Your Ideal Flock....of only 4 birds!

[child_of_air]

All Chanteclers, honestly. I'm not as much for the mixed flock look as some other people. They are the perfect bird for me. They are large in size, great layers, cold hardy, not flighty---yet range wary, occasionally broody, and beautiful. Being in California, they definitely wouldn't be good for you.

I'm in the mountains, about 4000 ft up, so we do get snow up here. It's very similar to weather in Oregon, and it's constantly about 10-15 degrees cooler than it is in the Inland Empire, or downtown Los Angeles. So, it's possible that I could keep this bird, but I would be concerned when summer comes around. We've been having quite the heat wave this year!

Can you have a rooster?

Nope, which is sad again too because I want one.

 

[BantyChooks]

I'm in the mountains, about 4000 ft up, so we do get snow up here. It's very similar to weather in Oregon, and it's constantly about 10-15 degrees cooler than it is in the Inland Empire, or downtown Los Angeles. So, it's possible that I could keep this bird, but I would be concerned when summer comes around. We've been having quite the heat wave this year!

Yes, it's the highs that matter. I wouldn't keep them anywhere that hits over 88*F with any sort of regularity. Their feathering is just incredibly thick. Same with the Ameraucanas. I lost my Silver cock on a week when there were three days in a row that hit 90*F. I tried my best to keep him cooled off, but he still died.

I think the abovementioned bird's hackle feathers were a good 5" long.

 

[child_of_air]

I lost my Silver cock on a week when there were three days in a row that hit 90*F. I tried my best to keep him cooled off, but he still died. 5" long.

I'm sorry to hear that. I will stay away from that breed them, I also do kitten rescue every summer and I don't need any additional heartbreak from losing my animal friends.
I predict (and Science too!) that we will see more extreme weather in the US. This year on christmas it was 80 degrees, which is highly unusual even for California. A few weeks ago we had a heat wave that broke records all over the region, and it got up to 114 here, which is the hottest it has ever been before!

 

[Ursuline Chick]

I'm sorry to hear that. I will stay away from that breed them, I also do kitten rescue every summer and I don't need any additional heartbreak from losing my animal friends.
I predict (and Science too!) that we will see more extreme weather in the US. This year on christmas it was 80 degrees, which is highly unusual even for California. A few weeks ago we had a heat wave that broke records all over the region, and it got up to 114 here, which is the hottest it has ever been before!

Our Marans seem to tolerate the heat fairly well with shade and water. We are in the upper 90's here and will stay that way for another 2 months.

 

[child_of_air]

For Eggs: Cream Legbar, Olive Egger, splash Andalusian and a Blue Maran.

For fun: frizzle bantam Cochin, Porcelain D’Uccle, Silkie, and a smooth bantam Cochin.

These are really good choices, but I haven't been able to find the Frizzle anywhere in my area......where did you get yours? I think I'm going to get either an Olive Egger or Easter Egger to my flock, the ones I've seen have been ridiculously gorgeous and were eggs-so-lent layers.

 

[KikiLeigh02]

I would go with an Austra White, they're Leghorn cross so heat tolerant but more calm like an Australorp. A Barred Rock, an Amberlink (also a cross), and probably a Leghorn. That combo *should* give a White Egg, Cream Egg, Tan Egg, and a Brown Egg.

 

[mrs_organized_chaos]

I started small with 6. I picked Australorps, Welsummers, and Easter Eggers. I wanted a colorful egg basket while having decent egg production.

 

[Warwickchickenhill]

Okay, so because of ordinances in my area, I'm only allowed to have 4 chickens total. (I know, it's terrible, isn't it?!)

We will finally be moving from a 950 ft apartment in Southern California to a large house with some land in the San Bernardino mountains. I'm so, so excited because I've never been able to keep chickens before! (Not possible in an apartment with 3 cats.) I've been researching like crazy and bought several books about chickens. There is already a large fence on the property, so we plan to free range our chickens when we're home, but they'll have a very large coop with a run otherwise.

I've done a lot of research on the topic of breeds- but many times the info about the breed isn't always accurate or is incomplete by some of the breeders and hatcheries, and I also hear a good deal about people getting different breeds than what they ordered. I also see posts about particular breeds that are known for their broodiness or their friendliness, but being complete opposites of that. So, I decided to ask all you experienced chicken lovers out there. My question is, if you could choose only 4 birds, what 4 birds would you choose to create your flock, and why? What breeds have the had the best experiences with? And what do you think are the best qualities for an ideal flock?

Salmon faverolles,,Marans and EE

 

[AlleysChicks]

These are really good choices, but I haven't been able to find the Frizzle anywhere in my area......where did you get yours? I think I'm going to get either an Olive Egger or Easter Egger to my flock, the ones I've seen have been ridiculously gorgeous and were eggs-so-lent layers.

I lucked out and found one at the feed store. But they are more commonly found from breeders. You may check at online hatcheries also.

 

[oregonkat]

First off I could NOT only have 4 chickens! So, that being said, out of my flock my favorites are my Cream Crested Legbar (lovely blue egg, almost daily) Copper Marans (dark brown egg, every other day) my Olive Egger (green egg almost every day) and my Laced Wyandotte (cream egg almost every day). Makes for a lovely egg basket! Good luck with the chicken math sickness, I hope you don't get a raging case of it!