What breed of chicken should I get?

[Dinos_rock]

OK, I am thinking about getting a couple chickens. I have never owned a chicken, so I am new to this whole thing. I was just thinking about which breed to get, but it is just overwhelming.

There are soo many breeds, I just don't know which kind to get.

I do live in a city, so I was thinking about getting some type of bantam breed. I live in Arizona, so the cold isn't the problem, but I need a breed that can tolerate hot temperatures. The highest it has gotten in the very peak of summer was about 115-120 degrees.

I mostly want the chickens to be pets, but the eggs will be a bonus.

So it will be nice if it were an extremely friendly breed. I mean, I know all chickens can have different temperments no matter which breed, but I would like one with a reputation of being nice. I also want a fairly common breed, because I don't want to have to search endlessly and/or pay a huge sum of money for a "rare" bird.

I have a fairly big backyard considering that I live in the city. It is somewhat of a rarity, because most neighborhoods near me have teeny 10 ft x 10 ft backyards. My backyard is about a third of an acre. I am allowed to have hens where I live, I just can't have any roosters.

It would be great if I could get the chicks from a feed store. That way I won't have to deal with ordering them from online, having dead/sickly chicks arrive, or having to pay extra fees for shipping and what-not. If I go to the feed store, I can just pick out the ones I want right there, and I could see which ones are the most lively and active. But the downside to that would be that I might get a rooster, which I can't have. Isn't it really hard to tell the female chicks from the males? Or is there a way...

Anyway, as you can already tell, I am very confused and I know I am asking a lot, but it would be great if someone could help me in the least bit...

Thanks!

 

[Dawn419]

From my understanding, chicks from the feed store are usually sold as straight-run (males & females) as opposed to buying from a hatchery that will sell pullets (girls) only.

Hope this helps a bit.

Dawn

 

[Dinos_rock]

Thanks. I was just thinking of going to the feed store, because it would be much easy for me, but I don't want to end up getting a rooster...

 

[chickengirlnm]

Well I have mostly standard girls , but I did order 5 banties ( out of the 5 I got 4 roos 1 hen , so becareful sometimes hatchery's make a mistake LOL
but the two banties I kept are the hen and 1 of the roo's
here is a pic of my little roo Clyde

he is a black dutch bantam- heat does not seem to bother the little guy, but he sure does love to get up high when he wants to crow I have found him in the tree, on my house, on top of the coop ! so clipping his wing was a must.
we really do enjoy the banties more and are planning to get more this spring.

Julie

 

[speckledhen]

That depends on your feedstore. Mine buys almost all pullets and only a handful of cockerel chicks for people who want them.

 

[Dinos_rock]

Is there a way to tell the males from the females at that young of age? Should I just take a chance? Or should I order pullets online, because I think my local feed store just sells chicks.

 

[chickengirlnm]

i asked that same question from the feed store employee - what ever you do dont listen to them when they tell you to hold the chick upside down to determine the sex - they were wrong on mine !!!

Julie

 

[Dawn419]

Quote:
Could we borrow your feed store come Spring?

Dawn

 

[mthrclckr]

The place where I got my first chick buys theirs from Belt Hatchery. The bantams are straight-run (which the store lied to me about and my chick ended up being a rooster) but with standard chicks, they order almost all pullets and the cockerels are marked with a green spot on the tops of their heads. Sometimes, the employees will have no idea which chicks are which breeds so you sort of need to ask what's listed on their invoice and then hopefully, YOU can figure out which chicks are what.

A lot of feed stores just accept birds from locals and if they're still very young, there's no way to tell what sex they are and they're often mixed breeds.

-Naomi

 

[Dinos_rock]

Thanks. I was wondering...do you think silkies are a good breed for me? Or does their feathers/fur get matted and dirty all the time?