Hello! New to the community. Wife, 2 kids and I are considering starting a coop of maybe 10 chickens

[lilmillefleur]

Welcome to BYC! We hope you learn lots and have fun

 

[feathermaid]

We started our egg flock with 6 breeds, and found 1 breed we did not like at all and have since sold them at auction. Another breed we are not interested in getting again. The other 4 breeds we like for their quirky and friendly personalities.

We experienced a broody hen and caved and gave her some young chicks, which she mothered well...but then we had more chickens (chicken math)! We sold 5 of those at auction, since two were surprise cockerels and the other 3 didnt fit what we wanted.

All this to say that in one year from now, I wonder what chicken adventures you and your family will have experienced!

What were the breeds you liked and didn't like?

 

[Meg-in-MT]

Hello, and welcome to BYC!

 

[TropicalBabies]

Aloha, welcome to BYC! I'm happy you and your family joined us and I hope you post your chicken adventures for us as you go!!! We love photos so don't be shy.
If you are looking for free advice I'd say, build bigger... chickens are addicting.

 

[LavvyTaffy]

Howdy Michael, and
So glad you decided to join our "egg-ceptional" community!

Hope you enjoy your time here.

 

[Acre4Me]

What were the breeds you liked and didn't like?

We did NOT like the Dark Brown Leghorns. Males were visually attractive and colorful, but umm..talkative. The females were very flighty, took Forever to lay, 38 weeks, 44weeks, and not yet by the time we sold them around 45 weeks old.

We really like our:
1. EEs. Friendly, pretty green eggs, quirky personalities.

2. Black Australorps. Nice, very friendly, reliable layers. One went broody and did an awesome momma hen job (we gave her chicks, she did not hatch any).

3. Black Jersey Giant. Interesting bc so large! Docile, male is fairly quiet, crows everyday, but not a lot. Female is reliable layer.

4. Silver laced Wyandotte. Attractive, inquisitive, but a bit sassy. Gets a bit opinionated at times. We only have 1, so not much to compare to.

Meh...our barred rocks we like fine, but don’t stand out any way, seem to be reliable layers. Probably would not seek out any more, but mainly bc we like the others better.

 

[feathermaid]

We did NOT like the Dark Brown Leghorns. Males were visually attractive and colorful, but umm..talkative. The females were very flighty, took Forever to lay, 38 weeks, 44weeks, and not yet by the time we sold them around 45 weeks old.

We really like our:
1. EEs. Friendly, pretty green eggs, quirky personalities.

2. Black Australorps. Nice, very friendly, reliable layers. One went broody and did an awesome momma hen job (we gave her chicks, she did not hatch any).

3. Black Jersey Giant. Interesting bc so large! Docile, male is fairly quiet, crows everyday, but not a lot. Female is reliable layer.

4. Silver laced Wyandotte. Attractive, inquisitive, but a bit sassy. Gets a bit opinionated at times. We only have 1, so not much to compare to.

Meh...our barred rocks we like fine, but don’t stand out any way, seem to be reliable layers. Probably would not seek out any more, but mainly bc we like the others better.

Thank you for this thoughtful reply.
I always thought all leghorns started laying the earliest of most breeds, interesting to hear your experience with them. I have a blue wyandotte that is still not laying at 39 weeks... so yikes, may still have a while to wait yet.

 

[Acre4Me]

Thank you for this thoughtful reply.
I always thought all leghorns started laying the earliest of most breeds, interesting to hear your experience with them. I have a blue wyandotte that is still not laying at 39 weeks... so yikes, may still have a while to wait yet.

I think regular leghorns (white?) lay pretty early. We were surprised! Recently, I called the hatchery where we got the DBL from and ordered a few of two breeds we like for an early spring hatch. I mentioned the DBL scenario (late bloomers) and the owner indicated that DBL are NOT known for their egg laying, so she was not surprised. But, this helped us learn more about chickens and their variations...in addition to what we like and don't like!

Your BW might have just been impacted by lack of light in the winter. If only 39 weeks, that BW would have been getting to POL around the time light was reduced to around 12 hours or less, so if the comb and wattles are getting red now that the light is increasing you might not have long to wait!

 

[feathermaid]

Your BW might have just been impacted by lack of light in the winter. If only 39 weeks, that BW would have been getting to POL around the time light was reduced to around 12 hours or less, so if the comb and wattles are getting red now that the light is increasing you might not have long to wait!

You sound completely right... or at least should be! And that's what I used to think too. I'm not really sure exactly what time of year the daylight hours decreased, but my BW turned red and had wattles so early I thought for sure she was a cockerel. Then after finally being confirmed a pullet, I thought she would be the first to lay in late summer. Nope. (my first flock a couple yrs ago started laying in late summer at 18 wks) Here's a pic of her back in October at 24 weeks:


My BO who's been laying for over a month now still has a pale comb and wattles and so does my darker EE that just started last week. These girls just don't make any sense to me! Most recent pic from yesterday:

My older EE is taking the winter off, which is expected.
I'm starting to think there is no rhyme or reason to all this business of predicting who's going to lay when. They're just little trickers that do (or don't do) whatever they want! *ok rant over*

And yes, that's really curious about the different types of leghorns... I thought they all had the same characteristics. Learn something new all the time!
Have fun with your new spring chicks!

 

[casportpony]

Welcome to BYC!