Where do I go?

[Charlotte4jc]

Hello, I decided to start a flock of chickens in my backyard. I have picked out 3 breeds, the ameraucanas, easter eggers, and wyandottes. I was wondering if those birds will do well together? I also need help to find a place that sells chicks in Houston, Texas?
( I don't want to go through the process of hatching the eggs) Thanks for the help!

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Hello, I decided to start a flock of chickens in my backyard. I have picked out 3 breeds, the ameraucanas, easter eggers, and wyandottes. I was wondering if those birds will do well together? I also need help to find a place that sells chicks in Houston, Texas?
( I don't want to go through the process of hatching the eggs) Thanks for the help!

Welcome to BYC!
This time of year you are less likely to find them readily available in most retail stores (farm, feed, hardware) as they tend to be sold in those locations mostly from late February through mid May - but you may have some luck if you call around to the local stores. The real catch is going to be finding the breeds you want - specifically true Ameraucana. While most hatcheries (and therefor stores) will sell chicks labeled as Amerauacana, they are not true bred birds and are actually the same birds as the Easter Eggers that are also on your list. To source *true* Ameraucana, you need to either find a good local breeder or work with Meyer Hatchery/My Pet Chicken (MPC sources their birds from Meyer) and go the mail order route. For your situation, I would suggest the mail order route as that will best enable you to find the breeds you want and source all of your chicks at the same time from one source.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

They'll get along fine.
Most of what people call Ameraucanas are actually Easter Eggers.

 

[Charlotte4jc]

Thanks so much for the information! If I do the mail route do I just order them off line? If so do you know of any good places? Thanks again

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Thanks so much for the information! If I do the mail route do I just order them off line? If so do you know of any good places? Thanks again

Meyer Hatchery (www.meyerhatchery.com) and My Pet Chicken (www.mypetchicken.com) would be the best to use if you want true Ameraucanas. Other than that, you can google "chicken hatchery" and you'll have lots to choose from - Murray McMurray, Ideal, Mt Healthy, Strombergs, Cackle, just to name a few - the thing to remember is that on those sites, when you see "Araucana/Ameraucana" chicks listed they are actually Easter Eggers.

 

[sweetiepie mama]

Meyers hatchery is who I use.

 

[Charlotte4jc]

Ok I will check them out !!! Do you know of any other backyard breeds that do well with others? Thanks

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Most do well with others, especially when they grow up together.

Here are a couple breed selection charts I highly recommend.

http://www.albc-usa.org/documents/chickenbreedcomparison.pdf

http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html

I assume when you speak of backyard breeds, you're speaking about dual purpose breeds. While there are many great ones, don't completely avoid egg breeds.

 

[Charlotte4jc]

Thanks for the information

 

[needlessjunk]

Ideal is not that far from Huston and would be a good place to look into with getting a shipment however they do have a minimum order amount. I get mine locally since I only wanted 3, but they did come from Ideal. If you head over to the TX thread there are quite a few people in the Huston area that can direct you where to go. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/44/texas/35700#post_15361659