Vermont Poultry
In the Brooder
I currently have 24 birds, looking forward to getting more chicks. Since I live in a considerably cold climate, what are some breeds I should look into, I am looking for some broody breeds, overall friendly, good egg layers, not too shy (although I don't mind having some shy birds), and are winter hardy. I already have RIR's, GLW's, Golden Comets, and Barred Rocks.
My favorite breed out of all of them is probably the Barred Rock or Golden Comet. I will likely be getting more of these breeds, but I would also like to know what are some of your favorite breeds that roughly meet my criteria (must be winter hardy, would be cruel to get a bird that isn't)
Part two of this post is what is the best way to raise chicks, I have raised chicks before but they were not very tame through the process of maturation (they are quite tame now, and will even roost on my arms). I want them to be tame enough to were they feel comfortable around humans and can be picked up. Is the answer as simple as just spend time with them, my last batch I did not spend a whole lot of time with them because I was raising a bunch of separate meat birds at the same time.
Will chicks raised by a broody be wild and scared of humans, or just as tame as the mother? I like the idea of natural reproduction with minimal human intervention, but I would rather not raise completely wild animals, which makes health check ups and other contact difficult. Anyways thanks for any answers you can provide me.
(If you have any beginners tips for raising other poultry and what is most productive, quail, turkey, ducks, etc. I would love to hear what you have to say as I would like to experiment with new species this year.)
My favorite breed out of all of them is probably the Barred Rock or Golden Comet. I will likely be getting more of these breeds, but I would also like to know what are some of your favorite breeds that roughly meet my criteria (must be winter hardy, would be cruel to get a bird that isn't)
Part two of this post is what is the best way to raise chicks, I have raised chicks before but they were not very tame through the process of maturation (they are quite tame now, and will even roost on my arms). I want them to be tame enough to were they feel comfortable around humans and can be picked up. Is the answer as simple as just spend time with them, my last batch I did not spend a whole lot of time with them because I was raising a bunch of separate meat birds at the same time.
Will chicks raised by a broody be wild and scared of humans, or just as tame as the mother? I like the idea of natural reproduction with minimal human intervention, but I would rather not raise completely wild animals, which makes health check ups and other contact difficult. Anyways thanks for any answers you can provide me.
(If you have any beginners tips for raising other poultry and what is most productive, quail, turkey, ducks, etc. I would love to hear what you have to say as I would like to experiment with new species this year.)