Virgins to the chicken world

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Mikejr05

Mikejr05

In the Brooder
Jan 17, 2016
53
12
38
Idaho
Hello everyone my family is looking forward to starting our very own flock. (small flock). I just finished reading "Backyard Chickens for Beginners" by R.J. Ruppenthal. It gave me a lot of good information. We were going to get our chicks by the end of February but now we are more conscientious of what breed to buy. Any help would be much appreciated, just to give you some background we live in Southeast Idaho so winters can be rough. The coop we are going to have built will only be big enough for 4-5 chickens. Looking for good egg layers but also that will be good to eat when the eggs run out. My wife would like an Ameraucana and a Marans, if possible I guess the question is are these okay for our climate and are they better to have in pairs? Are there other breeds you would recommend? I know we will be leaning on all of you for a long time and we appreciate your help.

Kind regards,
 
Mikejr05 said:
Hello everyone my family is looking forward to starting our very own flock. (small flock). I just finished reading "Backyard Chickens for Beginners" by R.J. Ruppenthal. It gave me a lot of good information. We were going to get our chicks by the end of February but now we are more conscientious of what breed to buy. Any help would be much appreciated, just to give you some background we live in Southeast Idaho so winters can be rough. The coop we are going to have built will only be big enough for 4-5 chickens. Looking for good egg layers but also that will be good to eat when the eggs run out. My wife would like an Ameraucana and a Marans, if possible I guess the question is are these okay for our climate and are they better to have in pairs? Are there other breeds you would recommend? I know we will be leaning on all of you for a long time and we appreciate your help.

Kind regards,
Click to expand...

Welcome to BYC! Glad you joined the flock! I can help you a lot because I'm also an Idaho resident. Except I'm in Nampa, the other side. Ameracauna will be able to handle our cold. Most chickens can handle the cold without problems so long as they have some sort of shelter. Also if you give them a high Carbohydrate diet like cracked corn can help too as well as having more than just two chickens. I would only recommend a rooster if you plan to be eating him or plan to be breeding. I recommend Australorps, that's my favorite and the breed I currently raise. I have 24 pullets and 1 cockerel; I will be incubating eggs this February. Black Australorps are very calm, hard to stress, very hardy, amazing egg layers, and can be wonderful meat birds when they aren't laying. Here are some pics of my Black Australorp flock.
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Here's my rooster. He's around 5 months old.

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As you can see they are not timid.





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Some eggs.



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Them as little chicks.

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This is what I feed them. I also add 1lb of cracked corn per 2lbs of laying crumbles. When they shells feel rough or weak shell I give them oyster shells.



More pictures of my pullets.











 
Because we have all been there done that and NONE of us here at BYC have been vaccinated against chicken math can I please give you the best advice you will ever receive...
Build for at least 10 chickens because it will be near to impossible to stop at 4-5! And even if you want 4-5 you will want 4-5 more after one year to keep egg production up as the first lots drops off their egg production after their first year.
As for chickens if you want the blue tinted egg color I would go for the Cream Legbar for good egg production and an Australorp for excellent egg production.
 
Bridebeliever thank you for the recommendation on the blue tinted egg. I was afraid someone was going to say build a bigger coop, my wife said the same thing.
 
Welcome!
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In addition to the book you have already read, I really recommend Storeys guide to raising chickens by Gail Damerow. It is my 'go to' book when I have problems.
As to chicken breeds - have you heard of Hendersons chicken breed chart? Google it and take a look. It gives you a nice run-down on the pros/cons of each breed, it will help you to select breeds for your endeavor.
I have 3 Marans here in upstate NY - not as cold as Idaho, but they are big fluffy birds so should do well. Not sure on the Ameraucanas...
Some other breeds I would recommend for cold climates are: RIR, Delaware & Wyandotte.
Good luck and enjoy!
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Mikejr05 said:
Hello everyone my family is looking forward to starting our very own flock. (small flock). I just finished reading "Backyard Chickens for Beginners" by R.J. Ruppenthal. It gave me a lot of good information. We were going to get our chicks by the end of February but now we are more conscientious of what breed to buy. Any help would be much appreciated, just to give you some background we live in Southeast Idaho so winters can be rough. The coop we are going to have built will only be big enough for 4-5 chickens. Looking for good egg layers but also that will be good to eat when the eggs run out. My wife would like an Ameraucana and a Marans, if possible I guess the question is are these okay for our climate and are they better to have in pairs? Are there other breeds you would recommend? I know we will be leaning on all of you for a long time and we appreciate your help.

Kind regards,
Click to expand...

both are ok in cold climates being as marans have a single comb they are a little bit of a pain if you have a rooster because the bigger the comb the more likely they are to get frostbite ameraucanas are good because they have a small pea comb, others could be rhode island red, barred rock, australorp, wyandottes, orpington, buckeye, chantecler, brahma, new hampshire red, cream leg bar, salmon faverolle, and welsummer they are all good birds to use/get.
 
Thank you for the Hendersons chicken breed list. Very helpful. I have a feeling this is going to turn into another hobby.
 

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