Would these breeds fit in my plan?

[Katy]

Quote:
They are great with winter. They have rose combs so no frostbite. The roos are nice and calm too. I've never had a mean or aggressive one. My BLRs are good layers, the blues not quite as good. My silver laced have really just started laying so I really don't know for sure about them yet. They are a slow maturing breed.

Thats great to hear! I forgot to ask how they are with free ranging. They lay brown eggs right?

I'm not able to free range mine, but I'm sure they'd do fine. Yes, they lay light brown eggs.....not real large, but a nice size. They do have a tendency to go broody if that makes any difference to you.

 

[ninny]

Quote:
Thats great to hear! I forgot to ask how they are with free ranging. They lay brown eggs right?

I'm not able to free range mine, but I'm sure they'd do fine. Yes, they lay light brown eggs.....not real large, but a nice size. They do have a tendency to go broody if that makes any difference to you.

Thats good that they do. I don't have an incubator.

 

[Keri78]

I LOVE my buff orpie girl! Great layers! And awesome with my little ones! My 4 yr. old lugs them around the yard like a big ol'cat Their half the size of him now..but they love the attention! Having bachelor pads for the roos is a GREAT idea! This way the girls can run free and you don't EVER have to worry about you kids getting in the way of a rowdy young roo boy! If you do this...how often would the girls need to "visit" the roo in order for their eggs to remain fertile? I heard one person say to put the girls in with the roo once every four days? Does this sound right? Blessings,Keri
PS. they are also known for their broodiness and large brown eggs!

Here's a pic from the fall(the girls were still really young..they are HUGE now!)

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Sounds reasonable to me, specially the part about starting with just one or maybe 2 breeds.

As for WHAT breeds, that is *so* area-specific that I don't think general BYC advice would be of much good use. What you need to find out is what people in your particular area most want... I think you'll have to talk to everyone you can find, feed store employees/owners, other chicken owners, 4H poultry club people, people who run the poultry classes at the county fair, etc. Beyond that it is still a gamble somewhat, but at least you will have SOME reason to believe there will be a market for whatever you have to sell.

One thing to consider, it might be smart to start off with a breed that can be culled for quality as young as possible. For instance, NOT jersey giants or the long-tailed types or other late maturers. That way you will not have to grow birds out (= feed them up, and have them occupying space) for any longer than necessary before knowing what final destination to send them on their way to.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[ninny]

Good advice pat.