How did you pick your breeds?

[ninny]

I have always dream of being a chicken farmer. Now that the dream is becoming real i can't pick breeds. I sell eggs now from a mixed laying flock. Id like to keep selling different colored eggs from a free range flock. On the other hand i love bantams. I don't have tons of space for pens. But would like couple different breeds. I would like to be able to make some money to pay for their feed. I keep going back in forth between heritage breeds and bantams. Advice?

 

[3goodeggs]

If you want to make money to pay for feed, then you need some good layers, not really dual purpose.
Most people who buy farm eggs seem to want brown.

Look for an egg to feed ratio chart, or a chart that tells you how many eggs per year to expect form the hens.
I have heard red stars are very good layers, but I have buff orpingtons...for the dumb reason that they remind me of my late golden retriever.

Get what you LIKE. feed is just the cost of doing what you like.

 

[shelleyd2008]

As far as chickens, I just got the ones I liked. Most of them are fancy bantams, some are fancy/rare large fowl. You probably won't make any money off raising chickens, you might break even if you have layer-type birds and can get people to buy the eggs

My quail are my money makers, they paid my feed bill this past summer

 

[possumqueen]

Quote:
This is absolutely the gospel truth!!!!

 

[sparkles2307]

Ah how I love talking about my breed selections!
I did the research and found breeds that are known for going broody but not overly so. Alos, I needed cold-hardy breeds and wanted mild-mannered girls as we have young children. I also wanted birds taht I would enjoy looking at, and that were going to lay a variety of egg colors.
We ended up with:
Golden Laced Wyandotte
Speckled Sussex
Rhode Island Red
Black Australorp
Wellsummer
and Barred Rock.

I like sitting in the coop and talking to them. Each breed has a personality. The Aussies wont have anything to do with us, they are shy and sweet but hide when we get too close. The Sussex are the first ones tohop up on our knee or boots and chat with us. The Wellies are a close second in friendliness to the SS. The RIR and GLW are just there, clucking, scratching, watching, but they dont come up to us unless we bring gifts. The BR were accidents but we love them just the same. They are nice but tend to be the most crotchety of all my girls. We have a ginormous BO roo that looks like a turkey and a white rock roo whos half the size of the bo but the same age. Also have black bantam cochins and a stupid mean sebright roo that made my nephew bleed so he's on the list for stew.

 

[PeeperKeeper]

McMurray hatchery basically chose mine for me. I ordered the brown egg layer collection....I got'em. I also ordered the non feathered female bantam collection. They didn't seem to be what I thought of as "bantams", but they were colorful and some turned out to be awesome egg layers!
If I were just wanting egg producers...I'd choose the sex-links, leghorns, or RIRs. I kind of like the BR also for the deeper brown eggs they give.
If I wanted "pets" that could lay eggs... Buff Orpingtons hands down!
So I guess it's a good thing I have all different kinds and sizes... I just like them all!

 

[Freeholder]

I'm still deciding, LOL!

I have some Golden-laced Wyandottes that are turning out to be good winter layers, which is one of my most important criteria (I enjoy my flock, but they have to be productive or out they go!). I love their color, too, and one of the hens went broody when she was only six months old, which is another of my criteria -- I want chickens that will hatch their own replacements -- but preferably not a breed that's going to be broody all the time, because then we wouldn't get any eggs. But I'm considering Buckeyes because it sounds like surplus birds would make a better carcass than the GLW's (has anyone butchered both breeds? I'd like to hear from you on which has the better carcass!), and because they are much rarer and more in need of preservation. I'd like to have enough eggs to justify the feed bill, a decent carcass to justify butchering the surplus birds, hens that will go broody often enough that I don't have to buy replacements, and they have to be cold hardy. I only have room for one breed if I'm keeping a breeding flock, so have to weigh everything carefully before making a decision.

Kathleen

 

[farmerlor]

I made my choice simply by accident. The first year we moved here I got the Rainbow layer special from MacMurray because I had no clue what kind of chickens I wanted. Naturally we got a lot of Easter Eggers, some Rhode Island Reds, some Buff Orps, Wyandottes, a Barred Rock or two, some Black Austrolorps and some production reds. Absolutely fell in love with the EEs but I knew they were basically mutts and I wanted to raise something I could sell as purebreds once I finally decided on a breed. Years later after trying several different breeds the EEs are still my faves. So we raise a flock of EEs with some an EE roo and they live with some of my motley crew but anytime I see a blue egg of course I know that the baby inside will be a purebred EE so I hatch those. We also have a small flock of RIRs and BOs that we keep apart to breed and hatch out for people who want to buy those breeds.

 

[becky3086]

I have absolutely no say in the matter. They just keep choosing me

 

[LeBlackbird]

I had this trouble, So I just got one of everything