I have had chickens several times on and off as life circumstances allowed. I think I learn and grow each time and its gets better and better. We last had chickens a couple of years ago but had to get rid of them for a move. Now we are in a new home on a larger city lot and we are gearing up to raise them again. We are thinking of getting 10 birds. In the past we only raised Red Star birds which are a Red Sex Link. They were recommended to us by some friends because they are heavy layers but this time I am planning on getting different breeds that are less aggressive. The Red birds were super friendly with people but they were not easy to integrate new birds into their existing flocks. I am looking at getting some Buff Orphingtons, White Leghorns, Easter Eggers and Black Austrolops. I have been reading this forum for years and finally decided to take the plunge the other day and make an account so I could comment. For me I love my chickens but they are not my pets, they work for me or I don't have them. I use my birds for eggs, meat, and composting. I am constantly striving to find ways to raise my birds in a way that will reduce disease but also cut down on my work load. I am a gardener and I call myself the lazy gardener, which means that I do a lot of sheet composting, permaculture practices, and see the entire garden and a system that needs to work together to create soil and plant health. We have a few children and a dog and live on an 1/2 acre lot in the city.
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Welcome Andrea! Great to have you join us at BYC! We did the sex link think for awhile, too, and they are really good layers, really economical birds. But I didn't find them as interesting as other chickens, and now we keep a mixed flock. We have all of the breeds you mention, and they can all be good layers (the Easter Eggers can be hit and miss, since they're basically mutts).
Welcome aboard to BYC family gr8 people tons of information loads of fun enjoy shake your tail feathers
G’Day from down under Andrea Welcome! I hope you enjoy being a BYC member. There are lots of friendly and very helpful folks here so not only is it overflowing with useful information it is also a great place to make friends and have some fun. If you include your general location on your profile, this will assist others. Location, climate, season etc can be important factors when members are responding to any questions you may have and vice versa. You might want to also Find Your State Thread and pop in and say hello. If you would like to share Pictures and Stories of your flock when they arrive, you have come to the right place. BYC’ers never tire of these and do not back away slowly or commence eye rolling when the photo album or home videos come out