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KJWmom

In the Brooder
Jul 25, 2017
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Hello to everyone.
As a family we are fairly new to chickens. The past two years my son has shown market broilers at our county fair. I think this has gone well as the judge has given positive comments. He has decided to move into a fancier chickens for the next year. We are awaiting our first shipment of chicks from a hatchery. We are going to have Golden Laced Polish, Golden aced Cochin, Birchen Cochin Bantam and Blue Rose Comb Bantam. He picked all of these based on personal preference.
I am really hoping to get a better feel for raising a backyard flock to help with the knowledge needed to have a great set of birds for our enjoyment and hopefully some purple ribbons at the next fair. I am looking forward to any suggestions and advice that will keep us in the right direction.
Thanks everyone!!!
 
We did go with Cackle Hatchery located in Missouri. I am really excited to get started. I am hoping that all the birds get along as well as the customer service rep said they would.
 
Wish he had chosen just one breed and just one variety! While they will probably get along together, Bantams can't always do well with large fowl. You may have individuals that can be show material, you cannot have a breeding flock with different breeds--and some varieties of the same breed are never bred together. Plenty of time to learn about them, as they are growing--and later may choose the ones liked best, to go on with! Good luck
 
My flock of 75 is about 50/50 large fowl and bantams,with a few guineas mixed in. As long as he has or can build some breeding pens that shouldn't be a problem. How many of each breed did you get? Cackle maintains their own breeding flocks and they are quite large. They have videos of many of them on youtube so you can see the parent flocks before buying. So, as far as inbreeding, there is already a good chance of genetic diversity and unrelated chicks.

Jean is right; he may decide he likes some more than others and end up narrowing it down so he can focus more, but there's only one way to figure that out and he will with time. It's hard to know what you'll want to stick with just from what you see at shows or look at online.
 
The idea of breeding has come up in talks with my son, but was nothing concrete. I would like to have babies with those that are more prone to sit on eggs. We are fortunate to live on a farm and have the space to work with. So if in the future its decided to explore breeding we can separate. I am guessing there will be a decision to narrow down the breeds. We decided to go with five of each kind. They are not sexed so he did make his choices based on liking the looks of the male and female. At least i know there will be at least one of each kind heading in for judging.
 
Welcome aboard! :frow
We are glad you joined our flock.
This video will help you learn how to navigate this site:
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If he doesn't have "broody" breeds, you may want to get one or two, so you can hatch eggs under them. Cochin, Buff Orps, Silkies are pretty much the most dedicated broody breeds.
 

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