what breed should I buy

[gckiddhouse]

Choosing a breed is tough. We knew what we wanted, but ended up with other breeds by accident and loved them. We handled them extensively while they were growing up! We have 2 kids who love to play with the chickens!
Our favorites are the Buff Orpingtons and the Speckled Sussex! They are docile and sweet. Good layers, funny characters and just beautiful.
We have gold stars/sex links/comets (whatever). One roo and one hen. Both are nasty.
Our RIRs are curious and funny, but don't enjoy being held.
By far, the most friendly are the ameracaunas/EEs. The kids always pick them up first! They can be colorful, but the puffy cheeks are just adorable!!

I think you will find that whatever chickens you get will be beautiful to you! When they are other people's birds, they are just chickens, but when they are yours and you can tell 2 identical RIRs apart because you know them so well, you will find them to be very beautiful!

Just get some and enjoy!

BTW, we love having a rooster!! He is an important part of their social structure, and he protects the hens. Also, I have heard that if you don't have one, then a hen will take the roo position and won't lay as much or at all. So if that is true, then you will want either a roo or an extra hen.
Anyone have experience with that?

 

[corydonald]

isa browns. exelent egg laying; 6/7 per week, and nice and friendly.

 

[cmom]

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You appear to be going in the right direction.
Here is a great reference book, Gail Damerow's 'Storey's Guide to Chickens' is an excellent guide, as well as this web site. My preference in your situation would be production breeds. They could be Sex Link's, EE's. I love BO's and RIR's. Currently I have all RIR's. The big girls are cuddlier. The younger ones a little more stand-off-ish. The more interaction the more cuddly they become. I currently have 18 hens and pullets with one Roo. Soon I will be getting more pullets. I'm looking for a new home for him. He will be ready to butcher in about a month. For me butchering one bird is not an option. I don't need a Roo because I'm not planning on hatching any eggs and I sell my eggs.

I lost one hen to a preditor and a pullet due to illness. The pullet was sick when I got her but I tried everything but she eventually died anyway. I have a covered run for my birds with a gate so that I can shut them in it. The gate opens to a fenced in yard for them. I now have an electric fence around their range area. I don't know if there is a such thing as a high enough fence, but no preditor is going under or over mine. Cats are good climbers, but when the chickens are big enough the cats don't usually bother them, but as young pullets they could kill them. I don't let the chickens out, after my gardens are planted. They have gotten into them and tore up a lot of the beds after I had planted them. It was either fence in the gardens or the chickens. The chickens lost. I have some pics posted on my BYC Page.

Also here are some other good sites. You may have already visited them.

Henderson's Chicken Breed Chart
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKPoultryPage.html
http://www.mypetchicken.com/aboutChickens.aspx
http://www.the-coop.org/cgi-bin/UBB/ultimatebb.cgi
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/animals/all

 

[SullyCarter]

MYPETCHICKEN.COM

as little as 3 chicks,
this season starts LAST WEEK of FEBRUARY

 

[edenhenry]

Double Laced Barnevelders are very beautiful and docile chickens. They have a rich and deep cluck, are big and good layers of huge brown eggs. They are one of my favourite breeds, I used to have one.