Getting started

[good hententions]

I currently don't have any chickens but hope to soon. My son and I are in the process of deciding which breeds are best suited to our needs and wants. We are currently leaning toward Wyandottes, but there are so many beautiful birds to pick from that we are having trouble making up our minds. I'm looking forward to learning from your group and getting started!

 

[gertiie]

Welcome ! I found this site and love it ! Tons of information and help . Unreal ! Lots of good crazy people too, from what I am seeing !
LOVE your screen name !!!!!! I want to steal it for the name of my coop !! LOL

 

[awesomefowl]

From NY!
Go for it!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Quote:
Welcome.
What are your needs and wants in order of priority and maybe we can suggest some good breeds.

 

[good hententions]

Needs are good egg production and temperment. We have a family of 6 and I would like to have enough fresh eggs that I can bypass the eggs section of the supermarket. Our wants are ease of care, appearance, and I like the idea of keeping a heritage breed (although it seems that can be a loaded word). thanks in advance for any advice/suggestions

 

[pete rooster]

the rooster says

from the coop

 

[4-H chicken mom]

and

from Ohio. So glad you joined. Your best bet would be the Red Stars, AKA Golden Comet, Golden Sex Link, and Cinnamon Queen. They are excellant egg layers and have a calm disposition, just not as colorful as some of the other breeds. Just be careful of the chicken math. It creaps up on you when you least expect it.

Edited to add:

and

from Ohio. So glad you joined.

 

[stubbornhill]

Welcome! We have a couple of Wyandottes and love them! They are beautiful to look at and bless us with some lovely eggs.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Welcome to the forum!!

Glad you joined us!!!

Any of the dual purpose breeds will suit your purposes pretty well. I'll probably forget some, but in addition to the Wyandottes, the Rocks, Sussex, Delaware, Australorp, Orpington, EE's (not heritage but these often lay blue or green eggs), Dorking, Favorelles, Chantecler, or Buckeye will work well. The Rhode island Reds are also a pretty good choice, but there are some reports on this forum of them not being exceptionally friendly. Some people have them and love them though. Any of the hatchery sex links are a good choice. Brahma's are slow to mature and eat a lot because of their size so they may not be exactly what you want, but many people really like them. It is kind of hard to make a really bad choice as long as you do a bit of research.

Here area couple of links that might help. The Henderson Breed Chart gives a lot of good information about the tendencies of the different breeds and Feathersite gives some real nice pictures. You will not find EE's or the sex links on the chart since they are not breeds. Feathersite has some sex links but I'm not sure on the EE's.

Henderson’s Breed Chart
http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html

Feathersite
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKPoultryPage.html

 

[AshleyGray]

Welcome!

Hope to see you around!

Silkie are good starters....Not big egg layers, but very sweet and gentle, especially with children.

My daughter who is five carries her silkie, 2 of which are roosters, everywhere. Even riders her tricycle with one of them!