New Hampshire Red thread!!!!!!!!!

[chixmix]

Thanks, we all get lucky now and then!!

 

[newbiechick1]

My husband and i will be first time chicken parents this year. Any thoughts on if this is a good breed for beginners? We need a bird that is heat and cold tolerant and my husband wants large brown eggs. I would prefer a friendly bird and originally though about the buff orpington but I think they eggs will be too small for my husband and I'm not sure if I want to deal with broody birds yet. Any suggestions so would be much appreciated!

 

[Bogtown Chick]

New Hampshires are beautiful, lay eggs abundantly, friendly, smart, charming. They tolerate the cold as a whole but they have large single combs that can frostbite easily...especially the roosters. ( The hens tuck their heads under their wings during frigid temps when they sleep.) If you live in a cold climate (frigid temps for long periods of time) then you may want to look for a breed which has a rose or cushion comb type.

 

[gjensen]

My husband and i will be first time chicken parents this year. Any thoughts on if this is a good breed for beginners? We need a bird that is heat and cold tolerant and my husband wants large brown eggs. I would prefer a friendly bird and originally though about the buff orpington but I think they eggs will be too small for my husband and I'm not sure if I want to deal with broody birds yet. Any suggestions so would be much appreciated!

Depends where you get them from. They are not all the same.

There is a misconception out there that this breed does this or that, and we can use that to get us in the right direction only. These things are more connected to strain than they are breed.

 

[newbiechick1]

We were thinking Murray McMurray hatchery but if you have a better suggestion we are all ears!

 

[chixmix]

We were thinking Murray McMurray hatchery but if you have a better suggestion we are all ears!

Any larger hatchery, that I know of, will not have quality bred chickens of any sort. They hatch out by the thousands and whatever is in the mix, gets sent out. I'm sure you can find a good reputable breeder if you ask around and be a little patient.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[gjensen]

We were thinking Murray McMurray hatchery but if you have a better suggestion we are all ears!

If all that you want is some nice decent sized layers, they would be fine.

 

[TnMama]

On a whim yesterday I bought 3 NH Reds at TSC. On the first purchase trip Mon. I only bought 5 good layers,& DH wanted a few more. I've had RIR in the past. Are the eggs as dark on the NH's? Similar personalities? We named them Spring, Rosie,& New Orleans. They were added to 3 Tetra Tints & 2 White Rock layers & a few bantams, breeds to be determined. I noticed one last night was chirping very loudly but she seemed ok, I guess just making her presence known in her new home.

 

[chixmix]

The eggs are a medium brown on average.

 

[pattyhen]

My new hampshire red rooster was by far the worst chicken I have ever had. He would hide behind things when i went outside and attack me. He never bothered my husband at all or the kids just me. I finally gave him to a woman that was looking for a mate for her hen. I did explain to her his temperment. My chickens had a party the day he left. He terrorized the hens and fought constantly with the other roosters.

I bought him from a feed store and he was supposed to be a pullet.. I would never have this breed of chicken again.

Pattyhen