Newbie Chicken owners need help.....

[Dallas Newbies]

My husband and I want to get some egg laying chickens for the backyard. We have a 6lbs dog and a 3yr old son and are hoping for some advise for which breeds to get.

Everyone says to get the chickens at feed stores, which is fine that seems easy to do.

We'd like 3 chickens that will lay lots of eggs, be friendly enough and let us hold them from time to time and in general be nice additions to the family. Obviously the prettier the better!

Any ideas or tips??

Thanks from Dallas, TX

 

[Kevin565]

You must remember that poultry are birds and may not be as affectionate as a dog or cat. They are prey animals and being touched can stress them out. Silkies seem to be a popular choice for pets but won't lay as large of eggs as large fowl breeds.

 

[Dallas Newbies]

Yes, understood. We aren't looking for a cuddly dog or chicken....but if we pet the chicken or occassionally pick them up we don't want anyone to get pecked or scratched. Just want some pretty backyard chickens to lay some organic eggs and add to our family

 

[texas hiker]

black australorp would be one of my first choices.

I guess you live in an urban area? black australorps are quiet, lay lots of eggs, and are not agressive.

Sometimes my barred rocks and rhode island reds get upset about something and start making noise.

There are so many good breeds its difficult to go wrong. Silver laced wyandotte, speckled sussex, barred rock,,, only to name a few.

 

[saellis]

Australorps are good layers and every one that I have met seems to be fairly calm and almost laid back. Their black feathers will show green and purple highlights in bright sunlight..

 

[Dallas Newbies]

Thanks for the tips! I live near white rock lake....its an urban neighborhood, but we have a huge backyard.

 

[Fentressfarmer]

I have a few red sex-links that are sweet and are jumbo red egg- laying machines, but my favorites are barred rocks the ones I've had in the past have been very nice social chickens.

 

[oesdog]

If you get young chickens they should be fine to pick up. We cuddle our girls all the time and they can be very affectionate. Though you MUST be mindful of children round chickens because they can peck and may be drawn to eyes! Do be careful and always supervise a child with animals of any kind. Also you say you have a dog. We have dogs and chickens but they NEVER mix. Dogs by their nature love to chase and Dogs will kill chickens. So again do be mindful of that when you make your choices and make sure you have room to keep all seperated!!!! We are very good with gates etc here! There are many different types of hens - if you want just egg layers go for something like a production red. Pretty hens well there all pretty! You could go for Banty hens which are child sized! Though the eggs are small. If you want larger hens there is a number of breeds you can look them up on this sight in the review section.

As for eggs most hens lay once a day or every other day. However most take a break from laying in the colder darker days, maybe 8-12 weeks. They also molt losing feathers and bulk at that time.

OES - chickens are great pets and easy to look after!

 

[chick lovers]

I would reccomend golden commets we have one that will let you pick her whenever you want to; or maybe a partridge rock because if your gentle and quiet you can pick her up and they are egg laying machines

here is my partridge rock. I will try to get a picture of my golden comet,

 

[ryeguy]

I agree that Black Australorps would be a good choice. I have two and they are by far the friendliest breed we have. They follow me around the yard and will stop and let me pick them up and carry them around. They are excellent layers as well. Each of ours lay 5-6 eggs a week.

You can let your chicken mix with your dog depending on the breed. We have a Border Collie and we refer to our chickens as her "flock". When we let them free range she loves herding them. It's nice because I don't have to supervise them because she will keep them all together and out of trouble. I know a chicken owner with a Golden Retriever that does really well with their chickens.