Need to pick a breed

[jimnjay]

GP 5 , I would definately add my vote for Faverolles in your situation. I don't know where the information comes from stating that bantams only lay 80 eggs per year but I have them and they are excellent layers. Mine laid almost every day for 8 months until molt and then they were pretty quick in getting through it. They have the cute fluff on their face that when its cold they just pull thier necks in and it covers their whole face. I have bantams and they are not extreamly small as you would find a d'uccle or OEGB. They have wonderfull dispositions and are absolutely beautiful. I have only one that has gone broody so they are not as prone to be out sitting on eggs constantly.

Faverolles are considered a dual purpose bird and they tend to be nice and plump.

You mention only keeping two, Why are you considering dual purpose? It takes a long time to get them raised up to egg laying age about 20 weeks, I would think with only two you would want to keep them for eggs.
Just wondering!

 

[cornishman]

jamesc: i am going to start a new post on cornish where we can continue our talks and let this thread continue for what they intended...maybe they will consider some cornish when needing to pick a breed. cornishman.

 

[JamesC]

cornishman:
Anytime you want to discuss Cornish.

James

 

[EurekaSouth]

Quote:
cornishman - I'm new to the area (and fairly new to chickens) could you tell me more about the chicken shows you attended in Boaz (where, when, who, etc)? That's where I live.

 

[gretchen13]

I am interested in breeds for layers and I'd like to show hens at fairs and use them for my kids 4-H project. Does anyone know anything about 4-H? Oh, and good personalities as they are pets first!

 

[ginasmarans]

I really like my marans(I have cucoo) They do well in the winter and lay huge dark brown eggs. They are a dual purpose bird and do well for meat birds. I gave several 4 month old cockrills to a neighbor and he processed them and gave us 4 back. They were much larger than other 4 month olds.

 

[tbird]

hi everybody,
new member here too. I just got 3 delaware, 3 buff brahmas and 3 ameracaunas(all girls) from Ideal.
I live in Southern NJ and, hope i have made the right choices.After some research I found these breeds to be cold hardy, docile and good egg layers. we shall see if this is true but I am certainly enjoying raising these chicks to eventually go into my newly constructed chicken tractor. they are 3 weeks old now running through my garden every chance i get to take them out. They feasted on quite a few crickets today as i was weeding.

 

[AtRendeAcres]

gp5

Small area I think bantams are great! Here is a site that shows you the size of eggs compared to an average egg!

http://www.strombergschickens.com/images/stock/egg-sample.jpg

The only problem with bantams is the only place you can buy them sexed is mypetchicken.com it cost a little more though!

There are many breeds social hens, independent hens, some better for free-range...

Here is a good chart with information on all breeds to help you decide!

http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html

another thing to consider is were you are ordering from! What they have available at this time

There are only a few places I know of that do small chicken orders -


mypetchicken.com
http://www.ideal-poultry.com/
http://www.meyerhatchery.com/

my suggestion would be Ameraucanas/Araucanas (they are cold hardy, deal with confinement well, feed to egg ratio is good, small bird about 5 lbs (so you could get 3 in your small space veres 2 - 11lb larger breeds)