Hello everyone! I'm new to the world of chickens and my husband and I just bought a small farm and are planning on adding chickens! What I want to ask is; what breeds would work best for us? We want them for eggs, but we also have 14 month old twins, so I want hens that will be egg producers and friendly enough for my daughters to interact and play with them. We plan on getting chicks from the start to avoid introducing multiple grown hens to each other. I've been doing a lot of research and the two that I am most interested in are the Americaunas and the Barred Rocks. Any other suggestions? Thank you!!
Okay! I also forgot I am in MO and sometimes we have pretty cold winters, our plan for our coop is to be able to provide heat lamps, or some other heat source for them, from what I read the two breeds I mentioned earlier do pretty okay during winter, will Red Stars also?
I'm just starting out too and have heard that brahmas are a great and gentle bird as well. This site has a bunch of reviews on a lot of different breeds too. Check out that section of you haven't already. I found it quite helpful to see other people's experiences and thoughts on the different birds listed in there. As well as ameraucana and barred rocks in also looking into bantam polish, cochins, and std. australorps. Maybe a sussex too. Keep us posted on what you choose and where you end up getting them! Best of wishes!
Thank you so much! I will definitely look into that section and see if I can find some more reviews...I'd rather see what people have to say instead of just reading things online! Thank you for help!
They are fine in VA..... I do not know about MO...... If they have heat lamps and are protected from the elements they should be OK....
You may want to join your state thread - put "Missouri state thread," in the search box and it will pop up. People from your area can best advise you on the breeds that handle the climate best, and what type of coop you may need. With heaters there is always the danger of fire. Chickens are much better at dealing with cold, than with heat extremes.
