New to Chickens and this group - from Texas

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Linnre

Linnre

Songster
May 25, 2022
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Texas
Hi all. I have read a good bit from this group just from googling. I decided to join and hopefully get help with some decisions (what chickens I should get!)

I got 3 chickens and a coop for my Christmas present this past December. We didn’t know anything about any of it. We got the three chickens the man brought with the coop. He said they were 6-8 months old. We texted him later to find out what kind they are. We got a coop he had on hand, not knowing how many chickens we could have in it. We went into this pretty blindly. My biggest surprise has been how much I love my chickens! I thought I was just in it for the eggs! Last week we got a small run added to the side of the coop.

Since then I want more! The most I can have is 7, possibly 8. We have now 1 RIR and 2 probably isa browns (we were told we had 3 RI production hens). Their names are Marcia, Jan and Cindy. I color Jan and Cindy’s white tail feathers with food coloring to tell them apart - especially when looking through my ring video camera. Jan is blue, Cindy is green. 😊

I’m looking to get 3-4 newly hatched chicks soon!

I would like colored eggs but also friendly chicks who will be our pets. I am considering:
Black copper marans
Cream Legbar
Ameraucana
Orpington (really want but I read they can easily be bullied, especially by RIR)
Wyandotte (just because they’re so pretty)

And I am open to suggestions. I need to make a chart of weights of each and pros and cons.

Thank you all and happy to be here!
 
Linnre said:
Hi all. I have read a good bit from this group just from googling. I decided to join and hopefully get help with some decisions (what chickens I should get!)

I got 3 chickens and a coop for my Christmas present this past December. We didn’t know anything about any of it. We got the three chickens the man brought with the coop. He said they were 6-8 months old. We texted him later to find out what kind they are. We got a coop he had on hand, not knowing how many chickens we could have in it. We went into this pretty blindly. My biggest surprise has been how much I love my chickens! I thought I was just in it for the eggs! Last week we got a small run added to the side of the coop.

Since then I want more! The most I can have is 7, possibly 8. We have now 1 RIR and 2 probably isa browns (we were told we had 3 RI production hens). Their names are Marcia, Jan and Cindy. I color Jan and Cindy’s white tail feathers with food coloring to tell them apart - especially when looking through my ring video camera. Jan is blue, Cindy is green. 😊

I’m looking to get 3-4 newly hatched chicks soon!

I would like colored eggs but also friendly chicks who will be our pets. I am considering:
Black copper marans
Cream Legbar
Ameraucana
Orpington (really want but I read they can easily be bullied, especially by RIR)
Wyandotte (just because they’re so pretty)

And I am open to suggestions. I need to make a chart of weights of each and pros and cons.

Thank you all and happy to be here!
Click to expand...
Welcome to BYC.

From experience, the only breed you mention that I've owned is the SLW. Small, flightly birds, moederately late to lay (around 6 months for mine), lay about 3 days of 5, mostly medium to sometimes medium large eggs with a slightly pinkish cast in certain light (how I tell their eggs from the dark brahma eggs, which are otehrwise almost exactly the same color of tea stained milk). Mine are energetic and VERY predator aware. I would not consider them well suited to confinement. Somewhat heat tolerant, but cold hearty.
 
Hello Linnre! Welcome to BYC!
You should probably do some research before deciding what chicks to get, but I'll give you my experiences with them real fast.
Have never kept Black copper Marans or Cream Legbars.
Ameracuanas will give you blue eggs, their cousin Ollivegers will give you green. Both breeds are shy in my experience, buy lay fairly regularly and are docile. I've never had a mean Easter Egger.
Wyandottes are gorgeous, and there's a huge variety to choose from. I've had gold wyandottes as well as silver, and they seem to have a sweet disposition and lay fairly regularly. I'm raising two more silvers right now, and own several mutts with a Silver Wyandotte mother.
I've kept Lavender and Buff Orpingtons, and both are some of the sweetest breeds ever. They generally don't come sexed, so you'll have to deal with the possibility of roosters, same as the other breeds, but the orpington roosters I've kept have all been very aggressive and I was forced to get rid of them for my hens and family's safety. The hens are wonderful though.
I'm sure you'll love whatever breed you get. :D
 

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