Hiya, confused new member here. It's a good confusion though.
A coworker with a small flock is getting me started, he was kind enough to do the heavy lifting and agreed to build me a tractor. God blessed me with 10 thumbs, and he's built one before as well as a coop, so it should turn out well. It should be finished close to mid-month (May 2014) and after getting the necessary feeders, feed, waterer, etc., I'll tend to getting me some workin' wimmen.
Therein lies the confusion. Every time I decide on what breed is best for my situation, I find another breed that seems even better. This continues until I find myself back where I started. There are kiddies in the household that will help tend the flock, so I figured on selecting a breed that is generally easy-going, and doesn't mind being handled. Eggs are nice, and more eggs are nicer. Weather here is moderate to hot, no really cold winters ('ceptin' that global warming bone-chillin' winter of '14) so temperament and volume production are the main considerations.
Started out with leghorn, but learned they are skittish. Since then, I've gone the round robin of Black Sexlink, Australorp, Buff Orphington, Rhode Island Red, Plymouth Rock, and now, I find BYC, and add still more to the possibilities, like Star, for instance. And who says you can't have one of each? I'd rather keep things simple, and figure that's best accomplished by having all the same breed seein' how this is all new.
I'm not looking for anyone to straighten me out, I figure birds are like guns, cars, and everything else where folks have their favorites and think theirs best.
I may ultimately look at it from a different angle and go with whatever I find meets my other criteria. It may be idealistic, but would like to find a seller with 6 young ladies or so that are just past the brooder stage and ready to go out into the bigger world. There is a Mennonite community nearby, so I may start my search by attending their monthly animal sale.
This site is huge, the number of posts is incredible, and it's perplexing on where to start. I'll plunge in and imagine it will be like everything else in that it will start making more sense and before long, I'll have the rudimentary stuff down. I hope so anyway. I'm looking forward to learning, and I'm betting this site can teach me something new with each visit.
One more thing, in my perusing postings I see mention of shows--are there chicken shows? I know all about gun shows but never heard of a chicken show. But then, I wasn't looking for one either. Feel free to enlighten me, it would be appreciated.
A coworker with a small flock is getting me started, he was kind enough to do the heavy lifting and agreed to build me a tractor. God blessed me with 10 thumbs, and he's built one before as well as a coop, so it should turn out well. It should be finished close to mid-month (May 2014) and after getting the necessary feeders, feed, waterer, etc., I'll tend to getting me some workin' wimmen.
Therein lies the confusion. Every time I decide on what breed is best for my situation, I find another breed that seems even better. This continues until I find myself back where I started. There are kiddies in the household that will help tend the flock, so I figured on selecting a breed that is generally easy-going, and doesn't mind being handled. Eggs are nice, and more eggs are nicer. Weather here is moderate to hot, no really cold winters ('ceptin' that global warming bone-chillin' winter of '14) so temperament and volume production are the main considerations.
Started out with leghorn, but learned they are skittish. Since then, I've gone the round robin of Black Sexlink, Australorp, Buff Orphington, Rhode Island Red, Plymouth Rock, and now, I find BYC, and add still more to the possibilities, like Star, for instance. And who says you can't have one of each? I'd rather keep things simple, and figure that's best accomplished by having all the same breed seein' how this is all new.
I'm not looking for anyone to straighten me out, I figure birds are like guns, cars, and everything else where folks have their favorites and think theirs best.
I may ultimately look at it from a different angle and go with whatever I find meets my other criteria. It may be idealistic, but would like to find a seller with 6 young ladies or so that are just past the brooder stage and ready to go out into the bigger world. There is a Mennonite community nearby, so I may start my search by attending their monthly animal sale.
This site is huge, the number of posts is incredible, and it's perplexing on where to start. I'll plunge in and imagine it will be like everything else in that it will start making more sense and before long, I'll have the rudimentary stuff down. I hope so anyway. I'm looking forward to learning, and I'm betting this site can teach me something new with each visit.
One more thing, in my perusing postings I see mention of shows--are there chicken shows? I know all about gun shows but never heard of a chicken show. But then, I wasn't looking for one either. Feel free to enlighten me, it would be appreciated.
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and Welcome To BYC! Yes there are chicken shows, all kinds, from 4-H and county and state fairs and Breed club shows (almost all breeds will have their own clubs and those clubs will hold shows or have classes at big shows), here is a list of some 
