How did you pick your breeds?

[ninny]

Im thinking i might just work on building up my laying flock and get back into silkies. I love to many different kinds of layers to pick right now. When i get more space i want to get into the rarer heirloom breeds. But i think im going to get all the beginner breeding mistakes learned on a more common breed. Plus their fuzzy.

 

[TK Poultry]

this is what i did after some hit and misses on my part.............. i first stumbled upon my EE's by mere mix up i was supposed to buy ameraucanas and got EE's best mix up every!! then i bought my swedish ducks at the feed store love them but sold the original and then bought SQ. this next time around i needed something to make me money in the purebred world so i went to www.mypetchicken.com and went to free tools and then clicked on the breed selector and found breeds that suited what i need so that is how i knew i wanted speckled sussex and austrolorps........ so now that gives me EE's, Speckled Sussex, and Austrolorps! im planning on adding a laying flock for fun and i also have my ducks so that is how i stumbled upon all of my misfits

 

[PandoraTaylor]

well I had no idea what I was looking for, didn't even know it was chickens....

I rescue all kinds of animals and etc....

My sister was moving and asked me to take her 2 Black Sex Link Hens (14 months old). She started out with 5 BSL and 2 Ducks, by the time she decided she was gonna move she only 2 hens left, she has no knowledge of what happened to the others.


I built them a small 4x8 pen and added a small coop. My Hubby decided I needed more than just the hens, so when he picked those up he went to the feed store and on recommendation from the workers there picked out 5 Light Brahmas, 5 Barred Rocks as he was told they are cold hardy, Dual purpose breeds.

I went into the feed store a week later and picked up 23 Black Sex Link and the last 2 New Hampshire Reds they had.

A week later a friend called and asked if I would take his remaining 2 hens (any & all babies too) as soon as the Broody hatched her eggs. It seemed a dog had attacked & killed the remainder of his flock. I said sure. 1 EE and 1 BSL.

So there you have the story of the breed selection for my little laying flock.(2009)....lol

Out of the 37 in this story I have a giant light Brahma Roo, who has decided to endear himself to me. lol. no other Roos I can see.....So I guess he will be getting a few more hens in the spring.....so I can breed pure Light Brahmas... I will be looking for a few more Barred Rock hens and a roo too. I am also considering the New Hampshire for breeding as well, so I have a mix and I really enjoy them.
I don't believe I really want my BSL to hatch eggs, I think they will remain just a layer Flock and I will get a few eggs from the others for replacements.

 

[JestersEye]

My teenage son and I chose our chicken breeds together. He was already in the local 4-H Livestock & Poultry Club with his pygmy goat, and gradually became interested in getting some chickens. We both wanted to get something different, rather than choosing the same breeds that other members were already showing. We used the internet to consult a list of chicken breeds, and then did a bit of research on a few breeds that caught our eye. We chose Blue Andalusians because my son's favorite color is blue, and because they are beautiful, yet still classic in appearance (unlike more unusual looking breeds). We then got some Blue Orpingtons, because they share the same "blue gene" coloring, but can act as broodies when we want to hatch out chicks of either breed.

 

[hankus]

BO-Great deal, plus they had quit laying for him
OEGB- wanted em
Ducks- my sister brought em home (they started it all)
rest- deals, or had to have em
Reckon I didn't pick em for any quality other than availablity.

 

[michickenwrangler]

Out of the stock tank at TSC

Turned out to be 6 red sex link hens.

DH was mad at me for getting chickens without telling him, so I promised I would get him a cochin, he's always wanted one after seeing a big blue one. So I went on craiglist and found two on the other side of the state. We drove out there and took the partridge one.

 

[Chooksaurus]

Quote:
Do what makes you happy. It's not like they are critical to your personal survival, so you can afford to give up some productivity for a breed that you like the looks of, etc. Plus, if you are anything like us, you won't end up where you started anyway, so don't try to approach it "too" logically.

We started with Rhode Island Reds because we wanted our daughter to experience raising some other animals and I wanted brown egg-layers.
We ended up with some Barred Rocks because my parents wanted them and had to order a minimum of 15 chicks, so we got half.
A trip to the feed store yielded 4 "too cute to pass up" mutts from a box, 3 of which ended up being bantam mixes.
A broody bantam (from the feed store) led to 6 Cochins because I wanted my daughter to experience a hen setting and hatching chicks.

Looking back...I wouldn't do anything different. It is a diverse and sometimes unproductive flock, but the experiences far outweigh any logic that we started with in choosing RIRs.

Looking ahead...when we build our house and I get to build a new chook hotel, I will make some conscious decisions about the breeds of new additions because I would like to try a little breeding program. I teach 8th grade life science, so it is a great genetics/heredity experiment to have continually running as a real-life demonstration.

 

[BarredBuff]

I recomend two laying flocks a white layer flock and a brown layer flock. 20 White Leghorns and 20 Barred Rocks or Rhode Island Reds and after brown flock loses their laying skill you will have some good meat to eat.

 

[gritsar]

I wanted a breed that does well in the wintertime, with no extra care and a breed that does well in the summertime.

I got that and more with my brahmas.

 

[Dora'smom]

I researched chicken breeds before we got our first chickens. I wanted beautiful hens, diverse colors, and dual purpose birds that could forage a little if that's how we decided to do things.
That's how we got the first six. After that, I went to a local Urban Farm Store, and picked out another four from my wishlist. I really like the last four best, including my adorable little Dora. She really is so sweet. I've rehomed Buck, our buff orpington rooster with a co-worker of my husbands who raises Old English Game, and I'm looking at rehoming both of our barred rocks, as the hen pecks at everyone and pulls lots of feathers. (It's a shame as she is a great layer of pinkish eggs. Very reliable, but I can't have the other birds go naked in Winter.) The other barred rock we believe to be a closet rooster. The RIR's (most likely production) are very agressive with the other birds, as well, but they are great egg-layers, too. What all this boils down to, is that when I rehome these, I will pick again, this spring. I still have a long wish list. More breeds than I will probably ever be able to have, but we'll see.

Christina