What breed combinations in a flock are good for the first timer?

[Moroccan Rooster 127]

I do not own any chickens as of yet but i am very addicted to them already. I cannot decide on breeds to put together into a flock. I would perfer that your help include multipurpose birds in which some can be broody. This could help me create a sustainable group of birds.

 

[schellie69]

I picked 2 of different breeds to see what I liked. I would see what the farm stores have and go from there some that I have are barred rocks, buff orphingtons, Easter eggers, red/black sex links great egg layers Austrolorops (sp) and some barn yard mixes. I think they each have their own pros and cons I know that hatchery hens don't go broody as much as a breed stock. Good luck.

 

[chickenfinatic14]

Well, You can put pretty much put any breeds together if they were together as chicks. If they are full grown, they will usually get used to eachother, but they should probably be around the same size. Some hens may very well be picked on.

But some great multi-purpose friendly layers are buff orpington (broody), Plymouth rock (rarely broody) Rhode Island Red (average broodiness), there are SO many great breeds, I can't say all of them.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/breeds/breed-chart I love this website, it clearly tells you all about the different breeds.

 

[Moroccan Rooster 127]

I see that you are a golden feather member. I am inept at this i have never been given this much freedom before. How do I work this forum and blog please help!!!

 

[Saltysteele]

if you've never had chickens, i'd suggest barred rock, rhode island reds or isa browns for easy to take care of, lots of eggs (i've had no problem getting barred rocks or RIR's to lay an egg per day every day). depending on where you live, they're also cold hardy.

barred rocks get broody pretty easily

barred and RIR's lay nice sized eggs, also

 

[Delmar]

Quote:
I was given my first birds, so I didn't pick them out, but I think I really got lucky! I have a Rhode Island Red, an Easter Egger and 3 Barred Rocks. The thing I really like is that I can tell which eggs belong to which breed. The EE lays blue. The Rocks lay light brown, and the RIR lays a darker brown. It's just fun for me to know which came from which.

Also with this combination I could borrow a Barred Rock roo and have purebred chicks as long as I only collect eggs for the hatch from Rocks. I borrowed an RIR roo a while back and I only saved eggs from the RIR and the EE for my hatch.

I'm not saying that you should choose the breeds I have, but if you choose breeds that have specific egg colors, it will be fun for you too!

 

[Moroccan Rooster 127]

Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou chicken fanatic !!!!! What great advice, feel free to give all that you can to me!!!!

 

[Moroccan Rooster 127]

It appears as if the rhode islanders and the barred rocks are good what about wyandottes?

 

[Barrdwing]

Wyandottes are beautiful birds and are supposed to be good-tempered and fairly prone to broodiness. Twice I raised a silver-laced Wyandotte (both were hatchery chicks) but discovered that for whatever reason I'd gotten grouchy, domineering, non-broody hens. Now that's only two birds, and I know that there are lots of people on this forum who adore them and find them to be good broodies, so I think my unfortunate experience was just bad luck. There are threads on many different breeds, including Wyandottes, in the Breeds section of this forum if you'd like more information.

For myself, I have had very, very good luck with Easter Eggers and Ameraucanas: I've kept three or four dozen over the years, and nearly all of them have been good-natured birds with great egg production. Only one of them ever went broody, but she was a marvellous mother and even fought off a pack of marauding dogs to protect her chicks! Other good egg-layers: Barred Rock for sure, Buff Orpington, and Speckled Sussex (one of my very favorites). Polish can be great layers too, although they need either a predator-proof enclosure or at least regular "haircuts" to keep their crests from blocking their vision.

For broodiness, I adore my bantam Cochins, and I understand that the full-sized ones are likewise great broodies. Silkies are also excellent (although mine weren't very bright for some reason). My Belgian Bearded bantams go broody easily, but half of them are a little nuts and will attack chicks that don't look like their siblings, so I have to be very careful what eggs I give them. Broody hens don't lay as many eggs as non-broodies, but it is lots of fun to have a hen leading little chicks around the nursery.

Best of luck with your plans for the chickies!

 

[PortageGirl]

This is the link I show or send to everyone who is asking the questions you are. It gives a nice snapshot look at a lot of the breeds and from there you can pick out some that interest you then do more research from there.

http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html

There are lots of different traits that you might like to consider, there's a lot of chickens and only so much time to try them all!