OHio ~ Come on Buckeyes, let me know your out there!

[Krazyquilts]

I was hoping this forum could help me with this part. I know we're getting 3, it's my favorite number, and I good starting point in my opinion.
We also know that we want egg layers, these chickens will NOT be eaten (Fiancé was pretty set on that lol)

What have you buckeyes had the best experience with in our climate (central Ohio)? Also, we want ones that are known to be friendly, as we have 4 kiddos between 6 and 14 between us.

Thanks for the welcome and in advance of your opinions.

Ducks! They don't care one bit about the cold (or rain) and there are lots of good egg laying breeds. I'm getting three eggs a day from my Welsh Harlequin and two Buff ducks. (It's a good thing the two Cayugas are stunningly gorgeous because those lazy duckers haven't laid a single egg yet!) And duck eggs are fantastic for baking!

When we buy our farm, I'm going to get chickens too. But I was really worried about how well chickens would do since we live very close to the lake and it is really windy. So, since we only have room for one or the other, ducks were the winner. Ducks are awesome! But so are chickens. Basically, any backyard poultry is awesome.

Here's a video my husband took on December 9, 2017 of our silly ducks:

[VIDEO]

(Edite because I didn't do the video embedding correctly the first time.)

 

[gearheadmb]

Im from kettlersville, which is in shelby county.

 

[minihorse927]

I would suggest not getting a rooster, as it is their nature to be protective and aggressive.  Most, not all of course, will inflict damage if you aren't careful, I have been flogged more than once, and wear protective clothing and take a stick with me now.  I would send our guy to freezer camp but he is a good protector of the girls, so I put up with him.

You don't have to put up with a mean rooster ever. They get 2 chances here. The first one they get their warning, the second one they get the freezer. I've got a Coming 4 year old Swedish flower cock and he had these.

Never ever ever has he offered to test his luck but has been a superb protector of his girls

I was hoping this forum could help me with this part. I know we're getting 3, it's my favorite number, and I good starting point in my opinion.
We also know that we want egg layers, these chickens will NOT be eaten (Fiancé was pretty set on that lol)

What have you buckeyes had the best experience with in our climate (central Ohio)? Also, we want ones that are known to be friendly, as we have 4 kiddos between 6 and 14 between us.

Thanks for the welcome and in advance of your opinions.

personal experience show Swedish flowers as great adapters to the weather here. Though they don't lay for 2 to 3 months out of the year.

Leghorns are superb layers but can get frostbite if you choose the single comb variety. They will lay an egg almost every day. May be more than what you want egg wise there. These tend to be flighty and antisocial

Orpington (of any color) lay 4 to 5 days a week and provide a nice sized carcass for meat (I know you said you're not eating them) these tend to be lap birds. Very curious and in your face wanting to see what's going on.

Sex links vary greatly depending on what was used to make them. I've had them friendly and curious and I've had them flighty, mean, and antisocial. Typically I've found the black sex links to be friendlier than the reds. These guys will lay 1 egg 6 to 7 days a week for the first 18 months or so and drop back to 4 to 5 days a week after that molt.


Welcome to the Ohio thread! There are great people here

 

[WVduckchick]

You don't have to put up with a mean rooster ever. They get 2 chances here. The first one they get their warning, the second one they get the freezer. I've got a Coming 4 year old Swedish flower cock and he had these. Never ever ever has he offered to test his luck but has been a superb protector of his girls
personal experience show Swedish flowers as great adapters to the weather here. Though they don't lay for 2 to 3 months out of the year.

Leghorns are superb layers but can get frostbite if you choose the single comb variety. They will lay an egg almost every day. May be more than what you want egg wise there. These tend to be flighty and antisocial

Orpington (of any color) lay 4 to 5 days a week and provide a nice sized carcass for meat (I know you said you're not eating them) these tend to be lap birds. Very curious and in your face wanting to see what's going on.

Sex links vary greatly depending on what was used to make them. I've had them friendly and curious and I've had them flighty, mean, and antisocial. Typically I've found the black sex links to be friendlier than the reds. These guys will lay 1 egg 6 to 7 days a week for the first 18 months or so and drop back to 4 to 5 days a week after that molt.


Welcome to the Ohio thread! There are great people here

Mini, my big black/split chocolate rooster has blindsided me twice now. Once when I bent over to pick up an egg that was randomly laid outside. Second time was yesterday, when I walked toward the nest box where momma Mocha is sitting. He was being protective both times, I suppose, but now I'm keeping my eye on him. Still need to get back in touch with the fella that wanted him, haven't heard back from him. But I'll be sure and tell him about those incidences.

