which chickens would you pick ??

[lynda66]

i need to think about chicken breeds now ....... i'm having runner ducks, so no problem there, still not sure whether to have black ducks or white ducks, but that's not really important just now ........ what is important is the chickens .... i want either black ones or white ones, i think, but i don't want bantams, but then again, it might be best to get a selection of colours, so i can tell them apart ....... it's hard work this deciding to be a mum thing innit ..... see i kinda think silkies are cute, but apparently they are very broody, and i don't want to have to have babies every time lol ..... so maybe one or two?

oh but theres soooooo many types and i want them all.

so anyway, enough waffle, i want chickens and i want to know your favourite breeds that you can't live without, not bantams, are any quieter than others? i could do with some that are good for meat and eggs, as if i get any boys they will have to be dinner. friendly is good and not too flighty or afraid of their own shadow

thanks

Lynda xx

[di]

Lynda,I'm totally in love with our two Suffolk Pied(in a very healthy way I hope you understand!)I need to post up some more up to date pics but there's a couple in my lottie album of when they were ickle,They seem huge & have beautiful colouring,are a little more timid than the others but are gradually getting there & Marigold(the black one)will even let the kiddies pick her up now,so not overly timid.(she's actually my fave but don't tell the others!)I took some piccies at the w/e of them all trying to help us dig(great fun if not a little time consuming!Ever tried digging with 12 feathered friends under your feet?....& on top of your fork & under the soil your about to turn??!!But they were happy!Thankfully it wasn't long before they discovered the old remains of a bonfire & decided there was as much fun to be had rolling aroud in that!

[lynda66]

oh i understand, they are pretty cute lol i'm looking forward to the feathered digging partners, i usually have 2 furries helping me to do everything , and one sleeping pretending to have no interest partner, should be a laugh if i can get them all together without someone getting eaten

[Flummery]

I passed a large garden/small paddock at the weekend with 6 hens strutting their stuff - 2 Black Rocks, 2 Light Sussex and 2 Rhodes Island Reds - they were a smashing combination. There was an ark at the other side with some smaller birds (bantams of some sort) but I couldn't see details at that distance. I reckon they're ALL lovely!

[Noodle]

I'd go and have a look at a place that sells loads, you don't have to buy from there, but would give you a good idea as to what it is you like. I like having 5 different ones, they are all my favourites in one way or another!

[bluemoon]

I'm on a waiting list with a local breeder. I'm having; 2 Rhode Island Red's, 2 Welsummers and 2 Partridge Leghorns, all brown and 'proper' farmhouse hens, but different sorts of brown, if you see what I mean. I think it's important to be able to tell them apart as, if one of them seems to be a bit off colour one day, it will make it easier to check on them the next. These three breeds will give me brown eggs, chocolate-coloured eggs and white eggs too, which will not only look cool, but will give me a better idea if someone is off-lay which, I understand, is another indicator of their overall health.

[Noodle]

Those are all really good points Bluemoon, that I hadn't considered! My araucana lays blue eggs, but I don't know what the hybrids will lay, just that they will be bigger and probably brown. The bantams will lay very small and not very many eggs!!

[fitzilian]

i got a silkie and a legbar this weekend... the legbar has beautiful colouring... try this link:

[bluemoon]

Oh no, now I want a legbar too. Do they lay blue eggs? If I were to have 2 RIRs, 2 Leghorns one Welsummer and one Legbar.........

[lynda66]

it's very hard work ...... was looking last night at lots of sites, including Omlet UK | Breed Information ...... and i think ..... i like the lavender Araucana, salmon Faverolle, i definitely think i should have a frizzle they are sooooo cute, even if they are bantams. ixworths, are lovely and white, gotta have at least one silkie, maybe a light sussex, a black rock, a suffolk pied, some leghorns ....... ok one each of everything ..... and and ........ i really think i need a variety of eggs lol (anyone know where to get a pot luck batch of eggs?).... but then they may all be boys, so i guess i have to have at least 2 of each egg, just in case, ....... so much for me having only 3 chickens and 3 ducks lol

[fitzilian]

not sure what colour... i'll check... she's not laying yet

if she's a true cream legbar then she should lay blue eggs...

legbars are crosses of leghorns and barred rock - so if you got a legbar and a leghorn they'd both lay blue eggs... i think!

[bluemoon]

I love the look of Salmon Faverolles too, Lynda, but was told they didn't lay much and I've had enough trouble convincing OH that chicken keeping is a good idea without taking on a breed that won't pay for its keep. The current plan is that we keep 6 hens (the maximum allowed) on one of the lotties, then in a few years, when their egg numbers drop off, we'll get another 6 for the second plot. This will mean that the first batch can have a happy retirement, just recycling the slugs into manure, but we'll never have to buy another egg or cull a chicken as batch number one will have passed away from natural causes by the time batch number 2 start laying less and they can thus be replaced. This is probably an idyllic fantasy, but as I said, I've sold it to OH now and it took long enough. I once saw photographs of an Icelandic hen, - called a Vikinghen, I think, - and they were totally gorgeous. If you could get them in this country there'd be no contest. I don't think there are any examples here though, or if there are they are very rare.

[BrideXIII]

OK someone needs to sit on Lynda66 , quick, before she can get back on Ebay

[lynda66]

*sits on hands and wriggles a lot* ....... actually theres not much on ebay at the moment ...... ok there is but i'm keeping my eyes shut when i look

[BrideXIII]

*sits on hands and wriggles a lot* ....... actually theres not much on ebay at the moment ...... ok there is but i'm keeping my eyes shut when i look

I just KNEW you were looking
my mum used to keep silkies, they were her 'pets' as opposed to the producers down the bottom end of the garden, they used to free range the top end.
they were lovely creatures, sadly a fox got into the garden during the day and they were no more, broke my mums heart and she would never get any more.