Barred Rock is quiet, curious, pretty friendly and a real character. She always "talks" to me as soon as she sees me. The Buff Orpington is a sweet, meek, cuddly ball of fluffy feathers.
They were raised together as chicks along with several others of each breed (I was brooding chicks for 3 different people) and they all get along just fine. If you get different size chickens, I'm sure the Buff Orpingtons, although not on your list, would get along with bantams fine. Mine is so meek (and friendly) she's always been on the bottom of the pecking order. I also had a couple of Easter Eggers that I raised with them but they both turned out to be roosters, so off they went. They still all got along together except for one of the EE roosters who was just plain mean once his hormones kicked in.
I'm currently raising another batch of EEs to replace my roosters, add an extra one, and some more for one of the 3 people I've shared with before. They're a bit more active than the BO, about the same as the RIR, but they're already really tame even though I haven't spent all that much time handling them.
Personally, I like your list and hey, it's only got 6 kinds; just get one of each and then when you want to add more, you'll already have an idea of which breeds you'd like to add!

I also

 

[Getaway Gal]

I started with 4 EE's, 2 Buff Orpingtons, and 2 Australorps. The Buff Orpingtons were by FAR the friendliest of the bunch!!

I caught the bug, needed more, and got 4 Buff Orpingtons, 2 Australorps, 2 Barred Rocks, and 2 Silver Laced Wyandotts. I was really surprised by the Barred Rocks-they are the two most friendly of this bunch. They are followed immediately by the Buff Orpingtons.

In both cases, the Austrolorps are the most reserved and stand-offish of the bunch, which was a surprise. The Easter Eggers continue to get more and more friendly, but the Orpingtons are they ones that jump right up and would love to sit on me all day! I'm looking forward to seeing how the Barred Rocks evolve.

Enjoy!

 

[Happy Chooks]

Quote:
I'm a proponent of single breed flocks, especially when small numbers are concerned. There is predictability with a single breed.

For the first time chickeneer, smoothing out and getting predictability is more important than a gala parade of 'yard confetti' chickens.

With a hodgepodge of personalities as found in a mixed flock, you get results that are well, mixed. Kids are always a variable with any flock, and among a mixed lot, only more so.

Think of it like a farmer sees his field, if it helps. He doesn't grow three or four crops, all intermingled in the same plot. He grows one, so it can be managed for predictable results.

But if past experience is any indicator, you're gonna go your own way...

You'll have your confetti flock and never be the wiser. You will be enabled by all the other confetti-ists here at BYC. They will say, "Aw, that Davaroo is an old poop - don't listen to anything he says."

Your chickens will grow, as they inevitably do, and you will get the results you get. You will encounter all the same worries most newcomers run into and you won't be alone - many, many folks have done the same.

But, little will you know that by eliminating breed variability in the flock, you stand your best chance of reaching your ideal.

So that's my input. Take it for what it's worth. I wish you the best and a heartfelt welcome. You are gonna have some fun, bank on that!

I understand your view, and you have very valuable information. I can see how it might be beneficial to focus on one breed.


Now with that said............. I just wanted to share the how/why we ended up the way we did.

For me, this is my first time raising chickens. I let my kids each choose a chick. (so there's the first 2 different breeds....RIR and gold sex link) I then chose other breeds for different reasons. Orp for their gentle disposition, Brahma for good winter laying, BR for just being known as great layers, EE for (well lets be honest) the egg color. (I know, horrible right?) The only "accidental" one I ended up with was the Sicilian Buttercup. (just too cute to pass up......I know, even worse.)

I'm sure in time, I will narrow to a breed (or 2) that work best for me and my family. But since I'm new to this, I wanted the variety to be able to experience some qualities of the breeds. I do realize that only having 1 chicken of the breed, that I may be missing a lot of qualities, as it's an individual and may or may not accurately represent the breed.

Again, I enjoy reading your point of view on topics.

 

[luvchicks8]

My EE hens are so sweet but my roo is very aggressive to people and the hens.

 

[chickerdoodle]

Quote:
Have you given any thoughts on bantams???

Lately I have fallen in love with the Faverolles. Mine are not broody at all and one of the friendliest chickens I have ever owned.....they are even more sweet than my silkies lol

I added an Orpington and 2 Easter Eggers hist year and the bigger chicks are fitting very well with my smaller bantams....weather is because I hand raised them or not I don't know but the whole flock gets along extremely well.

YES!!! I've been thinking of bantams a lot lately!!

