Hello from an enthusiastic but total noob to chickens

[Zesty]

Hello!

I've been lurking for quite awhile now, somewhat obsessivly.

I've decided to try to prepare to have my own backyard flock. I've never owned any "farm" animal such as chickens, but my babysitter as a child lived on a farm with chickens and it was so fun to interact with them. I'm learning SOO much from this site, it is amazing. I just have a couple questions to start out with:

- Is it better for beginners to purchase day old chicks or to buy an incubater and start out with eggs?

- I'm interested in unique/rare breeds. I'll only be able to start out with about 10 chickens ( or less), so is it better to just choose one breed (sooo hard!) or to mix and match?

- What breeds do well in the South?


Thanks!

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas, Zesty, and

! Great to have you with us! You will love raising chickens! As to your questions...hard to say which is "better." I think buying day old chicks is the way to go if you are just starting out. Hatcheries offer many different breeds that travel safely through the mail right to your door step. Incubating and hatching is more hit and miss, you end up with a 50/50 mix of hens and roosters, and getting eggs through the mail (if you go that route) is risky as it they have a much lower hatch rate. If it were me, I'd go with chicks. In terms of breed - I have a mixed flock of 18 birds of 12 or 14 varieties....they were raised together and get along great. Lots of breeds handle the heat and humidity of the south well. Below are a couple links to get you started Good luck on your journey!!

The Learning Center: the tabs within this link will give you the knowledge you need to be a responsible poultry keeper:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/

Here is a link to chart of some common breeds - you can compare attributes of breeds.

http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html


And here is a link to some hatcheries - you can see the vast variety when it comes to chicken choices:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/16/chicken-breeders-hatcheries

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Welcome to BYC! Glad you joined us!

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! Glad you joined us!

 

[gryeyes]

Welcome to BYC from California wine country in the Western Sierra Foothills!

I so love the look of a mixed flock!

Although, someday it might be cool to see a flock of Buff Orpingtons and Black Autralorps, just for the Halloween effect.....

If you plan to breed any of your unique/rare breeds, you need to keep them separate. If, like me, you just want some but don't plan to preserve the breed, then allowing roosters free access with the flock is fine.

But I digress. Start with chicks. I could explain why, but as you can tell, I talk too much. . Just trust me/us and start with chicks. That's addictive enough.

 

[drumstick diva]