HollowOfWisps
Previously AstroDuck
Hi everyone! I'm usually over in the duck forum, but today I need some help on deciding chicken breeds for our farm. We raised Rhode Island Reds and Cornish x growing up so I'm not new to chickens, but it's been awhile since I've been raised any and most of my experience being around only those two breeds. I'll try to divide this up into sections with what we're looking for that way it's not one big jumbled paragraph with my scrambled thoughts
Friendly Breeds: I know a chicken's personality also depends on how it's raised and the individual chicken, but I would like to avoid starting out on our chicken adventure with aggression prone breeds so more friendly options preferred.
Eggs: We would like some eggs, but we don't have to have a crazy amount because we do get eggs from our ducks.
Meat: We would like to raise some of our own meat, but we're fine with slower growing breeds and I would actually prefer to stay away from breeds that grow almost too fast. Basically we want enough meat on them to make it worth raising some to butcher, but we don't need gigantic jumbo chickens in our freezer.
Cold Hardy Breeds: Another big factor is we need cold hardy breeds. They will have a well built, insulated, draft free and well ventilated coop that will probably end up being more of a chicken palace then a coop, but even then this past winter it got down to -40 wind chill. I'm not going to put a breed raised for warmer weather through that kind of winter.
Overall we are fine with having several different breeds and I think it would be fun to have some diversity. These are the breeds I am leaning towards below, but I'm really looking for any opinions and experience so if you have any other breed suggestions or any suggestions at all please let me know!
-Wyandotte
-Barnevelder
-Barred Plymouth Rock
-Orpington
Friendly Breeds: I know a chicken's personality also depends on how it's raised and the individual chicken, but I would like to avoid starting out on our chicken adventure with aggression prone breeds so more friendly options preferred.
Eggs: We would like some eggs, but we don't have to have a crazy amount because we do get eggs from our ducks.
Meat: We would like to raise some of our own meat, but we're fine with slower growing breeds and I would actually prefer to stay away from breeds that grow almost too fast. Basically we want enough meat on them to make it worth raising some to butcher, but we don't need gigantic jumbo chickens in our freezer.
Cold Hardy Breeds: Another big factor is we need cold hardy breeds. They will have a well built, insulated, draft free and well ventilated coop that will probably end up being more of a chicken palace then a coop, but even then this past winter it got down to -40 wind chill. I'm not going to put a breed raised for warmer weather through that kind of winter.
Overall we are fine with having several different breeds and I think it would be fun to have some diversity. These are the breeds I am leaning towards below, but I'm really looking for any opinions and experience so if you have any other breed suggestions or any suggestions at all please let me know!
-Wyandotte
-Barnevelder
-Barred Plymouth Rock
-Orpington
With my horses any feathering (hair) around their hooves would get big ice balls in the winter. I know horse hair and chicken feathers are obviously very different, but does that happen with chickens that have feathered feet?
