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AJMacWilliam

AJMacWilliam

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Looking to get started soon..
wondering which breed is best to start with. And where to get them . Leaning toward a dual purpose chicken
 
Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided join our flock. For a starter bird, I would recommend Australorps which are extremely hardy in both cold and heat, calm and gentle (my children and granddaughter made lap pets of them), and the best layers of the standard brown egg laying breeds. There is a current thread running on Australorps at https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/988347/chicken-breed-focus-australorp if you want to see what many other BYC members have to say about them. Murray McMurray has an excellent "chick selector" tool at https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/chick_selector.html to help you determine which breed is best for you. Just be sure and click on "show more characteristics." I've ordered Black Australorp chicks from four different hatcheries including Murray McMurray, Dunlap Hatchery, Ideal Poultry, and Cackle Hatchery and have been happy with the birds and service of all four of them. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Whatever breed you decide to get, good luck with your flock.
 
Glad you joined the Backyard chickens flock
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Want a good layer? Want a good meat bird? Many different breeds out there, but I can think of a few right off. The sexlinks lay great. When they hit the 2 yr. mark, they are a pretty good size for eating, plus, they are usually slowing down in laying. Barred Rocks, Buff Orpingtons..those Buff Orpingtons can get up there in weight.
Go to your state thread. See if anyone is close to you that is selling chicks, if you don't mind raising them, birds if you don't mind some that have already laid for a while. If you decide to buy one bird, then another from another place, that you keep the separated for a while until you know they are both well, or all three..or... more.. Make sure they are well.
 
Welcome to BYC!
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Selecting the breed right for you can be fun and slightly bewildering, there are so many to choose from.

I found this chart of breed characteristics helpful when choosing our birds:
http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. There are a lot of friendly, helpful members here and tons of information.

Good luck, have fun!
 

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