what breeds do I want to start with?

[KC n KY]

I have well bred wyandottes, and they are great! They are from the Foleys( Mrs. Turbo on BYC) and have a good temperament and are also winter hardy. However, I have heard that hatchery wyandottes can be bird aggressive, so I would stick with breeder birds.

I like raising chicks better than buying adult birds, the chicks I raised from 5 days old are very"dog like" and follow me around, asking for treats while I'm in the coop.

Wyandottes also have a wide variety of colors- Blue Laced Red, Silver laced, Golden Laced, White, BBS(blue, black, and splash),Columbian, Buff Columbian, Dun Laced, and more!

for a colorful egg basket , I would get some easter eggers or pure blood Ameraucaunas too.

 

[chicken-owner-31]

After looking into a bunch of different breeds, I am leaning towards getting some Wyandottes maybe in the spring. I have chicks now (bantams) so I"m not a rank beginner, but pretty close! This is my third set of chicks I"ve raised, and also the largest group. The first two groups were 2 cornish crosses, and then 10 cornish crosses. So far, I"ve only had one chick loss of out all 42 (my newest babies are 4 weeks old this week!) The loss was actually due to hawk the first day the group of 10 CX were turned out.

Anyway, I agree with using the chicken selector. That helps. All my other chicks have been hatchery birds, but I want to get quality Wyandottes, so will probably be getting them from a breeder.

Good luck, and definitely stick around.....this place has helped me learn a bunch!