Kids and Chickens ?????????????

[alabamayardbird]

what would be a good breed of chicken for a 6 year old to show and where can i buy them ???

 

[muddyhorse]

sit down with them and a chicken book see what appeals to them, cuddly silkies, feaher footed cochins, ect. by six they should be able to help care for the birds feeding and watering ect. most people recommend a bantam for kids they are easier for them to handle. my daughter is 7 she shows standard size polish, banty polish and silkies and OEGBs. We also have seramas which come in just about every color.

 

[Nicole01]

Cochins, brahmas, d'uccles, silkies.. Just to name a few. You'll have to do some research and purchase what catches your eye. There are several docile breeds. You might want to visit the fair or a show and talk to people. You'll find your best looking chickens from breeders, not hatchery. We bought 7 different breeds that are children friendly. Handling them daily and giving treats is the key to friendly chickens. All 8 of my chickens are lap chickens too. I spend a lot of time with my girls. I'm sure others will give you much better advise then I. Good luck! Chicken raising is fabulous!

 

[A.T. Hagan]

My youngest daughter, the Kinder Minor, was six when we began talking about what birds she might want. I first asked her what color of bird she wanted and she was very certain she wanted it to be white. Then we talked about combs and looked at different examples of chicken combs and she settled on single combed. Then we talked about skin and leg color and looked at some of the birds we already own which ranged from Silkies to Orpingtons to Australorps to Barred Rocks. She decided she liked yellow best. Next we discussed feather type and she thought they ought to have regular chicken feathers as opposed to her older sister's Silkies, frizzles, turkens, and so on. She didn't like feathers on their legs either so clean legged it was.

So at that point we were down to yellow skinned, clean legged, single combed, normal feathered, white birds. That still left a dozen or more breeds but at least it was a starting point. This year's Sunshine Classic show was coming up in January which is our largest poultry show in Florida so I told her that we wouldn't find a better selection of live birds to look at so we went.

The Classic is a big show so we went back and forth, back and forth, back and forth looking at every bird that met her criterion we could find. Except for the comb type she stayed with her original choices until we finally got down to having to decide between bantam White Wyandottes and White Old English Game bantams. So we went back and forth between them several more times (naturally they were on opposite sides of the hall from one another) and she finally went with the OEGs.

Here she is with her mother in front of the white OEG birds at the show.

The following month we went up to a show in Newnan, Ga and found her birds.

You might try taking your child to the Feather Site http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKPoultryPage.html then scroll down to the Chickens, alphabetically by breed: part and turn them loose to look at the many, many breeds and varieties there are to choose from. Some of them are not showable in APA shows, but most are and they'll be able to start narrowing down their likes and dislikes. For a six year old I suggest starting with one of the bantam breeds, but that still leaves dozens and dozens to choose from.

 

[SunnyCalifornia]

My young daughters both show Old English Game Bantams. If you were closer I'd give you some chicks!

 

[alabamayardbird]

Thanks for the input yall have given me some great ideas that i had not thought of , THANKS.....

 

[leadwolf1]

A.T. Hagan :

My youngest daughter, the Kinder Minor, was six when we began talking about what birds she might want. I first asked her what color of bird she wanted and she was very certain she wanted it to be white. Then we talked about combs and looked at different examples of chicken combs and she settled on single combed. Then we talked about skin and leg color and looked at some of the birds we already own which ranged from Silkies to Orpingtons to Australorps to Barred Rocks. She decided she liked yellow best. Next we discussed feather type and she thought they ought to have regular chicken feathers as opposed to her older sister's Silkies, frizzles, turkens, and so on. She didn't like feathers on their legs either so clean legged it was.

So at that point we were down to yellow skinned, clean legged, single combed, normal feathered, white birds. That still left a dozen or more breeds but at least it was a starting point. This year's Sunshine Classic show was coming up in January which is our largest poultry show in Florida so I told her that we wouldn't find a better selection of live birds to look at so we went.

The Classic is a big show so we went back and forth, back and forth, back and forth looking at every bird that met her criterion we could find. Except for the comb type she stayed with her original choices until we finally got down to having to decide between bantam White Wyandottes and White Old English Game bantams. So we went back and forth between them several more times (naturally they were on opposite sides of the hall from one another) and she finally went with the OEGs.

Here she is with her mother in front of the white OEG birds at the show.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-.../fvmNpcawMrk/s640/2011-01-08%252012.29.55.jpg

The following month we went up to a show in Newnan, Ga and found her birds.

You might try taking your child to the Feather Site http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKPoultryPage.html then scroll down to the Chickens, alphabetically by breed: part and turn them loose to look at the many, many breeds and varieties there are to choose from. Some of them are not showable in APA shows, but most are and they'll be able to start narrowing down their likes and dislikes. For a six year old I suggest starting with one of the bantam breeds, but that still leaves dozens and dozens to choose from.

I love how you made the choice!!! And look how excited and happy she is

great job!!!!​