Help choosing chickens

[O.C.Chick]

I am a huge fan of my pure-bred bantam Araucanas! SO sweet and VERY smart! And the blue eggs are a plus, as far as novelty goes. Pictured are my tiny eggs from the black one, who surprised me by starting to lay at 4.5 months! She has laid an egg a day since she started last week. The eggs will get bigger as she gets bigger.

I also LOVE my silkies, but they're impossible to sex until they start either crowing or laying!

 

[wefroggy]

They are too cute. I have an Egyptian Fayoumis whose eggs are that size, but tinted white.
How much bigger do the bantam eggs get?

 

[O.C.Chick]

As a point reference for egg size in my photo, I put two store-bought brown eggs in the front row of the carton...One is a "Large" and one is a "Jumbo"....The pink-ish egg in the back row on the right is one of my Silkie bantam eggs, which is about equivalent to a "Medium" store-bought egg....I Think that the Araucana eggs eventually will be somewhere in that "medium" range. I have read that the Araucana eggs are also supposed to be lower in cholesterol and higher in Omega-3's than other eggs. I'm not sure if that's actually a fact, but I think that IS true with ALL home-grown eggs compared to store-bought, especially our BYC members' pampered chicken-pets!!!

There is also a Standard sized Araucana as well. Here's a link with breed info: http://www.araucana.net/

Good luck in your search! I wish my Mom had been so nice when I was a kid! Maybe then, I wouldn't have overcompensated and become a "Crazy Chicken Lady" as an adult!!!

 

[wefroggy]

We have 6 Easter Eggers right now and I love the color of their eggs. My daughter is leaning toward Araucanas, but I like the idea of the bantams.

 

[KittyKelly]

I would definately go with a bantam. Araucanas are so great because they lay such pretty eggs. I love the araucana hen that I have. She is very sweet and her eggs are bright blue. He mate on the other hand is VERY ANNOYING.....hes not the quiet and sweet type

 

[wefroggy]

Where did you get your bantam's from? We really like those.

 

[O.C.Chick]

I got them from my friend Alan Stanford http://www.browneggblueegg.com/ He breeds silkies and Araucana bantams, and has them on several farms spread out around the midwest. They are the sweetest little guys, but beware: They are very crafty! I should mention that They need a large space, ideally allowed to free-range during part of the day. They get bored easily and don't do well in confinement. Although, they probably wouldn't mind living in your house! Here are some photos of them planning a break-in:

"Let's try that window"

"How about the dutch door? And...We're in!"

"Wonder if she TiVo'd any shows about chickens?"

"To heck with the coop...This seems like a WAY better set-up!"

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
Of these, Id go with the Faverolles simply because they offer the most bang for the buck.

 

[patandchickens]

Another thing to consider might be Speckled Sussexes. They have great temperaments, easy to deal with, they're purty, and at least judging by BYC they seem to be reasonably popular. You can sex them with some reasonable (tho not perfect) assurance at about 3-4 wks based on how the white feathers come in.

If you have the space, I'd recommend she gets a few of maybe 2 or 3 breeds she is most drawn to, and then after six months or whatever she should have an idea of which one she wants to stick with and she can sell the others and concentrate on the one that "won the audition"

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Angelic Vampyre]

Hi, if it helps I was 5 when I took over the chicken breeding on our farm. I breed RIR and Isa Browns and found then great easy to breed (and in Austraila) easy to sell.

I am getting Light Sussex this weekend andhave found demand for them in Australia high (as the show breeders do not like to sell to non show breeders) I thought someone else said that they where rarer in the USA but not sure. I think they are pretty