What are the trending breeds in your area right now?

[chickendreams24]

We breed English Orpingtons in WI and already have a waiting list for our coming hatch.

Let me know if anyone is interested but we don't ship at this time.

Silkies are big and we've always sold them faster than we can hatch them but we are currently rebuilding our silkie breeding flock after a fox and mink wiped out most of them last year.

Last year we hatched buff gray partridge white paint and black silkies.

Ameraucana are trendy but most people are wrongly selling EE.

Cream legbars aren't well known here yet but it's slowly spreading.

Marans and olive eggers

Lavender anything.

Bielefelders are also big right now but have taken a couple years to catch on and many people still aren't familiar with them.

 

[danceswithronin]

Ameraucana are trendy but most people are wrongly selling EE.

This really bugs me, because to me EE = barnyard mix/mutt who just happens to lay colored eggs. Ameraucana is a totally different breed.

Bielefelders are also big right now but have taken a couple years to catch on and many people still aren't familiar with them.

I'm considering making bielefelders my first "rare hatch" when I finish renovating my coop because I think they'll sell really well (have not seen them available locally), and they're gorgeous chickens so I want one for myself, lol. Depends on whether I can find a rare color set of Orp hatching eggs though when I get ready to incubate though since Orps are my fave.

 

[chickendreams24]

Just be careful I have a friend who lost her Bielefelder hen to heat one or two summers ago and she was in Illinois.

I think they can do okay if they have shade and are in a breezy area. Hers jumped the garden fence and got stuck because she wouldn't jump back. It was a freak thing on a day that was like 90+ with high humidity.

Of course for any animal constant access to water is a must.

Large fluffy English Orpingtons can also suffer in high heat but we've never lost one yet. Even when it was over 100* F last summer and 100% humidity.

I still haven't figured out how it can be 100% humidity and not be raining.

 

[danceswithronin]

Just be careful I have a friend who lost her Bielefelder hen to heat one or two summers ago and she was in Illinois.

I think they can do okay if they have shade and are in a breezy area. Hers jumped the garden fence and got stuck because she wouldn't jump back. It was a freak thing on a day that was like 90+ with high humidity.

Of course for any animal constant access to water is a must.

Large fluffy English Orpingtons can also suffer in high heat but we've never lost one yet. Even when it was over 100* F last summer and 100% humidity.

I still haven't figured out how it can be 100% humidity and not be raining.

Yeah heat is my biggest worry this summer because half my flock is Orps and it easily gets above 100F here from June-August, with a high humidity too. Luckily my entire coop and half of my chicken run are in full shade with lots of ventilation, so that helps a ton. We also use a sprinkler on the adjacent vegetable garden that catches part of the run and gives them a bit of water to cool off under when the heat is really obnoxious. I had silkies out in those conditions last summer and they didn't seem to suffer at all, no panting or lethargy.

 

[chickendreams24]

Also I totally agree about EE and I hate that feed stores and some hatcheries wrongly sell them as Ameraucana.

Don't get me wrong I love EE too and most EE do have certain characteristics but technically an EE is any mix that carries a blue egg gene.

The name Americana is just misleading.

 

[chickendreams24]

Our silkies are such hardy little things too. Heck in Wisconsin it's not uncommon for us to get -20*F or lower and we've never had silkies get frost bite. Most of them are great foragers and some can be amazing layers. Smaller eggs but great layers. They're also super friendly and hilarious.

Compared to our other breeds we've lost fewer silkies to predators as well. Our silkies even climb up our roost ladders and end up 4 or more feet in the air. They're really incredible little birds.

Yes any time it's very hot spraying the birds down a bit giving them shade and plenty of cold water. Also freezing milk jugs and setting them out sometimes the birds will lay next to or stand on them.

 

[Ghosty]

Non-standard colors of Orp is my go-to right now too, I want a crele and a chocolate or chocolate splash SO bad.

Seeing some Chocolate Orps here. I thought about getting a couple, but looked like they wanted 75$ for a lot of 10.

 

[Ghosty]

Bielefelders were another I had considered, but I already had some chicks coming for the season. There are several dedicated breeders around my area already. They range from 5 - 15$ a chick.

 

[danceswithronin]

Other breeds that aren't as easy to find locally in my area are "foreign free ranger" types like Egyptian Fayoumis and Sicilian Buttercups, I think I might do a few clutches of those and see how well they sell since they would do well in my climate.

 

[Mybackyardpeepers]

At the moment, Silkies are a hot fad though you wouldn't catch me dead with one. Blue egg layers, especially EE seem to be pretty big, too.
Always in high demand, but low supply are Mille Fleur d'Uccles.

Why don't you care for silkies? Just curious because I currently have 6!!!