How to choose the keepers?

[crooked stripe]

I ordered 15 last year and found all chickens have their own personalities. I have ordered all females and some how a roo or to seems to get by the hatcheries. They will replace at no charge to you but by the time you find out their ages would be to far apart and to much trouble to deal with. I bought buff orps and black australorps and the ba's seem to be the most timid. The buff orps are the most friendly and curious. When I thinned mine out I looked for the problem areas, crooked toes and legs, their ability to get along, split beaks and toes and of course the two noisy roos that slipped through. I lost 2 somewhere they just disappeared. Probably a predator of some kind. Make sure they have enough room or you will have problems for sure. I believe all breeds you picked are large chickens. Just watch them as they grow and you will find your answers.

 

[owlwithpeas]

Thanks everyone!

 

[Spent-Hen]

I thought I'd offer more of my 2 cents-worth:
1. If you don't end up with a Roo, they're easy to pick up later in the summer when a bunch of almost full-grown Roos of all different breeds can be found on Craigslist or in the Register-Guard FREE. Call me and I'll tell you how I integrate new birds into my flock.
2. You asked about choosing which chicks would get along well together... My experience is that when they are raised together, their "family" is established and they function fine as a unit. There will always be a pecking order, and they establish that early on.
3. I enjoyed talking with you on the phone yesterday. I am constantly amazed how fun it is to "talk chicken", when I never dreamed I would ever care a thing about them. They're just not those "cuddly pets" that a little girl dreams of!

If you've never raised chickens, you'll be surprised how entertaining they can be! And if you're like me, you'll find yourself making mental lists of all the sayings there are that relate to chickens. My list starts with: being cooped-up, flew the coop, he's hen-pecked, the pecking order, chicken-scratching (relating to handwriting)...