What breed would you suggest for a newbie?

[JayDe]

My advice is to get them as chicks (under 4 weeks, but make sure they are pullets (female). Get whatever breeds you want, but get them all at once. I wish someone had told me that in the beginning, I'm having issues merging my younger Orpingtons with my older Easter Eggers.

I LOVE all my birds and they have great personalities. We have Easter Eggers who just started laying. They come in pretty feathering colors, you can find them at any feed store, and they lay pretty colored eggs. My orpingtons are VERY laid back, even the rooster--although he's loud, which is why you want to make sure they are all pullets-- living in a suburban area. We are attached to them now that they've grown up and we know that some are roosters--so we're stuck with crowing contests between my Orpington Roo and a Silkie Roo. Thankfully we aren't the only ones out here with loud animals. My roosters make the same amount of noise as my neighbor's goats

Silkies are great personality wise, but you may end up with a rooster since they can't be accurately sexed until they are older. (We ended up with 2 cockerels and 1 pullet out of 3 we got as chicks from a breeder)

As far as the smell goes, if you make a well designed coop (see the coop section), follow the 4 square foot per chicken rule, and keep it clean, the smell should stay contained to the coop itself. Mine doesn't smell at all--though so far only our three EEs live in the big coop.

Good luck and Enjoy!

 

[BarredBuff]

Quote:
I probbably wouldnt get the Leghorns due to their flighty personality, I would suggest a Wyandotte any color variety Silver Laced, Gold Laced, etc. I would get more than to if you live in the city then get three. And if you live in Rural areas then consider 7 to 10. But thats up to you its just a suggestion but they do flock and are social animals. = )

 

[flgardengirl]

White leghorns are really great layers. We had them when I was little (around 4 yrs until my teens) The thing is they never really liked to be picked up or anything. They will come for food and tolerate a little petting. I am sure there are exceptions, but in general they are nice birds but not super snuggly. If your daughter wants some cuddly chickens to love I'd get EE's, Ameraucanas, or buff orps. Our barred rocks were really friendly and so are our marans but they run around with the Ameraucanas who are love machines-always wanna be held lol.

 

[Tecalli]

The75, I live in an urban area and started last summer with three pullets. I opted to get pullets (young hens) rather than chicks because I was not comfortable with the margin of error on sexing baby chicks. That is, I didn't want to get what I thought was three female chicks, spend weeks getting attached to them, and then find out one or more is actually a he and not a she. I got my three (blue orphington, barred rock, ameracuna) from a BYC chickenstock last summer when they were all 8 weeks old. All three traveled the 2 hour drive back from the chickenstock in a large box together and settled into their new coop and run together and are very bonded to each other. I would strongly recommend getting them at the same time. Three weeks after I got my original three I tried to add a fourth, but it did not go well. The new one (same age) kept attacking the other three and although I know a pecking order would eventually work itself out for a newbie it was too stressful. Luckily, the person I got the fourth from took her back.

I scoop out the chicken poo every morning from the coop with a kitty litter scoop and add it to compost. I also do a quick scoop out of their run every 2 days. There is no smell issue at all.

I highly recommend barred rocks-- very friendly and consistent egg layers. Mine started laying when she was 6 months old and lays daily for 3 weeks and then takes a day off any lays for another 3 weeks. My orphington and ameracuna lay about 5 out of 7 days. All three are tame and friedly and will let me pick them up and carry them around. So even though I got them as pullets rather than chicks, they are still very docile. One factor in breeds I never considered until recently was broodiness- how often do they typically go broody. When you have a small number of only female hens, broodiness is a pain. I have now learned that orphingtons go broody relatively frequently, while barred rocks hardly every-- another reason to consider a barred rock.

 

[jerseygirl1]

My experience with my leghorns - never again - they are so flighty
While in the coop one day, they broke a window
Boarded it up til spring
NExt day, the broke the other one
Not friendly at all

BUT - an egg a day, they haven't missed yet

Now, my barred rocks and little mottled cochin, sweeeeeettttttttttt

 

[the75]

Great stories and advice! Personal experiences are great to hear. So after all the input, I'm thinking Orpington, Ameraucana, Barred Rock, & Rhode Island Red. I'd like to do chicks for easter as a surprise for my daughter, but I don't want to have to deal with a rooster...what to do... Thanks again for all the awesome help! Oh yeah...EE stands for? Easter Egger? So, an Ameraucana is an Easter Egger? Just want to clarify...

 

[Dixiedoodle]

If you purchase your chicks from a hatchery--They will NOT be Ameraucanas or Araucana--they may be listed as such (or listed w/ incorrect spellings) but they will be Easter Eggers (mixed breeds with a colored egg in the pedigree.. EE can lay green, blue, pink, white, tan or brown eggs.. You will never know until they lay. Many people are disappointed when they find out that the hatcheries were not honest with them... EE are great birds I have two and LOVE them! I have true Ameraucanas and EE.. The Ameraucanas lay beautiful blue eggs and my EE lay green and blue/green with speckles.. But I purchased my EE from a lady who breeds them for their colored eggs.. Using her Ameraucana stock as a basis..

lots of good information...suggestions.. Good luck.

 

[JayDe]

Quote:
An EE is an Easter Egger. They are cross breeds that descend from Ameraucana and/or Araucana (which are the recognized breeds with standards for showing, etc) and thus lay colored eggs. You can generally only get Ameraucana/Araucanas from breeders. The feed stores and hatcheries will label their EEs as "Americana" or something like that. They are just basically mixed chickens with the colored egg laying gene.

Sounds like you made some good choices there. You'll have plenty of eggs and friendly birds

Good luck!

 

[Domestic_goddess]

I recommend Buff Orpingtons, they are so docile and sweet!

 

[poultch]

Thats a neat idea for chicks at easter for your daughter!!
Problem there is the breeds your thinking about.. only the bared rock will be autosexing at young age. So if you could comprimise and get maybe 4-5 week old chicks at easter, say to the breeder "i'm gonna get a friend to look at them with a better knowledge of sexing young chicks and i would like to swap any cockerals" take pics post them here and your "friends" will tell you soon enough.

then you could swap any males back again and your dtr wont be the wiser and wont get attached to a pet that will end up in the pot.

also, if you liked the look of exchequer, why not a specked sussex? they re mottled.. and the buff orp might struggle with heat