Ordering chicks for the first time. Breed Opinions/Rooster questions.

[Folly's place]

I've ordered many breeds from several sources over the years, and it's true that what looks interesting 'on paper' may not work out for you. Climate matters too; hot weather breeds aren't always the same as cold weather types. Some birds don't mix well; Favorelles are sweet and beautiful, but timid in a mixed flock, and sex-links, New Hampshires, and production reds (hatchery RIRs) are pushy to a fault. Leghorn and hybrid layer types will produce the most eggs, but be more active and small for eating. Speckled Sussex hens are very friendly and beautiful (a favorite of mine!). Australorps are nice layers, and any Plymouth Rocks or Wyandottes are good dual purpose birds. Wyandottes, Black Copper Marans, and Barnfelders lay darker eggs. Easter Eggers and some others lay blue-green eggs,. and variety is fun! If you order an assortment, it's fun to figure out what you have as they grow, and some will turn out to be favorites. I do love having roosters, but it's necessary to keep one or two nice ones and eat the rest. Human aggression is NOT okay! Mary

 

[lazy gardener]

Welcome. I'm glad to see you doing your homework before running out and picking up a handful of little fluff balls from TSC! It would be helpful for you to put your general location in your profile. That helps when folks are trying to respond to any questions you may have. My recommendations: Start with a review of Henderson's chicken breeds chart. Then, go to several of the web sites of the hatcheries you're considering ordering from. Look at the breeds you're considering there. Sounds like you'd eventually like to breed your own. Good for you! I'd love to see everybody who can keep a rooster breeding their own replacement chicks. After you decide how many birds you want to keep, it's time to plan your brooder, coop, and run. Plan on at least 1 s.f./bird in the brooder. Plan on at least 4 s.f./bird in the coop. Plan on at least 10 s.f./bird in the run, even if you plan to let your flock predominantly free range. There will be times when you need to pen them up: training them to lay eggs in the coop, keeping them home when they discover that the neighbors yard has greener grass or beautiful flowers for them to destroy, local dogs come visiting... or you have predators find your babies. Now that you have your ideal flock size in mind, and an idea how much space you'll need for brooder, run, and coop... DOUBLE THAT! Because, after you get your flock up and running... after a season or two, your egg production will drop off, and you'll need to start some new chicks. While some folks practice all in, and all out style of management (they kill all of the old birds, then start a new batch of chicks) most folks prefer to start a few chicks every year or so. That takes extra room. And if you have chicks, plan on at least 1/2 of them being cockrels. When their hormones kick in, they get nasty to their sisters. You'll need extra space for a bachelor pad.

Brooding: Check out this article: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/yes-you-certainly-can-brood-chicks-outdoors

My favorite breeds: I live in Maine... = COLD weather in abundance! So, my preference is a bird with a small comb, and non feathered feet. Also a bird that has a good coat of feathers. Then, there's my preference for a colorful egg basket, good laying productivity, occasional broodiness, good foraging, and good temperament. Then... there's the pleasure from having a bit of eye candy moving across my yard. So, I choose birds with pea or rose combs. EE, Dominique, Wyandotte, Rose comb brown Leghorn, with a splash of Pioneer thrown in to produce a sizeable egg and carcass. Because I'm working on producing my own back yard flock which meets all of my criteria, I started out with all of these breeds, and will continue to cross them, and cull every year to see what comes out in the wash.

Now, if you plan on having more than one breed, and eventually having a rooster... you might consider choosing several breeds that, when crossed will give you sex linked chicks. Check out the charts on the first post of this thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/261208/sex-linked-information

 

[dekel18042]

Quote:
I'd love to know your favorite breeds that are beautiful friendly prolific layers!
I am thinking of ordering from Meyer mostly due to their selection of breeds.
Rooster question. I have no clue what breed of rooster to get or if I need more than one. Most importantly I want a rooster with a good temperament (and I know there are no guarantees). I would also like a beautiful rooster
Thank you in advance!
Jocelyn
You have been given excellent advice. I don't know where you live, but you may also want to take your climate into consideration and get birds who are either heat or cold hardy.
We wanted a colorful egg basket and my husband wanted a heritage flock so we got different breeds and added more to see which were our favorites. He had a few false starts and finally we admitted we were on the same page. Our favorite breed (or variety?) The plain old Easter egger. They are both heat tolerant and cold hardy, lay eggs in the extra large range in a variety of colors and are our best layers. Our flock went through a group molt and the EE's recovered quickest and are all laying again. Unfortunately I haven't seen a brown egg in quite a while.

So right now the EE's and the pullets from last spring are the only ones laying, and surprisingly a few marans.
As far as roosters go, I agree there is a good chance you will get a missexed one. If not, you can look around. I know in my area I and others tend to hang onto the nice roosters and see if I can find a home for them. And there are some very nice roosters out there.

 

[Finelyfound]

Thank you all so much! This is all very helpful.
We are located in beautiful Floyd Virginia in the Blue Ridge Mountains. We live on a ridge so we have a constant "breeze" and frequent howling winds. Summers are mild for the area, we didn't run the AC at all this year. This is our first winter here and it has been abnormally mild, it can get pretty cold and the wind I'm sure will be frigid.
Our coop will be in a 12x12 room in our horse barn (I posted a separate thread asking about coop design).
So far I am planning to use one corner of the stall as a grow out coop with a 6x12run. The main coop will have an 18x12 run that opens into a 60x100 grass paddock where they can free range.
I have plenty of room to expand in the barn if that's where things lead. I am not breeding ponies anymore so I still have 3 empty stalls. I want to take it slow and see how things go. I love the idea of breeding chickens particularly heritage and rare breeds, but I'm not looking for another money pit. From what I can tell just by surfing the Internet most of the folks breeding and selling chick/eggs in VA are in the North or Costal area of the state. I couldn't find a single person in reasonable driving distance to buy chicks from. If that's really the case it could be a worthwhile venture at some point down the road.
For now I'd really just like to be as informed as possible and start "smart". Hardware cloth, roosts, nest boxes and the run will be our only coop expenses. I am planning to ferment feed and use the deep litter method of bedding.
Definitely want to have meat birds at some point.
We try to live as close to zero waste as possible, lots of composting, gardening and re/upcycling.
Once I get the hang of chickens I would love to have some ducks if I can manage to keep them without creating an eyesore. My husband is completely hooked on duck eggs, so if the chicken experience is managed properly, produces eggs and some meat and doesn't break the bank I will consider breeding the chickens and adding ducks.
At least even the worst case scenario won't come anywhere near the cost of breeding and raising show ponies
Jocelyn

 

[Folly's place]

I have horses, and they are a huge money pit! Chickens are cheap in comparison, for sure. Before you consider chicks from multiple sources, read up on biosecurity for your flock. Some diseases are forever, and best avoided if at all possible. I only get chicks from select hatcheries, or very carefully selected private breeders (nearly never) and birds I raise myself. After over twenty years of having chickens, and being careful and lucky, it's worked for me here. Do get your chicks vaccinated for Marek's disease from the hatchery; it's cheap insurance. Try a mixed group, and enjoy! Mary

 

[donrae]

chicken are definitely cheaper and easier than horses or ponies. Plus, folks tend to frown if you talk about eating your equines

but it's perfectly acceptable (here, anyway) to eat your chicken or duck culls.