help! I need help picking out chicken breeds. I'm first time chicken owner.

[baklilchicks]

we live in the San Joaquin valley. We have mild winters,but summer are hot. we will have heat waves of above 100. Mostly the days are 97. Also it is dry here. We do have pets two cats and a dog. Most people around us have chickens so I don't think the cat will be a problem. However the dog in a small mix breed dog about the size as the cats. She is prone to chase birds that come into our yard. So I don't think we will free range. Then we do have a special need child who will want to hold the chickens.
So we need a chicken that :
1 Will handle the heat
2 will be a very good layer
3 chickens that would like to be in a run
4 that can be handled by a kid
5 standard / large breed

 

[3riverschick]

What breeds are your neighbors raising successfully?
You might try Naked Necks. They do all that.
Whatever you do, buy birds from a climate like yours
so they are already acclimatized. It make starting out
the flock much easier. Check with your local poultry Club.
If you want show birds, see who is winning consistently
and buy from them. Buy only one strain and linebreed on them. Do not cross strains to found a flock. The genetic variation which will show up will give you chicks with more variation than the parents. The quality of the birds wll go down and can take years and $$$ to recoup. Two show winners bred together do not usually produce show winners. It's a complementary mating thing with birds. Different than with mammals. If you intend to breed the birds, tell the breeder you want a breeding quad for to make a show strain. Have him/her pick out the birds for you . A quad ( 2M,2F) is a good start. Then have the breeder advise on the first 2 generations for breeding until you get to know the strain. If you just want eggs, then pick a quality egg breed, you don't need show birds. But it costs just as much to feed a low quality bird as a better one.
Best,
Karen in western PA ( former Calif girl)

 

[baklilchicks]

Well most of my neighbors are not native speakers I have tried to ask but language barrier. I just want regular chickens that lay eggs.most of my neighbors chickens are all white or they
look like some kind of mut chicken, but I just don't know.