Which would you prefer?

[turkey girl 0964]

Sapphire gem, and Blue laced Gold Wyandotte.

 

[Bantambird]

Sexlinked bantam Easter Eggers?
Just requires a gold-based male and silver-based females, with a down color where you can see the difference at hatch.

I keep seeing that people want to buy sexed bantams, but I don't know how much of the market is actually in your area. I have often wondered why the major hatcheries aren't raising sexlinked bantams, especially for the Easter Eggers where there is no standard color they need to have.

When I breed sexlinked olive eggers, I always sell out pretty darned fast. I just don't have enough pens to consistently breed them. Crossing my black silver or blue silver marans cock over the legbar hens yields sexlinked olive eggers, where you get barred cockerels and solid pullets. This shows up by a white dot on the head of the cockerels.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Most of the breeds posted aren't particularly weather hardy. Orpingtons have the body mass. Bantams are cute and all, but hardly a productive group. People typically start off wanting egg layers, but the mediterranean types like white faced black spanish, leghorns, and others with that body type and mega fleshy facial appendages don't tolerate our winters. Ayam Cemani come from a climate that never dips below 50°, along with seremas. Standard cochins are massive, beautiful dual purpose birds, but the minis, while good broody and cute yard ornaments, lay pretty small eggs and aren't big enough to butcher.

That's a good point. The only bantam I have listed that I don't currently have are the sebright and silkies, although I did at one point earlier have both.

The Spanish seem to do decent considering how much skin they have, but I also make sure to do as much as possible to lower frostbite risks for them.


I hadn't considered sexlinked EEs, maybe I'll try that in a year or two once every ones stable and I can do an accurate inventory

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Sapphire gem, and Blue laced Gold Wyandotte.

I have some of the Wyandottes on their way, but hadn't bothered to think of adding a male. Maybe ill see if a feed store can bring them in so I don't have to buy another 15 birds

 

[Cattle dog Mom]

Chantecler are wonderful cold hardy chickens from Canada, they need more breeders. Take a look at partridge chanteclers. Big, beefy dual purpose bird from the Abbey of Notre Dame du Lac in Oka, Quebec.
I like my Marans best, pretty weather tolerant. If I were to get a new breed, it would definitely be a chantecler. I get so tired of frosty combs. Ameracauna would also come to mind, another cold hardy breed with small comb. I do like orpingtons, they are pretty weather tolerant.

I wish I could find some partridge Chanteclers! (Driving distance from me!)

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I wish I could find some partridge Chanteclers! (Driving distance from me!)

IDEAL claims to have some

 

[BleuSaphir]

White Face Black Spanish are severely underrated breed of chickens! I would opt for them if I can. They look so regal with their white face and stark black feather. They are very fashionable chickens I say. Lol

 

[Cattle dog Mom]

They can! I've had some before, super durable birds, both ways

VERY good to know! I live in the high desert so cold, often snow and lots of wind in the winter and hot in the summer. (Though we have VERY low humidity and it generally cools down well over night.) I think generally when the sites say a breed isn't "heat" tolerant, they often mean heat AND high humidity.

 

[Cattle dog Mom]

IDEAL claims to have some

I can't drive there. LOL I also don't do chicks. I need old enough to not need heat.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

White Face Black Spanish are severely underrated breed of chickens! I would opt for them if I can. They look so regal with their white face and stark black feather. They are very fashionable chickens I say. Lol

I have the bantams since that's all that Cackle had 7 years ago when I got them, but for 7 years old, you'd never think they were so old. Granted my male certainly isn't as fleshy as most seem