My few concerns:
Are they more likely to take flight? Our coop will be about 7 foot tall and covered but we want to let them out of the coop too for ranging.
They are also sold only straight run--we can't have any roos!
Where did you get yours?

 

[Coppa]

Actually no.....from experience my larger breed of chickens are the ones that tend to take flight.....none of my bantams have ever attempted to fly high. I own a Horizon coop but I have no cover or fencing around it......is just set in a corner and my chicks go to sleep there at night and have free run of my whole yard during the day.

If you are looking for larger brown eggs, the wyandottes are adorable and real sweethearts. They don't have feathered feet but are almost as small as my bantams. The faverolles of course are my favorite and so are the buff brahmas. My silkies lay lots of eggs but they are light cream colored and on the smaller size. My orpignton is the biggest of my chickens with my easter egger but since they grew up together as chicks they all get along incredibly well. I also tend to believe that because they have free range of my whole back yard during the day they are less prone to bickering because they are not kept in a smaller enclosure all the time. You can see them going all over the place looking for bugs, taking dust baths and frolicking along and none of them ever take flight even when startled.

As far as temperament goes, my faverolles, EE and Orpignton are the sweetest and most outgoing of them all. They come running to me when I'm outside and when we have friends over for a bbq they love sitting on their laps and being petted. The silkies are more independent and only come over if they know I have treats for them but they like being petted and picked up as well. The WY's and BB's like to be in the middle of it all and are on the top of the pecking order and they're just this fluffy, round and cute bundles of chickens lol

I got all most of my chickens from www.mypetchicken.com. Not only I didn't want roosters but I wanted only a few of them and not 25 and they let you order as few as 3 chicks at a time

My silkies I raised from eggs I hatched in my incubator and I had two roos and found them homes when they were about 4 months old.

I hope this info helps

 

[Coppa]

Oh and forgot to mention......if you're planning on getting them as chicks and you have a coop but want to let them run free in your yard during the day I certainly suggest you have some sort of covered pen or fence for them during their first 8-10 months and let them run free in your yard with supervision till they're older.

My chicks are over a year old now and it was only about 3-4 months ago that I totally removed the pen that surrounded the coop and let them be free even at night but I do live in the middle of a town and we don't have that many predators around. I only lost one chicken to an owl and one fell in our swimming pool and drowned last year but I have yet to see a cat, raccoon or a fox around my area and also now that I have a peacock to watch over them I don't even see the owl flying over our property anymore.

 

[kristen2678]

My EE is very sweet. She likes to be held, comes when called, and is pretty smart when you compare her to our BO and Light Brahma. Not to mention a very pretty girl.

 

[lotzahenz]

I like your choice of chicks. I also like the idea of a one breed flock, all symetric, all eggs the same, very uniform and tidy. BUT, I have never, no matter how hard I have tried, had a one breed flock. There is just no way to narrow it down to one breed. There are many breeds that are best for you, just different reasons why they are best. I also know that there are some birds that come out mean, no matter how they are raised. In my experience the truly mean birds were all from the same batch. Once I got Langshans, got 3 that all turned out to be Roos and they all flogged my toddler. I had others that were mean too. I think certain lines are just sweeter than others. And the best reason I like to have a diversified flock is to have a colorful egg basket. My friends love the range of egg colors in each carton, from chocolate brown to pink, white, cream, blue and green, and some olive too. When each hen lays a completely different egg, you can always tell who is laying when. So, I say do what you want. I've always let the kids pick chicks, then I had to add my choices. I'd order about 1/2 again as many as you need, in case there are some casualities en transport or even later. Once in a while you'll get a bum chick. If you have two of each breed, and maybe an extra breed you might like. If one turns out to be a Roo, you can rehome him. I used to love getting Murray McMurray's cataloug and studying it for hours, like a wish book. I would end up with 20 breeds, and have to trim it down to less. I most of the time got 5 of each for a total of 25. That is a nice assortment. OH, if you do get bantams, you can have more birds in less space and they are so cute too.

Smiles! HenZ

 

[Chickenmaven]

My Ameraucanas & Phoenix are nearly feral.

My Dominiques and Cochins are friendly and dandy. Great layers.

Silkies will steal your soul. Don't get ANY. You will end up like me. I started with three. Now I have TWENTY. Oh, the ones that aren't roosters or "cute babies" are constantly broody. Twenty birds = 3 eggs a day, tops.

And, yet, I

SILKIES. (Proof of the Silkie mind control...)