 

[minihorse927]

Mini, my big black/split chocolate rooster has blindsided me twice now.  Once when I bent over to pick up an egg that was randomly laid outside.  Second time was yesterday, when I walked toward the nest box where momma Mocha is sitting.  He was being protective both times, I suppose, but now I'm keeping my eye on him.  Still need to get back in touch with the fella that wanted him, haven't heard back from him.  But I'll be sure and tell him about those incidences.  :/

now I guess I didn't put that in. If I deserve it then it is a different story. If in endangering his girls in his eyes in one thing. When I'm 10 feet away and they come after me unprovoked is another.

I would tell the other guy too. He may never have any issue with him. I had a rooster that was just nasty. Mean as ever. I was ready to butcher him. He as next in line when josh's mom saw him. She just had to have him. He was a Easter eggerXleghorn. Nothing special and mean to boot. Told her how he was, she wanted him anyways. More power to ya. He got his butt whooped by a OEGB for months and hid every chance he got at her house. HE'S STILL A WIMP!

 

[WVduckchick]

now I guess I didn't put that in. If I deserve it then it is a different story. If in endangering his girls in his eyes in one thing. When I'm 10 feet away and they come after me unprovoked is another.

I would tell the other guy too. He may never have any issue with him. I had a rooster that was just nasty. Mean as ever. I was ready to butcher him. He as next in line when josh's mom saw him. She just had to have him. He was a Easter eggerXleghorn. Nothing special and mean to boot. Told her how he was, she wanted him anyways. More power to ya. He got his butt whooped by a OEGB for months and hid every chance he got at her house. HE'S STILL A WIMP!

Little OEGB's can be a handful (mine are sweet as pie to me, but any rooster on the other side of the fence is fair game!).
Maybe that's the best way to train a mean rooster, let an OEGB handle it..

 

[Rae Scott]

So easter eggerss are goid here but what aboutt olive eggers? Fiance and i are co sidering going with 6 maybe 7 and if we do we will go with one BA, 1 BO, 1LO, 1 EE and 1 OE. Is that a good mix or nah?

 

[Spartan22]

Leghorns are superb layers but can get frostbite if you choose the single comb variety. They will lay an egg almost every day. May be more than what you want egg wise there. These tend to be flighty and antisocial

Welcome to the Ohio thread! There are great people here

On white leghorns, I got them on the very first yr of chicken raising, was suggested by the sales clerk along with Barred Rocks & Wyandottes ( I never knew anything bout chickens back then) But after reading, researching, I started being concerned about their reputations, flighty? frost bites prone?

At barely 16 wks, we got our eggs, plenty of eggs the first week of laying from 3 leghorns, they laid eggs like no tomorrow. Beautiful perfect white eggs, 7 eggs a week from each leghorns while others took another month or so to lay their first egg. No wonder that's what you normally see in the store, because of their prolific feed/egg conversion, was very amazed since their bodies are so scrawny and very light birds. On the other hand they're top of the pecking order bossy, protective of their nest, the long roomy roosts, and feeds, were almost mean. At first 6 months of their laying I had love-hate relationship with them, love the reliable giant daily Eggs but did not like their personalities, I was thinking of getting rid of them.

To our surprise they suddenly became friendly after few months of laying. Changed my mind of getting rid of them, Matter of fact I bought 2 more leghorn chicks along with Easter Eggers & Black Sex Links the 3rd season. They never had frost bites, I guess proper management of coop humidity and air flow in the winter helped.

 

[South OH Chicks]

Anyone in southern ohio have non-heritage rir hatchings eggs for sale?

 

[henny1129]

While we are on the topic of roosters, I just have one quick question. What is your experience with bantam roosters? We'll be ordering some new chicks to start our flock over with in the spring and we wanted some bantams for show plus their just fun to have around. You have to order them straight run though so I'm sure we'll be getting a roo or two. I would like to keep at least one roo for breeding purposes but I'd just like to know a little more about their personalities. And if it helps,we are ordering Black Cochin bantams and Buckeye bantams, so these would be the possible breed that we could get a roo from. And also, what if we got one Buckeye roo and one BC roo....would it be okay to keep them both with the ladies (should be around 12 other LF and bantie ladies) or would that be too many roos for the ladies? We also have two other large poultry cages in the barn and a smaller coop that we could put the roos in with no other ladies. Would you just suggest keeping them all separate? I look forward to yalls opinion!