What's a good breed for a beginer

[Ridgerunner]

I'd think any of the breeds you mentioned would work fine for your criteria. The only one you mentioned I have is the Delaware and I really like them. The Speckled Sussex also seems to meet you criteria well from my experience. I'd suggest you stay away from the Orpington and Cochin for two reasons. One, they go broody a lot, and two, they have such thick feathers that you may need to do some vent trimming to help fertility since you plan on hatching your eggs. Both go against your "easy to manage" criteria. (You can do a search on vent trimming on this forum if you are not familiar with that). They have a reputation for not being exceptionally friendly, but I'd suggest you also look at the Wyandotte.

Good luck. It is hard to choose unwisely.

 

[TK Poultry]

thanks this is one of the hardest decisions ive ever made!

 

[matthewschickens]

CALIFORNIA WHITES!!!

They are the BEST

 

[TK Poultry]

who did you guys make this really hard decision?

 

[safarichick101]

I say orpingtons all the way. They have by far the most personality out of my 10. I also recommend Brahmas because of their sweet nature and faverolles because of the same thing. In my oppinion rocks aren't very personable but I love mine anyway. They lay lots of eggs and are very solid and hardy. I have heard that cochins need to be artificially inseminated so that may be a bit of a hassle for the beginner.

-orpingtons
-brahmas
-faverolles
-silkies.

 

[valentinebaby]

I have Buff Orpingtons, New Hampshire Reds and Easter Eggers. I know I'm probably going upstream on this one, but here's what I've experienced: Buffs are extremely broody - I have one that goes broody about every 1 1/2 months and another that has been broody only twice, but they ARE beautiful, big and friendly; NHR's are friendly, never have been broody and tend to rule this roost; EE's are not as friendly, never broody and I love the colour variation. All in all, even though the NHR's are supposed to be the better layer of the 3, my EE's and Buffs lay at the same rate. I chose the larger breeds because I wanted the larger eggs and felt I could see them better as they range around on my 2 acres (and sometimes my neighbor's - fortunately, she loves them!). Also, I was able to choose the pullets from a breeder, a lil over an hour away,who is major-chicken-obsessed, and I liked being able to see what I was getting before purchasing.

After I got my girls, I found out that one of the local feed stores sells Ideal's chickens, so I may go that route next time. You may want to see what your locals carry and ask them for their opinion based on your local weather, etc.

 

[TK Poultry]

i have a wide variety of poultry here from ameraucana breeders to the basic RIR but my original choice has always been speckled sussex and i have done some research on them on here before but i just wanted to know what would be good for a beginner like me only a year of experience isnt a whole lot but i have the basic care concept down so now im going on to other things im really leaning toward rocks too just b/c i have a BR in my EE pen which i really love and couldnt bare getting rid of but id like to get something the other breeders in my area don't have so i can have buyers too! so that is where the list came into play that i gave you! i also have to keep in mind i have to start out with hatchery stock so i tryed to keep that in mind when picking so i think i got it down

i think Speckled Sussex and Buff Rocks are my picks i just keep going back to them and i think they are good beginner birds..... what do you think?

 

[safarichick101]

I don't really think there are any beginner chickens like there are beginner parrots. I guess I wouldn't go with aggressive aseels. But yeah, all the care is basically the same. Bantams can fly and most standards cannot. I think the biggest problem people have is aggressive roos but most of the standards (orpingtons- I'm biased) don't get that way. Silkies don't either.

 

[TarzantheChickenMan]

when i was a kid it was Barred rocks
i got them mostly cause they were what my great-grandmother raised
should have seen the look on my grandfathers face when he saw my birds

but now im on to other breeds but barred/cuckoo birds hold a very special place in my heart

 

[cochin123]

Quote:
no cochins dont have to artificially inseminated , and if you dont leave eggs in the nets boxes they wont go broody

and the are in the top 5 for starting out in 4h , that is what we start out with here in fwb, they are very frendly and loveable