What chicken breeds did you all start our with for your very first batch of chicks?
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Yea I am adding to it this spring. I plan on adding 5 EE's, 5 brown leghorns, and 5 salmon Favorelles.Kenzier093: Every one you ask will give you a different answer. The questions you need to ask, need to be answered by you, and only you. What is your climate like? Will you keep your birds confined? Free range? Or a combination? Do you want a lot of eggs? Will you eat the birds when they have stopped laying? Are your chickens going to be pets for their entire lives? Do you eventually want to hatch eggs... allow a hen to go broody? What color eggs do you like? Do you want a colorful egg basket, or do you want eggs all the same color? Now, that you've answered these questions, you can start looking at chicken breeds. Start by looking at "Henderson's Chicken Breeds Chart". After that, when you have marked a few breeds that meet some of your criteria, do some research on these breeds. An other place to look for breed information is the web sites of the various hatcheries. They'll give you breed information, but be sure to look at various sites and compare that information. After you've selected your breed criteria, pick the brains of the wonderful folks on this site, sift through the information, and make your final choices. Don't despair if you get your heart set on a breed, only to find out that it's not realistically available to you in your time frame. That's why it's a good idea to have several breeds on your list. 2 pieces of advice for you: Chickens need more room than the recommended allotment of 4 s.f./10 s.f. in the coop/run. Realize that there's no perfect answer re: what breed of chicken you get b/c no matter what you decide, by the end of the summer, you'll decide that no matter how much you love your little flock, and the breeds that you've chosen, there are a few more breeds that you'd like to add to your flock. Chickens are like potato chips. You can't have just a few, and there are so many different kinds to try! ENJOY!!
For the record: I have a flock of 5: RIR, BSL, 3 EE. Plan to add this spring: 3 Dominiques, 2 Rose Comb Brown Leghorns, 2 Blue Laced Red Wyandottes. (and about a dozen meat birds.) My goal is for a flock of rose and pea combed birds due to severe winter cold, perhaps will breed a barn yard mix from this core flock the following summer.
Sorry, I just re-read your post, and noted that you already have a flock! Are you adding to it????????