hi all, i'm new to the forums. First off, I want to say WOW!! what a wealth of info here. Not only am I new to the forums, I'm new to keeping chickens. I got my first few yesterday. I bought them from a gentleman that sells them on a corner I pass daily on the way to/from work for the last few years. He showed me his state license and the chickens have been vaccinated for Coccidus(?) - not sure of how to say/spell it- and they all appear to be active and healthy. They hatched on Feb. 19. Three of the five have been de-beaked. I am curious about what kind of chickens I got. He said that the 3 white ones were 'white something or other leghorns' and the 2 blacks were 'bantys'. They both lay brown eggs. Now, I asked a ton of questions on how to house and care for them and I guess it was a combination of information overload and lack of ANY kind of knowledge about chickens because much of what I have read here and the photos i've seen seem to contradict some of what he said. The white chickens are just that- solid white. The black chickens are black with white speckles. Both have normal 'flesh' colored legs. Both are layers. Both lay brown eggs. (which i thought that i read that White Leghorns lay white eggs?) I also seem to be getting the impression that the term 'banty' encompasses more than one particular chicken? Another question I have is in regards to the dyed chicks that I have seen at the local feed supply store. Aside from the fact that I do not support the dyeing of any animal, I am considering picking up a few. My reasoning is that the ones I take will definitely live a good life as compared to being picked up for novelty Easter gifts and likely living a short life in a cardboard box. Is there any typical type of chicken used for this Easter dyeing thing? The feed store employees did not seem to know what type they were. I also understand that I could end up with Roosters instead of chickens and wonder how many roosters can be kept together. Will they fight? I can attempt photos of my birds this afternoon and get them posted, I know that will help. I also plan to stop and speak with the gentleman I purchased the birds from. I just like to arm myself with as much knowledge as possible, and there appears to be an unending supply of it here! Thanks in advance for any replies. Hopefully, I'll graduate out of the Newbie class soon.
Hi AF! If you want a good reference for your chicken keeping, I suggest a book called Storey's Guide to Keeping Chickens. The term Bantam (or Banty) does cover more than one particular breed. A bantam chicken is about 1/4 the size of a standard chicken. There can be a bantam counter part for a standard breed (like cochins), and there are others that only come in bantam (Like silkies) or only come in standard size. If you can post a picture of your girls, that would be very helpful. Are the black and white ones smaller than the white ones? You can ask the feed store if they got a straight run of chicks or just pullets (hens under a year old). If it's a straight run, you'll probably end up with 50/50, but with just pullets, you still may end up with a couple roos. If you end up with more than one dominate roo, you'll get fights, but sometimes the less dominate roo will fall into place and you'll have harmony. However, you should only have one roo for every 12 girls or so.
I thought the practice of dyeing chicks had been outlawed????? Can you post some pics of your chickens and we might be able to help ID them.