New to Chickens, what kind to get?

[cabot]

As a relative newbie ( 2 years of chicken keeping...) and multiple breeds , I have really become fond of the orpingtons and easter eggers. The orpingtons have all been friendly, tame, child proof and just nice pets! The easter eggers were a bit flighty until point of lay and are now sweet as can be and the green eggs and cute beards are quite endearing. Right now we have a mixed flock of 2 buff orpingtons, 3 easter eggers, 1 each of delaware, barred rock, welsummer, black jersey giant and australorp. We lost a speckled sussex and columbian wyandotte this past year... As we start to lose them (age , predators etc ....) we've decided to replace with orpingtons and easter eggers. The 10 hens at 2 years of age still give 6-10 eggs/day. These are all hatchery birds.

If you want tame, good layers and good pets, I don't think you could go wrong with orpingtons. Even in a mixed flock, they have stood way above the rest and have become firm, fast favorites in our household ! Our hatchery birds from Meyers have never been broody.

In the winter, our chickens are in the spare horse stall and allowed to free range while we are out doing the chores. They often wander in and about the horses legs and often eat hay with the horses. There has never been a problem in any way, they co exist quite well. I think the horses also provide some protection from hawks !

Good luck and have fun! I can't believe we waited so long to get chickens, I can't imagine the farm without them!

 

[ChicKat]

Hi Cheyenne, Welcome to the forum.

You have such a fun adventure ahead of you.

I will chime in and say that gold sexlinks or 'golden comets' are really friendly, produce more and eat less than most chickens and they and get along very well with other chickens. They are just amazing. Easter Eggers too--- are wonderful for backyard flocks. They are like a box of chocolates 'you never know what you will get'. Barred Rocks as well are a nice classic for a backyard flock, and very pretty.

Laying eggs is a good sign of the general health and well being of a chicken. Different breeds, of course, have different patterns and frequencies. When your selection allows you to easily determine which egg belongs to which chicken, you have a good way to monitor your flock's well being. Easter Eggers may be easily distinguishable by color of the chickens themselves and their eggs can range from tan, to green, to blue-green to blue. So if you have some of them, you can easily know who's egg is who's as an easy health monitor.

The white layers may be less pet-friendly material, but are good to have in your flock.

The folks who say to get a few to start, and then plan to add more in 6-months or a year have a really good viewpoint to keep yourself in eggs for a long time. It is easier to 'stand the wait' of new pullets laying their first egg when you have some hens regularly producing eggs.

Lastly, once your chickens know where "home" is, they will "come home to roost" when it gets to dusk, so in most liklihood, you won't have to worry about them getting lost. .

 

[ChicKat]

Hi Cheyenne, Welcome to the forum.

You have such a fun adventure ahead of you.

I will chime in and say that gold sexlinks or 'golden comets' are really friendly, produce more and eat less than most chickens and they get along very well with other chickens. They are just amazing. Easter Eggers too--- are wonderful for backyard flocks. They are like a box of chocolates 'you never know what you will get'. Barred Rocks as well are a nice classic for a backyard flock, and very pretty.

Laying eggs is a good sign of the general health and well being of a chicken. Different breeds, of course, have different patterns and frequencies. When your selection allows you to easily determine which egg belongs to which chicken, you have a good way to monitor your flock's well being. Easter Eggers may be easily distinguishable by color of the chickens themselves and their eggs can range from tan, to green, to blue-green to blue. So if you have some of them, you can easily know who's egg is who's as an easy health monitor.

The white layers may be less pet-friendly material, but are good to have in your flock.

The folks who say to get a few to start, and then plan to add more in 6-months or a year have a really good viewpoint to keep yourself in eggs for a long time. It is easier to 'stand the wait' of new pullets laying their first egg when you have some hens regularly producing eggs.

Lastly, once your chickens know where "home" is, they will "come home to roost" when it gets to dusk, so in most liklihood, you won't have to worry about them getting lost. .

 

[The Red Rooster]

We have horses and chickens. We have never had any problems with the horses getting sick (and we've owned chickens and horses for 8 years).

I would recommend Barred Rocks. They are friendly, good egg layers, and a good chicken for beginner's.

 

[Cheyenne2929]

So I have decided on the breeds I would like to have. Might not get them all at once, we will see! I have upped my 2-4 hens to more like 4-6. I would like to eventually have a barred rock, an orphington, an austrolorp, a light brown leghorn, a red of some sort (wether RIR or sex link or something else with red color) and a couple easter eggers. I do like the multi colored egg idea, and want a variety of color in the hens too! Still working on what we will do about a coop. Looking like we will fix up the old coop now. Too much to do here on the farm to build a chicken tractor from scratch. At least the bones of the old coop are good. It will also be big enough for my flock to expand...eventually! Thanks guys for your help and letting me know why you like your certain breeds!

 

[Silkies~Polishes]

You are going to love chickens! They out of the many types of animals ive had are my favorite! Ive seen some people recomend Leghorns, and i dont mean to be bias but ive never liked them from my experience. They are known for being skittish and that is what ive experienced from having them also. I would stick to all the popular breeds(except leghorns of course!), and not start with special or rare breeds. I know silkies and mille de fleurs are not super rare but living in washington it has just been too wet and cold and ive never kept one alive through the winter.... My first batch of chicks was a Red Star(she was a super good layer, large eggs until she was about 3 1/2), a plymoth rock, rhode island red, buff orpington, and a leghorn. She was super sweet but of course you know she wasnt my favorite since she HATED to be held! I now have a Buff orpington, a cochin, and a polish, LOVE them all! Super sweet and friendly! They are weird the orpington and cochin both squat whenever they just see me even from like 20 feet away!! I'm of course not a rooster......

 

[Smallflockchickens]

If you want nice, quiet, docile birds, i would go with Australorps because the one i have right now is such a sweetheart! Even though shes on the lower end of the pecking order, she always comes running up to greet me whenever i come out. they're beautiful and very good egglayers of brown eggs!!! I would also recommend Easter Eggers, their eggs vary in colors are they are also so adorable and pretty. I love all the color assortments! Others breeds such as brahmas, barred rocks, and delawares are all great birds to have in your flock!!! well good luck, and whatever breeds you choose, youre going to fall in love with them!!!