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

[BantyChooks]

A fair point. At first, I wasn't at all concerned about egg color, but after talking to a friend I thought about how nice it would be to have different colors for eggs from each hen. That way, I can also keep track of who is laying and who is not, which could be useful information to a first time owner such as myself. In an earlier post I mentioned that I wanted to have friendly, sweet birds, but I wouldn't mind having a bird that was good with predators and great at keeping pests out of the garden too. No, I don't want a broody hen because I'm deathly afraid of getting a bad mother! (Although having chicks from time to time would be okay, but I wouldn't be able to keep them.)

I'm very attracted to birds that are unusual looking, such as the Lavender Orpington and the Phoenix birds, as well as some of the more exotics such as the Ayum Ceymani or it's cousin, the similar Swedish all black hen. Since I don't currently have any children (that's the NEXT step!), I am only looking to please myself. My husband is happy with any and all chicks I would get.....as long as they don't peck him too much.

That's why I'm interested in knowing everyone's experiences and their reasons for picking birds for an ideal flock, so I can get firsthand knowledge from customers rather than hatcheries and really make a good decision.

I had a pair of the Swedish black hens. They were super sweet and had the softest feathering I've ever felt, but they couldn't take the cold.

 

[MillersFarm]

D'uccle porcelain bantam, Frizzled polish (Of any kind) Lemon blue OEGB, and a tolbunt polish

 

[AlleysChicks]

Honestly all my birds are sweet. I have a bunch of different breeds and crosses. No one told my leghorn she’s supposed to be flighty, she’s actually overly friendly. I’ve only had attitude problems from red birds. RIR, production reds, and crosses.

I highly recommend a colorful egg basket! Not only are they pretty but the colors compliment each other. That and you can keep track of whose laying.

 

[SueT]

My favorites of what I have are brown leghorns, appenzeller spitzhaubens, and Sebrights.

 

[child_of_air]

Wow, nice pictures! The blue on that egg is fantastic. Whose eggs are those, if you don't mind me asking?

Whatever breeds you decide on I would suggest buying from a breeder rather than a hatchery, if that is an option. My hatchery birds have foul attitudes (towards each other, but they are human friendly) and the chickens I have from breeders are sweet and well mannered.

There aren't very many breeders around in my area. I've only come across a few, and I'm having a lot of mixed emotions about shipping chicks from across the country, which is where most of the good breeders seem to be located. I've been doing research about some breeders close to me, but have seen complaints of diseases and mixed-up breeds. Ordering online kind of sucks, as you never know what you're going to get. Not to mention, with Lav Orphs it's hard to tell the sex, and I'm not allowed to have any roosters. So, I have to be careful.

 

[child_of_air]

My favorites of what I have are brown leghorns, appenzeller spitzhaubens, and Sebrights.

Why?

 

[sylviethecochin]

Whatever breeds you decide on I would suggest buying from a breeder rather than a hatchery, if that is an option. My hatchery birds have foul attitudes (towards each other, but they are human friendly) and the chickens I have from breeders are sweet and well mannered.

x2. If you're only getting four birds, go for broke and get really nice ones. And don't get anything from Ideal poultry.

If I had to choose four:
Black Australorp--calm, docile, long-lived, lays very well, does well anywhere...
Blue Ameraucana--pretty. Blue eggs. Need I say more?
Silver, double-laced Barnevelder. Absolutely beautiful.
Easter Egger. Because sometimes, you shouldn't know exactly what you're getting.

EDT: f 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

Best experience: 'Lorps are great, gentle birds with sweet personalities and good health. I also really like Easter Eggers. I enjoy RIRs because of their buckets of personality, but they're not really good fits in many flocks, and they don't like confinement.

Best qualities for a flock? Longevity of lay and of life, steady egg production, good health, good looks, interesting eggs.

 

[child_of_air]

x2. If you're only getting four birds, go for broke and get really nice ones. And don't get anything from Ideal poultry.

Any particular reason why? Bad breeders or low quality birds?

 

[PachecoPeeps]

Wow, nice pictures! The blue on that egg is fantastic. Whose eggs are those, if you don't mind me asking?



There aren't very many breeders around in my area. I've only come across a few, and I'm having a lot of mixed emotions about shipping chicks from across the country, which is where most of the good breeders seem to be located. I've been doing research about some breeders close to me, but have seen complaints of diseases and mixed-up breeds. Ordering online kind of sucks, as you never know what you're going to get. Not to mention, with Lav Orphs it's hard to tell the sex, and I'm not allowed to have any roosters. So, I have to be careful.

I understand the nerves of having chicks shipped to CA. This was the first year we order chicks in the mail. We ordered them on Denriaty too so it was decently cold. I was a wreck for 2 days! We ordered from Hoover’s Hatchery and they shipped on a Tuesday and we had them Thursday. All we’re alive and well and all are laying now. We didn’t lose a single one!

For small chick orders you would need to go with my pet chicken.

 

[sylviethecochin]

Any particular reason why? Bad breeders or low quality birds?

Ordered Pekin drakes. Got Pekin ducks that were smaller than my Blue Swedish ducks (They're supposed to be approximately twice the size of a Swedish). Bought Silkies. Got straight-comb, huge birds with not much silky fluff and barely any crest. Heterozygous fibro, rather than homozygous (basically, they're crossbreeds) Ordered Leghorns. Got low-quality white birds that admittedly lay well--But two of them have gone broody. I have heard many similar stories, and would not recommend them to anyone loking for a long-term small flock. They are cheap, though.