What to get & how many?

[CoveLife]

Greetings. I used the tool provided here to determine what kind of chicken is best for me and Easter Egger is what iit suggested. I've never had chickens so I'm looking for an easy friendly egg layer that's on the quieter side & doesn't mind listening to me rambling. Is Easter Egger really all there is?

It is just my husband and myself, so how many should I need? Thanks in advance for ur patience with my questions. I'm a complete newbie.

 

[BairleaFarm]

Are you looking to get some just for the eggs? If so 2 or 3 should be enough. Im sure many an egg layer would work for you. Almost all my ladies are quite. They also pace with me when im ranting and raving.

 

[Ridgerunner]

There are several different breeds that could meet your needs. What you will get a lot of on this forum is personal preference. As long as you stick to some of the basics, it is hard to go wrong with any of them.

Easter eggers are not a breed, but a type. They can be about anything as long as they might have the blue egg gene and might lay green or blue eggs. They are probably a pretty good choice for you. Some others I would mention are Sussex, Rocks, Delaware, and Australorp. There are plenty of others, but these would be my preference. I'd tend to stay away from the ones that are known to go broody a lot, although any of these may go broody.

A strong one for you to consider are the sex links, either red or black sex links. These are not breeds but are specific crosses that can be sexed by color or pattern at hatch so you are sure of getting females. You sound like you don't want any roosters. They go by a lot of different names, but if you see one with "star" in the name, it is probably a sex link.

As far as how many, I'd suggest a mimimum of three. Chickens are social animals and really need to have other chickens around. If you get three and something happens to one, they still have some company. During laying season three hens of these breeds will probably give you around 15 to 18 eggs a week, maybe more and maybe less.

Good luck!

 

[ChristineR]

I'm in the same boat as you--never had chickens, but looking to get 3 or 4 for eggs/pets. I'm interested in the Faverolles. It sounds like they are good layers and extremely docile. They are also on the ALBC Conservation Priority Heritage Chicken Breeds list: status "threatened."

http://www.albc-usa.org/heritagechicken/cpl_chickenbreeds.html

I'm just having trouble finding them. The only place I've found so far where you can get just a few of the sex you want is My Pet Chicken.

Anyone know of somewhere else to get small quantities of healthy chicks (Faverolles)?

 

[CoveLife]

Bairlea & Ridgerunner, thank you. Yes, I'm looking for egg layers. I don't think I could have them and NOT consider them part of the family so I do want a bird that will enjoy daily visits & chats.

Bairles - seems like I've seen in a move or tv show a scene where the chickens did that, followed their owner. As if they were being social. I want that.
Ridgerunner - personal experience & recommendation is exactly what I'm looking for. I have seen mention of the sex links, thanks for clearing that up. I hadn't thought about losing one, great advice!
Christine - thanks for the link, good info!

Is broody when they sit on their eggs, er just won't come out of their house or something?

 

[Sparklee]

Quote:
Faverolles are medium egg. Fine by me, but some folks only want large eggs.

Try meyerhatchery.com for small batch of Faverolle females. Hurry, though, as it looks like there's only limited availability and it looks like they're only hatching once every three weeks.

 

[chickyboomboom]

I wanted egg layers too, so I went with a white Leghorn, a Golden Buff and an Easter Egger. The first two are good producers-an egg a day, the Easter Egger for the novelty of the blue/green eggs. Then of course, chicken math set in and I ended up getting two more, a Barred Rock, and a Cuckoo Maran (dark brown eggs). Good luck! There's so many breeds it's hard to choose!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Quote:
Broody is when they want to be a mommy. They quit laying and set on the nest day and night until the eggs hatch, coming off only to grab a quick bite, a drink, and take a constitutional. If you don't want them to hatch eggs, they can be a pain.

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
If you are buying from a hatchery or a company drop ships like My Pet Chicken then the ALBC Conservation Priority Heritage Chicken Breeds list does you no good.
The breeds that ALBC list on that site are Non-Hatchery fowl. They are they are pure and bred to the American Standard of Perfection and that is something hatcheries don't do.

If you are wanting Heritage fowl you are going to have to find a good breeder that breeds to the American Standard of Perfection.

Chris

 

[CoveLife]

Chickyboomboom - are ur girls quiet? Are there any that are noisier / quieter than others?