What are your chicken goals

[Carters Chick House]

Standard poodle for sure!

Newfoundland is my breed of choice.But I love all bigger breeds.

 

[MaryJanet]

Nice variety if breeds!!! I know nothing of an of those, as I've never had those breeds (being my first yr)
I have
6 cinnamon Queens
5 golden comets
1 blue sapphire
2 CCL
5 EE
1 bantam cochin (cockerel)

I've noticed the breeds where I live are sometimes not available in other places and vice versa.

There are always a lot of ISA Browns available. Barnevelders are easy to come by, so are Australorps, Silkies and OEGBs I'm thrilled to have a speckled Sussex and a silver grey Dorking, because I haven't seen as many of them around the place. I would love an Appenzeller Spitzhauben and a standard Cochin but there are none available within a reasonable drive.

You must have a wonderful range of colours in your egg basket

 

[Hedgeland Farms]

I've noticed the breeds where I live are sometimes not available in other places and vice versa.

There are always a lot of ISA Browns available. Barnevelders are easy to come by, so are Australorps, Silkies and OEGBs I'm thrilled to have a speckled Sussex and a silver grey Dorking, because I haven't seen as many of them around the place. I would love an Appenzeller Spitzhauben and a standard Cochin but there are none available within a reasonable drive.

You must have a wonderful range of colours in your egg basket

I've not seen any Australorps, barnevelders, silliest or Dorkings around my parts...not easily accessible (meaning to me can't get at a feed store, ordering via hatchery is of course a possibility but I do not think my PO allows it.)

I wish I could say I have a colorful basket, but I honestly do not. My cinnamon queens lay a light brown (sometimes looking pink in the right light) my golden comets lay pretty big brown eggs. One EE lays olive green, and one lays a slightly lighter version of sage green, everyone else lays a really light light blue. I would have loved more green or a darker blue but alas, they are all good layers and that's what counts lol

 

[Iluveggers]

I've not seen any Australorps, barnevelders, silliest or Dorkings around my parts...not easily accessible (meaning to me can't get at a feed store, ordering via hatchery is of course a possibility but I do not think my PO allows it.)

I wish I could say I have a colorful basket, but I honestly do not. My cinnamon queens lay a light brown (sometimes looking pink in the right light) my golden comets lay pretty big brown eggs. One EE lays olive green, and one lays a slightly lighter version of sage green, everyone else lays a really light light blue. I would have loved more green or a darker blue but alas, they are all good layers and that's what counts lol

I don’t think a post office can “not allow” chick orders. Maybe I’m wrong? But we were able to expand our breeds with two orders from different hatcheries this year, many more varieties than we could find locally!

 

[Ted Brown]

I will go back and read this whole thread 'cause it caught my interest. Seems some want to take it off topic and talk about their dogs, a bit funny that.

I have chicken goals, they have been thwarted but I will keep at it. At the moment I have 10 hens, 7 pullets and 1 rooster. The pullets are 3 and 4 months old, the hens mostly 3+ years, the Roo about 18 months. I get 1 or 2 eggs a day, been like that since the summer very frustrating. I will shortly cull most of my hens, I have chickens to produce eggs not spend my money.

I want at least a dozen eggs per day. I have a coop/run setup that will accommodate 40 birds and a plan to build another coop/run good for 24. The second setup is more for flexibility of breed than flock expansion. My current coop is a 10' by 16' Woods, my 2nd will be a 8' by 12' and on a trailer so it is mobile.

I want my core flock to be Chanteclers, a reputed good dual purpose bird and Canadian in origin; not easy to source; said to be docile. I also want coloured eggs and will likely build a mixed breed flock to accommodate that. My pullets are Barred Rocks, an experiment as they are cold hardy and I can buy them sexed.

I also want to hatch my own birds mostly for convenience and bio-security.

BTW I admire your goals, thoughfulness and generosity.

 

[MotherHen1999]

our goal was merely fresh eggs (urban backyard coop) but then I quickly realized the birds had a lot of personality and quite a few of them were actually pet-level friendly. Now it is enjoying the charm/absurdity of their behavior, encouraging their fun antics and getting eggs out of the deal.

 

[Hedgeland Farms]

I want at least a dozen eggs per day. I have a coop/run setup that will accommodate 40 birds and a plan to build another coop/run good for 24. The second setup is more for flexibility of breed than flock expansion.

I too aim for a dozen a day, (with my current flock) my girls are great and give me 16-18 a day!

We have one set up which holds 20, and likely can go up to 30 with a few modifications, and the new one we are in the process of building should hold 30. I am really excited abt this lol

I want my core flock to be Chanteclers, a reputed good dual purpose bird and Canadian in origin; not easy to source; said to be docile. I also want coloured eggs and will likely build a mixed breed flock to accommodate that. My pullets are Barred Rocks, an experiment as they are cold hardy and I can buy them sexed.

I don't know what to want my dual flock to be, I was thinking barred rocks.
(Easily accessible)never heard of Chanteclers, I'll have to Google them!

I also want to hatch my own birds mostly for convenience and bio-security.

Me too!!! Hubby said something abt getting me an incubator for Christmas!!! And a heat source for our new coop for spring when I brood in there.

BTW I admire your goals, thoughfulness and generosity.

Thanks so much!! Our food bank here isn't incredibly honest from what I understand so I'd rather just give the eggs out to people vs them being hogged by one person (who runs the food bank) or sold off..instead of free.


I think your goals are great as well. I am off to Google a new breed of chicken lol!!

 

[Hedgeland Farms]

our goal was merely fresh eggs (urban backyard coop) but then I quickly realized the birds had a lot of personality and quite a few of them were actually pet-level friendly. Now it is enjoying the charm/absurdity of their behavior, encouraging their fun antics and getting eggs out of the deal.

I also really enjoy their antics. My hubby thinks i am weird bc I just watch the chickens lol...

I also randomly tell him how much I love them

 

[Hedgeland Farms]

I want my core flock to be Chanteclers, a reputed good dual purpose bird and Canadian in origin; not easy to source;

Also, what are your plans with the cockerels?? I am thinking I will start a space to allow the juvenile cocks to grow out and then they will be who I butcher for meat....

Still in the planning phase as far as that goes...

Likely I'll try Craigslist and perhaps facebook forums (I do not have fb so I'd have to use hubby's) to sell some off.

My new flock will "need" 2 to 3 roosters for optimal fertility, but I am unsure how I'll go abt this...

Whether it be start with 3 and reduce cocks accordingly or start with one and add cocks accordingly ...

Any insight??

 

[cubalaya]

i think our goals are constantly changing. at first it was just fresh eggs and eat the extras. then it became breed specific goals. to improve the cubalaya, which was extremely inbred and being ruined by the show people. make them bigger, more productive, closer to the standard. i feel like i did that with my white cubalayas and came up with some interesting new colors to boot. goal accomplished. then preserving the reynolds asil (harris), so far so good. my newest goal is to take several breeds and breed them together to make a newer better breed. still working on this one. i am calling them blue and black crushers for now but will eventually be VA Brazillian Pluckers. a blend of saab rodgers pasquale brazilian, ga plucker, saab north indian asil, saab hammer asil, harris asil and saab viper. largest percentage of blood is brazilian and ga