I need help finding the breed right for me

[Nupine]

I need help. My birthday is in a couple weeks, and my mom says she might let me buy some hatching eggs. The breed I choose will probably be the one I plan on raising for a long time. We are building a coop in the spring. I have a large book on poultry breeds and I can't find the right one! So do any of you know of a breed that best fits this criteria?: Needs to be a bantam, good in cold weather, reasonably good tempermate, ornamental or at least not too plain looking, suited to confinement or free range, lays at least 100 eggs per year, meat quality does not matter, easy to hatch, reasonably easy to find, and does well in shows. It doesn't have to meet all of these, but as many as possible.
Thanks, Ashlyn

 

[silkiechicken]

Needs to be a bantam
Ok, bantam, lots to pick from

good in cold weather
How cold is cold? Most can tolerate freezing weather just fine in a draft free place. Avoid large combs and game breeds(have large combs but are dubbed in most pictures)

reasonably good tempermate
Most bantams are not bred for production so should be pretty calm, especially if you give them lots of attention.

ornamental or at least not too plain looking
This is to your preference really. Look for crested types and those with odd feathering like frizzes and such.

suited to confinement or free range
This one is also hard to define as you can confine birds or not. It is the personality of the bird and if they get to free range they might know the grass is greener on the other side thus want out. Never let them out and chances are they will never know.

lays at least 100 eggs per year
Good luck. With a lot of bantams, it is doable and possible, but they are often not bred for production. Silkies generally set along with cochins, but my silkie lays just as good as my sexlink and has not a single broody bone in her. Plus, bantam eggs are small and you need a lot of them to make it worth eggs really. Get a few production birds on the side for eggs.


meat quality does not matter
That's good, there really isn' t much meat on them. Silkies do sell well on the speciality market.

easy to hatch
This is also relative with parent strain, lines, time of year, shipping, and so on. Seramas are notably hard to hatch, but I think that is due to their breeding.

reasonably easy to find
This varies for season, and winter is not the best time to get eggs really for variety and hatichablility. I would get a rain check and wait till spring when birds are at their prime and selection is best.

and does well in shows
This will depend 100% on the history of the parent stock. Anyone can get a silkie but to be show worthy at anything other than a fair, you have to go to a proven breeder. You get what you pay for.


Good luck!

 

[Napalongtail]

What about bantam wyandottes? They come in lotsa colors, don't have top knots so they can see predators, Small combs so they won't get frost bit. No feathers on the feet to pack in snow and get the coop all wet, heat tolerant and yes they do pretty well at the shows. Plus being popular you can get them justa bout anywhere. It'd be up to you to pick out ones that you think are show quality and then have fun....

 

[herechickchick]

I have a bantam Sultan Roo and I LOVE him. I am going to get some ladies this spring. He came from Murray McMurray Hatchery.

Crested breeds do well in shows.

 

[KingsCalls]

I'm going to mention a few......Orpington bantams(not very ornamental) but, calm birds, do good in cold weather, plenty of eggs & most are good broody hens.........Wyndotte bantams(plenty of colors) .........Barred Rock bantams(only one color) but, calm birds, lay well and cold hardy..........Cochin bantams(maybe not as many colors as wyndottes) calm birds, good broody, should do well in cold weather.........Dominique bantams(only one color pattern) calm birds, should do well in cold weather, not always broody, lay fairly well.........
Good Luck and I'm sure others will help with this also.