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

[MinniesMomma]

I've got 21 different breeds of chickens all purchased from Ideal Poultry. All of them are healthy beautiful specimens of their breed except for the silkies. I am honestly disappointed in their quality, but the rest of them are fabulous. My absolute favorite has to be my oegb who is incredibly friendly, spunky, and absolutely adorable! My other favorite is my Delaware. She is talkative, loves to cuddle, and is so beautiful.

 

[MinniesMomma]

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. View attachment 1475896View attachment 1475898

What kind of bird laid that blue egg? It is absolutely gorgeous!

 

[BreanneRN]

Unique and different breed, the Appenzeller Spitzhauben (national bird of Switzerland). Impress your friends with your cultural aptitude! Good free ranger, look like ruffled dalmatian chickens, got to love that crest! White eggs...

Warm, cuddly, pet breed, a nice Cochin Hen (yes, they are broody, but they are great mothers!) and will lay in winter, have a nice brown egg... Pick a black or blue, or even a white, or a Silver laced if you can find a good one, or even a golden laced, very beautiful... brown eggs

American Heritage breed, the Dominiquer what's not to love about the oldest, American breed? Great dual purpose brown egg layer and sweet disposition, got to love them, and their lovely barred color and rose combs... Know that you are "proud to be an American"! Brown egg layer.

Colored egg layer... Got to have that blue egg? Pick a lovely Ameraucana, sprightly birds, good layers of always blue eggs (unlike EE's) good at free ranging, friendly but somewhat flighty, talkative birds with muffs and beards. Get a golden one for a colorful flock addition. Or a blue, or a black, or yes, they even come in lavender now! Though not sure that is an accepted color...

I guess those would work for me if I could only have four, but I have to warn you, you are going to want more,
Chicken math will get you if you don't watch out,
You'll be picking up and moving where there are less rules to flout
Once you have that Ag zoning you will finally be free,
To have all the chickens you want and be "kind of crazy" like me!

 

[OhZark Biddies]

What an interesting question,...

I think I’d either do 4 salmon Faverolles...

Or:
1 salmon fav ( tinted eggs)
1 buff Cochin ( light brown eggs)
1 blue americuana ( blue eggs)
1 Black copper Maran ( dark brown egg)

I think those would all be easy going birds with interesting colors of eggs and feathers...

Ask me again tomorrow and I’d likely come up with a different answer though

 

[child_of_air]

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.

Good to know. I noticed that their website is pretty crappy, and doesn't allow people to rate their experiences. That's telling I think, since I really value other customer's feedback.

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.

Oh, I can imagine! I would be too! I know a lot of people think of chickens and animals as disposable, but to me they aren't. They are my friends. I don't want to put them through any turmoil, especially at such a delicate age where they are defenseless.

I actually found a breeder in Redding, which is way north of me but still in CA, it should arrive in one day. He doesn't sell all the breeds I want, but I'm going to purchase my Lav Orps from him when the weather cools a bit, and maybe another bird. I'm going to have to purchase more than one actually since they are straight run, and I can't have roosters. The other option is getting hatching eggs....but I'm too afraid of getting bad ones, and most places don't guarantee any will hatch, even when you pay a premium.

I wish there was a high quality breeder in CA that had more than just a few breeds, but such is the fate of a state whose land is becoming too pricey for agriculture.

 

[child_of_air]

...

I guess those would work for me if I could only have four, but I have to warn you, you are going to want more,
Chicken math will get you if you don't watch out,
You'll be picking up and moving where there are less rules to flout
Once you have that Ag zoning you will finally be free,
To have all the chickens you want and be "kind of crazy" like me!

Love this poem! I've been wanting a farm in New England for years.....but it's not really economically sound to move right now, since we make a lot more in CA than we can out there. Some day though, some day! A little farmhouse near a lake would do me just fine.

 

[Glashavenfarm]

Honestly I haven't come across a breed that hasn't been friendly when I raise them from a baby so I would totally choose on the egg color if I could only have four. Here's the group I just selected over the past week to hatch out. I've just got to get an olive Egger LOL!

 

[IamRainey]

Where are you in CA? I'm in Los Angeles fighting heat on a daily basis so my ideal flock of 4 would be a Sicilian Buttercup, a Blue Andalusian, an Easter Egger and a Barred Rock.

They might not give you optimal egg production but, believe me, you'd have much less anxiety and be able to spend a day without arranging to be home at the hottest hours to ensure there's enough ice and their run is wet down.

 

[child_of_air]

Where are you in CA? I'm in Los Angeles fighting heat on a daily basis so my ideal flock of 4 would be a Sicilian Buttercup, a Blue Andalusian, an Easter Egger and a Barred Rock.

They might not give you optimal egg production but, believe me, you'd have much less anxiety and be able to spend a day without arranging to be home at the hottest hours to ensure there's enough ice and their run is wet down.

You're in the valley! I was born in Tarzana and totally understand your situation. I'm actually moving to Crestline, in the San Bernardino mountains, which is on the way to Lake Arrowhead, which is on the way to Big Bear. The weather is quite different from the valley.....no offense but I can't stand the weather there and I would probably never keep chickens with the summers so sizzling.....I hate seeing my cats suffer I can't even stand the weather where we are moving from, in West Covina. Too damn hot!
Crestline is typically about 10-20 degrees cooler than the valley, although this year has been hotter than normal. I've heard from the locals that it doesn't last for long, and only usually two months out of the year will you find temps of 90F (August and July)

We have lots of pine trees in our back yard, being in the mountains, and a nice breeze from the lake almost always. So.....it typically feels cooler than what it is reported to be. Those are really good choices though- where did you get your chicks? From a breeder or a hatchery? And what were you experiences like?

 

[nminusyplusm]

Have tried keeping a mix "flock" but have learned all of one breed or at least two of a kind works best, no odd man out and never an odd number flock.

Keeping an odd number flock, two get cliquish although they get along
Same as when you have 3 of a breed & 1 differ
Keeping a pair of 2 breeds, seemed balanced
What works best for me is 4 of a kind, so maybe if you chose a breed that has different coloring, that may keep it colorful.
Have not tried 1 of 4 different breeds .... yet

I second this and also want to add that you might want to figure in attrition when planning.

I made sure to include a buddy for each kind but what I didn't plan for was what happens if that buddy (in an order of what should have been all sexed pullets) turns out to be a cockerel or that buddy unfortunately dies. Now I have a single who's different and gets picked on by everyone else.

I've finally figured out how to manage this flock so poor little loner at the bottom of the pecking order has a decent life but frankly it's been a painful process.

Next time around I'll get all of one kind and they'll be EEs.