Newbie question - what kind of chickens?

[demonica29]

hi! monica here. i am totally new to the idea of raising chickens and have a TON of questions. i'm gonna try to take them one at a time in a logical order. so my first question is: what kind of chickens? i want hens only, no roosters, i live in the greater phoenix area, so they have to be able to stand the heat well, i have a toddler, so friendly birds are really important, obviously i want good layers cuz w/o roosters i'm trying to lay breakfast, not breed dinner. and lastly, all other things being equal, i have a preference for non-white eggs, but that is way at the bottom of the list. so, what do y'all think?

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

bantam leghorns...

 

[One Acre Wonder Farm]

Check this out:

http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html

oh yeah

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Just about any breed is fine as long as they have lots of shade & plenty of water.

A misting system for the hottest part of 110+ days is helpful--the ~$10 portable ones that you connect to a hose bib (usually have 5 or 6 misting nozzles) work great. If you can put it on a timer so that it turns on for a few minutes several times a day is even better.

Consider using an automatic waterer--you need to check it every day, clean it out and occasionally adjust the fill height, but it is a huge relief to know that the birds always have fresh water available.

 

[Chickie'sMoma]

i chose faverolles because they seemed to be good all around birds. i got my std favs that just hatched this week from a lady in florida and everyone up in my direction says they are calm and will let you pick them up. (most of my chicks already show that characteristic)

they lay a medium sized pinkish/brown egg. they can also be color sexed very early. cockerels will have a lot of black on their wings while the pullets will have the salmon color with a little bit of black turning to a light brown. you can usually see the colors at 2 weeks to be sure of the sex.

 

[Judy]

Check out this breed selector tool:

http://www.mypetchicken.com/

In my experience, leghorns are flighty, panicky birds that are very difficult to approach. But these are hatchery leghorns. Might be different if they were from a good breeder.

Henderson's is an excellent breed chart.

 

[AZKat]

I don't know how much it helps, since I don't have my birds yet, but I'm also in your neck of the woods, and so had similar criteria. Our list ended up being barred rock, australorp, and andalusian.

 

[ZepChick]

omg, Cochins are like big stuffed animals with nice calm temperaments and mine lay a beautiful brown egg daily

Easter eggers also lay well and lay blue/green egg daily (mine do) although not quite as calm as a Cochin. Since they are fluffy, not sure how a cochin would do in phoenix

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Cochins do fine here as long as they have shade and water.

I would say don't import a bird from cold weather and immediately throw it out into 100+ temps. Most breeds that have been mentioned are available locally from breeders. When you decide on breeds, PM me and I'll give you some names.

 

[Renee]

Mediterranean breeds do well in hot weather, but they tend to be flighty and less friendly than some others.

I have a Silver Campine that is supposed to be well-suited to hot temps, and she is a sweetie. A real lap chicken. She is talkative, though, so if you have neighbors that are really close you might consider that issue too.