New Chicken Owner Breed Help?

[AnimalLover0330]

Hi everybody!

I'm new to raising chickens and just love this site! It's extremely helpful, so I thought this would be the place to ask a few questions.

Okay, first of:

I really like the Sebright breed. Are they docile? Do they enjoy being handled/ tolerate handling? Are they good show birds? How are they with kids? Are they right for suburban backyards? Any other details would be helpful, thank you!

Where should I get my chickens from? I really like MyPetChicken and Ideal Poultry, although I've had to make some adjustments on how many chickies to get and what breeds I would get. Are these good hatcheries? Any good experiences to share? Any bad? Hatchery recomendations would be great! Website links would be nice!


What are good first time breeds? What breeds are best for a small backyard? Which breeds are quietest? Any non-flightly recommendations? How can I aquire a chicken of this breed? Are they good with children? Any information on some calm, quiet breeds would be very much appreciated!


Thank you all so much!

 

[Michael OShay]

Welcome to BYC! There is an entire thread on the personality and temperament of Sebrights at https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/447296/what-is-the-golden-and-silver-sebrights-personality that you can check out.
I've never ordered from MyPetChicken before, but I have ordered from Ideal Poultry and have been satisfied with their service and birds. Two other hatcheries that I have ordered from that sell Golden Sebrights are Murray McMurray Hatchery (http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/index.html) and Dunlap Hatchery (http://dunlaphatchery.net/). I have been satisfied with Murray McMurray's service and birds, but I especially like Dunlap Hatchery. They are smaller than the others on this list, but the folks there are very friendly and helpful, and I have never lost a single chick from them in shipping (I can't say that about the others).
If you are not qualifying first time breeds solely as bantams (like Sebrights), I would recommend Black Australorps for a first time breed. They are extremely hardy, long lived, calm, gentle, non-flighty, quiet (as chickens go), and excellent layers of large, brown eggs. I have had them (along with a lot of other breeds) for years and think that they are the best dual purpose breeds on the planet. My children, and now my granddaughter, made pets of them. Other quiet, calm, gentle, non-flighty breeds that are good for first timers are Orpingtons, Brahmas, Sussex, Cochins, Faverolles, and Silkies (which are bantams), although none of them will lay as well as the Australorps. Keep in mind that these characteristics are generalities based on a long reputation, and that within any breed there can always be exceptions. Hope this helps.

 

[AnimalLover0330]

Oh, thank you! So much information! Thank you so much! This is very helpful! Sorry for the late response!
Once again, thank you!