Hello, fairly new backyard chicken owner here, need advice

Date sort Score sort
superdeluxe

superdeluxe

Songster
6 Years
Joined
Apr 5, 2014
Messages
64
Reaction score
10
Points
101
Hello,

New here, we had a small backyard flock of 4 all different colors (so we could distinguish between them). We had a bluish/gray hen that wasn't as fluffy as the others, was a little more gangly and was really flighty. She jumped our fence when she got spooked and we never saw her again. We also had a barred cuckoo maran but she passed. Now we only have a large white hen and a speckled Sussex. We want to get 4 more hens that are good egg layers/cold hardy/not flighty and different colors for our backyard flock. They have a coop at night, but they free range during the idea.

I was leaning to a austrolorp, Orpington, barred Plymouth Rock and Rhode Island Red. Thoughts?
 
Thank you! Did you find they had great temperament/not flighty? That is what they say on the websites
 
Hello :frow and Welcome To BYC! Sorry about the hens you lost, sounds like you will have a pretty little flock again with the new additions. I like all the breeds you have in mind in mixed flocks, except the RIR, I have found most of them to be a problem with other less dominant breeds. Have you considered Wyandottes and Delawares? You could also go with different colors of some of the breeds, ie the Plymouth Rocks and Orpingtons come in a lot of different colors... the one thing with the Orpingtons is they do tend to be the most broody of the breeds you have listed, so be prepared to break broodys occasionally if you get them and don't want to hatch eggs. Also check out the BYC Breed section for member reviews on the various breeds, nice place to get a lot of different views.
 
Last edited:
images


Welcome to BYC!

So sorry for all your losses. But adding new birds will help to regrow your flock. Australorps are great birds to keep. Very docile, friendly, great layers, affectionate and quite hardy over all. My Aussies are huge on lap sitting and I can't sit anywhere without a chicken on my lap! The Plymouth Rocks are also great birds to keep with similar characteristics. And of course the Rhode Island Reds are great layers and affectionate as well. I think these breeds will make a wonderful addition to your flock!

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. And welcome to our flock!
 
Hey, welcome to BYC, I joined a couple of months ago and I love it! So I hope you do too.

I have three RIRs and they are awesome layers, when they were laying I had 4 eggs a day!

I've heard that Barred Rock's are also pretty good layers. Good luck with finding a cool chicken,

and make sure you tell us what you got:-)

Chickenlover:-)
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom