If You Could Only Have 6 Chickens...

[PhipN FarmGirl]

We currently have:
1 light Brahma,
1 bantam cochin,
1 bantam buff Brahma mutt,
1 black Australorp,
1 Isabrown,
1 red sexlink.

The oldest is 7(!!), and I'm wondering what we will get when it's time to add to the flock. We have small yard, close neighbors, so would like to keep it quiet as possible. A friend told us all her EE were LOUD!

Tentative list:

Brahma
Cochin
Barred Rock
Isabrown
?
?
This is the Australorp, I think they are so pretty with their brown eyes. She is an average layer.

 

[PhipN FarmGirl]

I should add, we had a Buff Orp, and she was psycho! Very intense lady, not typical temperament.

 

[PhipN FarmGirl]

The very dilemma I am in at this moment! Just starting my first flock and want to stay at 6 to start and trying to decide which breeds has been hard. So far I am absolutely getting 2 Barnevelder and 2 Light Sussex...if I had to commit today I would finish up with a Barred Rock and a Rhode Island Red but oh there are so many good choices!

That sounds like a very good start!

 

[sourland]

I would have six leghorns.

 

[perchie.girl]

I would have Six Guinea fowl.... Um Oh... I would have six Wellies... Good sturdy birds pretty eggsies too.

 

[SKYLINE]

I’m starting a small flock! If I could have 6 I’d go:

• 2 Easter Eggers
• 1 Barred Rock
• 1 Wyandotte
• 1 Leghorn (all white)
• 1 Rhode Island Red.

But in reality I’m just buying 5 Easter eggers because that’s all my local feed shop has and I can’t order less then 8 until April online.

 

[Peepsi]

Six chickens is exactly what I ordered for my first batch of chickens, coming this July. Here is what I ordered, and why:

1) Black Copper Marans - Beautiful dark brown eggs. I am drawn to dark brown eggs for some reason, even though I know they taste the same as other eggs, and have the same nutritional content that eggs laid by other breeds do, under the same feeding conditions. But I still love those dark shells.
2) Silver-Laced Wynodette - Very pretty bird, and cold-hardy.
3) Gold-Laced Wynodette - Very pretty bird, and cold-hardy.
4) Buff Orpington - My designated lap pet. I've heard orpingtons are super-friendly, and I wanted a chicken that liked snuggles and petting and sitting in my lap. Also, cold-hardy.
5) Australorp - Friendly, cold-hardy.
6) Easter-Egger - Ok, I got this one just for the eggs. I think it would be fun to get green or blue eggs. I know, they only lay one color for their whole lives (which was sad for me when I learned that, LOL!) I'm hoping for a pretty jade-green egg, or a pretty sky-blue egg.

Because this is my first batch of chickens ever, I wanted to have six different breeds, so I could tell them all apart, and see the personalities of each breed.

I wanted mostly clean-legged breeds. I have this (weird) phobia of dirty feet. Heavily-feathered footed breeds such as cochins are cute when they're all clean, but ewwwww.....dirty, poopy, feathered feet would gross me out. Clean-legged birds don't have a problem with poopy feathered feet. I know, the Marans chick I got will have feathered legs, but most of the ones I've seen aren't too heavily feathered on their feet.

I needed cold-hardy birds. I live in northern Utah, and the weather here is awful. I needed birds that could survive in our cold snowy winters.

It will be fun to see the contrast in personalities in these hens (I ordered all females). I want to try to train them as well. I'm hoping to teach them how to read simple English words, such as "Worm", "Water", "Feed", etc. by labeling items in their run with both the word, and a picture. Then, when I ask them to get a worm, they can run over to the correct trough and get one. I think chickens are pretty intelligent... I want to see HOW intelligent they are. (Yeah, good luck with this project).

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Six chickens is exactly what I ordered for my first batch of chickens, coming this July. Here is what I ordered, and why:

1) Black Copper Marans - Beautiful dark brown eggs. I am drawn to dark brown eggs for some reason, even though I know they taste the same as other eggs, and have the same nutritional content that eggs laid by other breeds do, under the same feeding conditions. But I still love those dark shells.
2) Silver-Laced Wynodette - Very pretty bird, and cold-hardy.
3) Gold-Laced Wynodette - Very pretty bird, and cold-hardy.
4) Buff Orpington - My designated lap pet. I've heard orpingtons are super-friendly, and I wanted a chicken that liked snuggles and petting and sitting in my lap. Also, cold-hardy.
5) Australorp - Friendly, cold-hardy.
6) Easter-Egger - Ok, I got this one just for the eggs. I think it would be fun to get green or blue eggs. I know, they only lay one color for their whole lives (which was sad for me when I learned that, LOL!) I'm hoping for a pretty jade-green egg, or a pretty sky-blue egg.

Because this is my first batch of chickens ever, I wanted to have six different breeds, so I could tell them all apart, and see the personalities of each breed.

I wanted mostly clean-legged breeds. I have this (weird) phobia of dirty feet. Heavily-feathered footed breeds such as cochins are cute when they're all clean, but ewwwww.....dirty, poopy, feathered feet would gross me out. Clean-legged birds don't have a problem with poopy feathered feet. I know, the Marans chick I got will have feathered legs, but most of the ones I've seen aren't too heavily feathered on their feet.

I needed cold-hardy birds. I live in northern Utah, and the weather here is awful. I needed birds that could survive in our cold snowy winters.

It will be fun to see the contrast in personalities in these hens (I ordered all females). I want to try to train them as well. I'm hoping to teach them how to read simple English words, such as "Worm", "Water", "Feed", etc. by labeling items in their run with both the word, and a picture. Then, when I ask them to get a worm, they can run over to the correct trough and get one. I think chickens are pretty intelligent... I want to see HOW intelligent they are. (Yeah, good luck with this project).

I'm a huge dark egg fan too.
I used to have a lot of breeds but now all my birds look the same. I started leg banding them several years ago, which I liked because I could identify individuals from afar. However, they tend to lose them. I even went through a year using two leg bands with minor success.
Starting in 2018, I now wing band them. It sucks for identification at a distance but at least they stay with them their whole life so I will always be able to know the date they hatched and their progeny/parentage.
I think teaching them English (or any language) is a good idea.
Have you discovered chicken clicker training? Our chicken group occasionally holds chicken clicker classes at the Humane Society.

 

[perchie.girl]

I taught my Guineas how to scream at me from the roof.... Um... Oh... Well It only took me wearing an old Pink Bathrobe

 

[Spudsnsalsa]

I taught my Guineas how to scream at me from the roof.... Um... Oh... Well It only took me wearing an old Pink Bathrobe

My chuckle for the evening