Kiki's Horse Eggs 2 HAVE HATCHED!! 1 left to hatch

[MROO]

Okay I’ll try and be concise (who am I kidding I’m a chronic rambler)

My top priority is friendly and heat tolerant. Also needs to be good in confinement. ...

If you had to pick three based on my criteria, which would you choose? I’ve researched a ton but need advice from actual owners at this point.

I’m actually asking everyone, just singled out Kiki because we have similar climates lol.

Hello from another "Chronic Rambler ...!"Personally, I like my Nankin Bantams - They're very sweet-tempered. My roos will walk on a leash when they visit school classrooms! The single combs do well in heat, the rose combs do well pretty much anywhere. I'm in Maryland, where most of the long-timers will tell you, "If you don't like the weather 'round here, wait 20 minutes. It'll change!" And change it does. Temps can go as low as 15 in the winter to 100 midsummer. My Nankins have taken it all and thrived. We had some frostbite issues with my two single comb roos, but the rosies had no problems. And they all handle the heat just fine.

If you prefer a large fowl, have you looked at the Faverolle? They're heat tolerant, very sweet natured, good for both meat and eggs ... and listed as "Threatened," the second highest danger level, by the Livestock Conservancy.

Check out the website, www.livestockconservancy.org. It's got a lot of info on heritage chicken breeds (and lots of other critters, too.) It's also got a really handy comparison chart for an awful lot of chicken breeds - from Anconas and Araucanas to Wyandottes and Yokohamas. It's a pdf called "pickachicken."

Have fun shopping!

 

[Kiki]

for a girl - Whinnie!
for a boy - Neigh Neigh!

No boys allowed.

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

How would I go about looking? I tried searching but didn’t find much. I dunno what I’m doing haha

There is a buy sell trade section on BYC. I follow my state thread and asked there. You can try and search for breeders too. On BYC or online in general. There are a few small boutique breeders near me that I found on accident. Online, FB and just asking around. I stumbled upon my states list of NPIP tested flocks. As scary as it is they listed the names and address of people they tested. (Not sure if they tell them they will broadcast that info when testing or not.)

 

[Tesumph]

Well. I will repeat that each hen is an individual and stereotypes are bad.
Yes, Leghorns are known to be flighty, skittish and all. I have one that is a doll. A couple others are pretty sweet out of 7. The RIR red girls are pretty chill, 3 of them. The light reds, I'm starting to call production reds are terrible. Those 3 are antisocial. Lowest on the pecking order. And just not very with it.
The Plymouth Barred Rocks are solid. Not flighty. Just stable and not unfriendly. I've got 4 of those left.

A year ago, the Barred Rocks were the friendliest. Over time, I've got one Leghorn (Ideal 236 cross with a black spot on her chest, so Spot) that is very interested in me. Her and Bigs (3 RIR, she has the biggest comb) watch me the most intently. When I treat call the Barred Rocks run over. When they run over, everyone else is watching and on the way if someone gets something.

After sitting for several minutes, we can pet. The petting is Spot or Bigs. We chest rub most of the others.

Hum. I guess I won't get another production red on purpose. All the rest are welcome.

The 4 week old Easter Eggers really like their mealworm time. We are still getting acclimated to each other.

Like dogs and children, the more time you spend with them, the better behaved they are.

My leghorn’s weren’t crazy flighty but they were definitely less stable. It was more all the health issues mine had. I dealt with prolapses and egg laying issues constantly and one of them was constantly sick with something that I could never treat properly apparently.. I know there’s no perfect breed and there’s exceptions to every rule but honestly first impressions leave a taste in your mouth either way.
I liked my RIR and red sexlinks. If I wanted egg production and could have a bigger flock I’d probably get them again.

 

[Kiki]

There is a buy sell trade section on BYC. I follow my state thread and asked there. You can try and search for breeders too. On BYC or online in general. There are a few small boutique breeders near me that I found on accident. Online, FB and just asking around. I stumbled upon my states list of NPIP tested flocks. As scary as it is they listed the names and address of people they tested. (Not sure if they tell them they will broadcast that info when testing or not.)

They do tell and they (the NPIP peeps) are suppose to list all breeds that they have. Some do not.
But I can look real quick to see if there are and SS breeders that are NPIP in our state.

Also.
NPIP doesn't mean healthy.
In Texas NPIP means your flock has tested negative for PT only.
PT doesn't really even exist anymore.

 

[Tesumph]

There is a buy sell trade section on BYC. I follow my state thread and asked there. You can try and search for breeders too. On BYC or online in general. There are a few small boutique breeders near me that I found on accident. Online, FB and just asking around. I stumbled upon my states list of NPIP tested flocks. As scary as it is they listed the names and address of people they tested. (Not sure if they tell them they will broadcast that info when testing or not.)

Hm. I checked around a bit but I guess I didn’t look thoroughly enough.

 

[MROO]

Our roos are Butterball, Simpleton (because everything - and I mean everything - eats chickens - even grapes,) Captain Cuddles (because "he" was supposed to be a "she," hence the addition of "Captain" to his name,) and Yosemite Sam, because as a chick, he was a rootin' tootin' redhead.
But my all-time favorite name was my first Nankin - 35 years ago. His name was, of course, Purdue!

 

[MROO]

NPIP doesn't mean healthy.

You're absolutely right, there! My birds are healthy. The whole flock gets AI and pullorum tested every year for Fair season, yet I can't ship birds out of state because I am not NPIP. That stinks, because I had a very nice lady in Minnesota who wanted my little Sebrights - and I couldn't send them to her. Now I have five sweet little chickens I have no room to keep them and no place to send them. My daughter didn't even register them for 4H this year, because we thought they were moving out, so they can't go to the Fair to look for a new home. Anybody in or near Maryland interested in five young Sebright Bantams? They're hand-tamed and healthy.

 

[CSAchook]

I let my young nephews name my three legbar chicks. They named them Peep, Chickadee... and... Rooster We shortened Rooster’s name to Roo (spelled Roux) because a “Roux” is the base for a delicious gravy

The little “urban farm” I bought my legbar eggs from were not NPIP, but they had specific, clearly articulated bio-security practices that they stuck to

 

[Kiki]

Hm. I checked around a bit but I guess I didn’t look thoroughly enough.

Ideal sells Speckled Sussex.