The hatchery called me to let me know one of the breeds I had ordered to be shipped on the 11th would not be available. Instead of just cancelling that breed and adding more packing peanuts I told them to substitute something. They suggested Anconas since I mentioned white egg layers and most of my order was more uncommon breeds. So, I will be getting three of them (two are my mother's and only one will stay with me). Does anyone have them? Like them? Not? I just looked at a pic and they appear to be pretty birds.
I have an ancona rooster. They aren't a bad breed. My roo's name is Apollo, and he is NOISY! I don't know about the hens, but I know that as a breed, anconas need free range. If you can't free range them all the time, keep them confined. Or raise them that way and give them the option of going out after they're a couple months old. But let them see the outdoors as their home, then you'll have ornery birds on your hands and you won't be able to catch them short of shooting them. That's my experience, but then again, I've only seen the roosters.
LOL great!!! My mother will kill me if she gets a couple of really bratty birds to deal with!!! Either that or just make me keep them.
I've had one ancona pullet, who was killed by a dog around her 1st birthday. She died in my hands . She was beautiful, but shy. She didn't like to be handled much. She was fairly calm, though, and didn't seem too flighty. She was a good layer of chalky white eggs. Hope you love yours!
I have 5 anconas, around 5 months old. They aren't cuddly birds at all, but they have calmed down a lot since they've gotten older. They are a cold weather breed, and have done fine here in southern maine with the sub-zero windchills. They have a red heat lamp that comes on at dusk and goes off early in the morning. Before I put the timer in, they refused to leave the coop during the day - they spent the whole day under the lamp. Now that it goes off at dawn, they love being outside. With the days getting longer, I have to shoo them inside after dark. I have not done any supplemental lighting for egg laying, and they're doing just fine. They've been laying for three weeks; last week I got 2 dozen eggs from them. They like to cluck a lot when they've finished laying, and when they find good treats in their run. Very pretty birds, too. We can't allow hens to free range here in the city, so the girls will always be in their run or coop. Two of them have escaped by flying over my head when I tried to enter the coop (they can be very skittish, and the coop itself is small), and it was tough to get them back in (we had to herd them like sheep). Other than that, no problems with them. I haven't had other breeds, so I don't have any comparisons to make.
