Such a chicken dilema! Not sure what breed to get our where to find it!
We have five hens (well, two of them are
almost hens, should be laying any day now) and I desperately want three more as that is the legal limit here in Seattle, we need more eggs, and chickens are just awesome. I can't decide if I want to try my hand for the first time at raising chicks or just get started pullets again. I want light-eating top-notch layers who are excellent foragers and crazy/flighty/smart enough to survive our dogs, who do occasionally misbehave and chase chickens. I have my heart set on LF Hamburgs because they are so cool-looking and they definitely fit the bill, though I worry about integrating them into our flock because they are such a small breed and I've heard they don't tend to stick up for themselves much in a mixed flock. The two Leghorns I added back in mid-June, the ones who are at POL now, are definitely at the bottom of the pecking order but they have done just fine for themselves and there has been very, very little pecking from our two Wyandottes, and our Welsummer, who is the flock leader, has taken a particular shine to the little Leghorns, even gets protective of them sometimes. Our three big hens aren't very aggressive but I do worry that the two Leghorns might give any newcomers a run for their money.
I recently emailed with the guy at Baxter Barn in Fall City and save for a few blue pullets he does not have any more Hamburgs until spring chicks. Blue is nice but I definitely want more than one color variety, and he will have more varieties in spring (including rare colors one can't get from hatcheries!). I guess I should wait until then, but I'm sure some of y'all know how it is when you have your heart set on a particular breed
now, ya know? Availability isn't the only limiting factor as my boyfriend needs to build a bigger coop first, which he promises he'll do "soon", LOL. He also thinks we should just get more Leghorns since the two we recently got have done so well here and he knows I'll freak out if I see anything other than the very mildest forms of pecking-order-establishing.
The problem with getting more Leghorns is that the only variety with interesting plumage that is easy to come by around here seems to be Exchequer, which is what we already have and like I said, I want more variety.
So, am I crazy to want Hamburgs? Would they get bullied too much? Are there other places in WA or OR to find LF Hamburgs or rare types of Leghorns? I heard Stumpfarmer has Hamburgs, but I haven't heard back from her/him (granted, it's only been a few days, but like I said, I have that
want-chickens-NOW syndrome, LOL).
See this is eggsactly what I mean when I say my BYC family knows things that my mother's daughter has no clue about.
