What is the Best Kind of Chicken to Get

[ParadiseChickens]

Probably a dumb question. But we started out with 8 in March and 4 have died. I dont know whether it was from cocci or Mareks. So far the remaining 4 seem very lively. We have a 12 x 12 very nice coop we just finished and that same size run. I would like to get at least 4 more chickens and then maybe next year in the spring get some more babies.

We are in North Texas with days getting to 100 right now. So first of all, what is a more heat tolerant chick than the RIR's that I have now. And also, is there any breed that has less sickness than others. Probably not but its a thought.

 

[CarrieW]

Go to www.mypetchicken.com They have a breed selection tool there to tell you the perfect chicken just for you!

 

[Nicole01]

Every breed I have has been awesome! My chicks jump on me and sit it my lap constantly. I have Easter eggers, Wyandotte, speckled Sussex, d'uccle, RIR, that are fine in heat. My Cochin and brahma are the ones who have trouble in the heat, so I bring them in on hot days. I love every breed I have.

 

[Mommy 2 Wee Ones]

We too are in North Texas, it was 102 here. I am a newbie to chickens, and did lots of research before we even left California 3 months ago. I wanted to get Marans, because of the dark eggs and read they tolerate heat well, but I could not find any locally.
We bought 6 chicks on May 18th, they were 2 weeks old, 3 Rocks, 2 Buff Orp. and 1 Wyandotte. two days later, we were in Lake Worth & bought 4 more Buff Orp (same age). I wanted Easter Eggers desperately, and 2 weeks later, found them at the local feed store. Got 3 of them (2 weeks old), but they live separately from the older girls. Have been introducing them to each other during the day in the run.
If one gets separated from the other two, she will just peep peep peep, till she finds them or they find her. Even the bigger girls will do that. It is usually one of the Buffs who finds themselves alone, they they just cheep & peep till I either help show them where their sister are or they find them on their own. They are very hearty chicks, they have panted on some of the hotter days, but I will go out a spray the ground of the run, add more bottle of froze water around their run, add ice to their water. I have a fan in their coop, and have been putting them to bed later than normal, just to get their coop a little cooler.

 

[ParadiseChickens]

Mommy - you're close to us. I graduated from Lake Worth HS and my mother still lives there. We are close to there out in the country. And it is hot isnt it. Our coop is insulated well, with a fan and a run attached with shade cloth on it.

 

[AinaWGSD]

For a heat tolerant chicken, single combed breeds and/or Mediterranean breeds are probably your best bet. I would be wary of feathered legs and comb types that are small and close to the body as these attributes are designed to help conserve heat. As for health, cocci and mareks are going to be equally devastating to chicks regardless of breed.

My personal vote goes for sussex. Mine are hands down the friendliest birds we have and I've heard almost everyone else who owns a sussex say the same of their birds. And they seem to handle heat and high humidity as well as very cold temperatures well here in central IL. And the speckled sussex are so pretty too! If your heart isn't set on a cuddly bird, you should look into some of the typically "flighty" Mediterranean breeds such as leghorn, minorca, etc. My leghorn is slightly more aloof than my other birds and doesn't really like being picked up, but certainly not crazy insane wildly flighty and stays very calm the entire time we're holding her once we have her in our arms. I've also heard great things about orpingtons, and while I don't have any myself they certainly were at the top of my list of breeds when I was researching. In fact, when we were thinking about getting only one breed instead of several the orpingtons were the breed we were going to go with. The only reason we didn't get any is because when we ordered our chicks there weren't any orpingtons available on the dates of some of the other breeds we really wanted.