Joining this forum may have been a bad idea....im awaiting my chicks in october...and I already want more...My husband just joked that I caught chicken fever..or bird flu. How do you guys handle all the choices? I feel like there is so much variety and beautiful birds, and I keep saying...I will use all the eggs...I have a useless cat....but chickens can actually do me some good...They are beneficial to my garden (under control)....I love to cook...so eggs are great...I just keep making more excuses to have more. I didn't even want chickens to begin with. I only started my research because I was pressured into getting some ...now I feel like its a drug...I am spending my days and nights combing through chicken books and on the web. The librarian thinks I am crazy because I have been there four times in one week for chicken books.
So now I have to ask....if I decide to add four more to my flock.....before it ships out to me....what would your favorites be for this area? I am in southern ny. I cannot have roosters where I live, but being here makes me want to move lol....
Help
There is no help. Sorry. Only enabling.
With that said I will repeat what someone already said "build the biggest coop you can afford". You don't have to fill it. Ever. BUT you will need more storage for feed (so you can take advantage of sales), for extra feeders and waterers (I have 3 sizes for 3 differerent age birds), and medications/DE/bales of wood chips than an inexperienced chicken keeper can envision.
Don't make the mistake I made. Make sure everything you build is easy to clean and/or you can walk inside it. (I made my run 4 feet tall with take off roof panels. Worked until a bird laid an egg in the run and I had no way to get it out. Sigh) And don't put your roosts at head height or across the pop door area. (Ok, so I made more than one mistake. LOL)
THEN decide on a couple of breeds you want to try and get a couple of them. Get them local if possible, the chicks will be healthier. Once you have tried a couple of breeds add more chickens, either of the same breed or other breeds you want to try. What works for me might not work for your chicken rearing style, so you have to experiment with breeds that work for your situation.
If you can't have a rooster, you don't want breeds that are known for their broodiness. Broody hens just sit on eggs trying to hatch them. With no rooster the eggs will never hatch and the broody won't lay eggs until she "breaks her brood". Silkies are one breed that people keep around because they go broody often. That would be a breed you would want to avoid. They are also not known for their prolific egg laying.
If you don't want to grow your flock to large DO NOT get an incubator. Having one will entice you to buy, barter or beg people for hatching eggs. And hatching chicks has it's own set of challenges. Or, I should say, raising the chicks without a momma hen has it's own set of challenges...dust being a big one and having to provide safe heat for 4 weeks straight being another.
The last bit of info I would impart is research now and get birds in the spring. Many chicken breeds don't lay many eggs over the winter (daylight is too short), so you would be feeding a bunch of freeloaders for the winter. Also, come spring just about everyone on here will have chicks. Some pure breed at regular cost, some discounted and many "who's your momma" chicks for free. (Cuz we are addicted to hatching chicks and only keep one or two from each hatch and *now* what do we do with the rest?)
I thought my favorite breed was Ameraucanas. I was wrong, my favorite "breed" is "who's your momma" birds. They are healthier, lay more eggs and have a wider range of colors and personalities. My second favorite would be my D'uccles. They are very friendly, but lay very very tiny eggs. Kids love the eggs and I trade them with a friend for hatching eggs when one of my birds goes broody, cuz her eggs are 100% fertile. Mine are hit or miss on fertility, even with 2 roos running around.