Hello from NJ

[b.hromada]

and

from S. Florida! Glad you joined us! Nice set up there.

 

[ThePolishPrincess]

These links might help you with breed choices.

MyPetChicken-great site. This is their breed selection list. Just answer the questions and your choices will come up, to see what breed is okay for you. Bare in mind that if you want to see more general results, keep everything the same and click 'Find My Chicken'. Then just pick the breed you'd like to veiw.

http://www.mypetchicken.com/breedQuestions.aspx

I also like this one. Scroll down and see the info. Some of them are pretty uncommon, though. But it's a neat chart.

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

Feathersite is a great site, though. This is where you can see different pictures of various breeds of birds. They also show really uncommon types.

http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKPoultryPage.html#Chickens

(Keep in mind that if you order birds from a hatchery most won't look exactly like some of the breeds these links show. Hatchery birds don't tend to look like the real thing.

At least some certain aspects of the breeds.)

Most of the time, how the bird acts with people depends on how it has been raised. But I won't lie, you're bound to come across some birds that just hate you, no matter what you do. It's happened to me.

 

[gaberdeen]

Welcome fellow NJ'er. I'm from Byram in Sussex county. If you are anywhere near try to go to the sussex co fair which is running this week. You'll be able to see a bunch of different types of chickens and talk to some of the exhibitors.

 

[dtimms]

Hi from a former New Jerseyan, now displaced up to CT for the last year!!!

We are newbies as well and there were a few books I found really, really helpful. The easiest to read and understand was "Keep Chickens!" by Barbara Kilarski. You'll probably need more than that, but it was a good start. I'm also going to order the "Dummies" book that just came out based on this site to add to my collection! I'm going to need a whole shelf soon...

We have an 18 month old and 3 8-10 week old pullets. Our Barred Rock is by far the friendliest and most intelligent, and will even let the baby pet her and hold her. We also have an Australorp and a RIR who are friendly enough with me, but don't go out of their way to be handled and petted. The baby likes to feed them Cheerios (he prefers if they take them from his fingers), so they all run over when they see him coming and it totally cracks him up.

If I had it to do over, I probably would have gotten a Buff Orpington based on the reviews here, but they were not available at the feed store. It was easier for me to get them at a week or two old than deal with tiny chicks the first time around.

 

[Crack N' Egg]

Wow...Thank you all for the warm welcome and great information!

After much research, here are the potential suspects for out 1st Coop.
*Our picks were based on (Temperament, climate, egg production, egg size/color, Broodiness and comb)

Silkies Cuckoos
Brahma (light)
Delaware
Plymouth Rock
Welsummer
Wyandotte


We are looking to get 6 Hens and 1 Rooster as day old Chicks.

What do you think of our picks?

Is it better to stick with the same type, one of each or mix and match?

If we do mix and match will the Rooster be ok with the variety ?

Cheers

 

[froggie71]

We have several different breeds which you can see in my sig. They all get along fine and the rooster will be fine with variety

The light Brahamas are nice, they are the only ones on your list I can comment about. Ours haven't gotten to be full size yet, but should be pretty big girls( we have named ours Tiny and Yeti). Good luck with your decision. Chickens are addicting. Once you start, you'll want more.

 

[Crack N' Egg]

Quote:
That's what we are afraid of

Cheers

 

[dtimms]

Quote:
I would really consider Buff Orpingtons based on what I've read here and elsewhere. Delawares are a little hard to come by. Like I said before, we love our barred rock, she's the friendliest of our little flock!

 

[ThePolishPrincess]

You can mix them. All of the birds in my signature, like Froggie, live together and do very nicely. You can even mix bantams (if you're ever interested) and large fowl birds, even though there will be a size difference. Bare in mind that you said large eggs were a want, and Silkies aren't great eggers.

Trust me, I know.

In my experience, my bantam Brahma is amazing. She goes broody, forever wanting to be a mommy, but she is really the sweetest thing and when she's not brooding, does give a good amount of eggs. She is very friendly and personable. But also very submissive.

We also have a large fowl Columbian Wyandotte. She is also very friendly and personable, as well as submissive.

I had 2 Silkies but the rooster was a constant attacker and went after me and my family. He was a brute, a beast. The hen however is a love. She is smaller than normal, possibly having to do with bad genes and the way she was born? We really don't know. She lays soft-shelled eggs (eggs without the shell) and no matter what we do, they never come out right. We let her stay in a semi-broody state as not to lay these shell-less eggs (the other chickens will eat them if given the chance) and she does fine. Chickens won't lay eggs when they are broody.

And I don't have Welsummers but they lay very dark brown eggs.