I'm completely new at this. Bought a small coop on ebay that I'll pick up on Saturday. It's a chicken tractor with run, and has room for four standard chickens. I live in a neighborhood in the suburbs with an unfenced yard, so the chicken will always be confined.
I want hens primarily for eggs for our family (so Bantams are out), but they will also be pets. So my biggest considerations are egg production and temperment, along with hardiness (I'm in the Atlanta area where it gets very hot in the summer, and we also have spells in the winter below freeing) and doing well in confinement.
I want to buy local, and am thinking about buying at least started pullets so I don't have to deal with high maintenance chicks (husband and I both work full time and can't check on chicks during the day). Here is what I've been able to find locally:
5 week old Easter Eggers
3 month old Rhode Island Red hens
10 week black australorp
2 month white leghorns
1 yr old black copper maran (but $75!!)
Pair of 1 yr old silver lace wyandotte
17 week old white cochin pullet
17 week barred rock pullet
4 month Ameraucana already laying
4 month Red Star hens
4 month Cuckoo Marans
Help! What do you suggest? The last three are all from the same hatchery, so if I did say 1 Ameraucana, 2 Red Stars, and 1 Maran I could get them all in the same place. This would give me three different colors of eggs and about 16 eggs per week, which should be plenty for our family.
I want hens primarily for eggs for our family (so Bantams are out), but they will also be pets. So my biggest considerations are egg production and temperment, along with hardiness (I'm in the Atlanta area where it gets very hot in the summer, and we also have spells in the winter below freeing) and doing well in confinement.
I want to buy local, and am thinking about buying at least started pullets so I don't have to deal with high maintenance chicks (husband and I both work full time and can't check on chicks during the day). Here is what I've been able to find locally:
5 week old Easter Eggers
3 month old Rhode Island Red hens
10 week black australorp
2 month white leghorns
1 yr old black copper maran (but $75!!)
Pair of 1 yr old silver lace wyandotte
17 week old white cochin pullet
17 week barred rock pullet
4 month Ameraucana already laying
4 month Red Star hens
4 month Cuckoo Marans
Help! What do you suggest? The last three are all from the same hatchery, so if I did say 1 Ameraucana, 2 Red Stars, and 1 Maran I could get them all in the same place. This would give me three different colors of eggs and about 16 eggs per week, which should be plenty for our family.