which chickens would you pick ??

[lynda66]

chocolate runner ducks... definitely!

did someone mention chocolate?? it would be good to have 6 different colours lol ...... i only really want 3 though 2 girls and a boy.

If a khaki campbell duck and a white drake (or vice versa) mate,

i've scanned ducks more than i have chickens to be honest, as i've never had anything to do with ducks before, and out of all the varieties, runner ducks are definitely favourite they are just sooooooo cute

[Birdie Wife]

Okay, everyone's got their favourites but if you want to narrow it down to white and black then I would recommend:

Scots Dumpies (black, rare breed)
Light Sussex (white with black hackles and tail, excellent utility bird)
Wyandotte (come in a variety of colours including white and black, very beautiful curvy bird)
Barred Plymouth Rock (perfect for Snadger! white and black stripes )
Ixworth (white; rare breed but it could be difficult to find)

I've got Dumpies and a Plymouth Rock, and a bantam Wyandotte and they are all nice placid characters. Light Sussex is well recommended by people for utility, but as with all breeds, make sure you are getting a utility line rather than an exhibition line. Many people breed for show and this has a nasty tendency to breed out the utility characteristics in favour of correct colouration.

[lynda66]

well i have the ixworth eggs coming ...... not sure about the scots dumpy, they sound a bit dodgy About Scots Dumpies

the wyandotte are cute though i'd better get an allotment soon lol, cos otherwise i'm gonna get evicted


i'm getting impatient now why does the postal service round here only arrive at tea time ?? i've cleared a space in the living room, so the cats can be locked out and the plugs ready and everything ...... *goes off to do more cleaning*

[Hilary B]

Runners come in white and khaki (among other colours), so it's possible the cross would produce 'penguin' types. Runners are good fun, but if you want duck eggs, they are only mediocre layers, and if you want to hatch replacements-plus-dinners, there isn't much meat on a runner drake.

[lynda66]

i'm not too bothered about the drakes, as long as there aren't too many of them, as drakes don't wake the neighbourhood up in the middle of the night cock-a-doodle-dooing the ducks are more for pets than food the chickens will be for eggs .... runners just do it for me lol ..... and the eggs are a bonus

oooooooo the eggs have arrived, 3 a lovely greeny colour and 3 white .......

[Birdie Wife]

What breed are the green eggs? Araucana? Cream legbar?

Scots Dumpies... yes they have a recessive lethal gene... but they are very very hardy, characterful birds. I have a white cockerel and he is just stunning they do well in poultry auctions up here, being one of only two native scottish breeds. It's a very ancient breed too.

Keep us updated on your hatch! I want pics of newly hatched chicks please!!

[lynda66]

the green ones are Araucana ....... well i'll do my very best to get them to hatch

the problem i have is i don't want to have too many of each type yet, so i have to hope the allotment comes up soon so i can branch out a bit they do look cute though.

[Noodle]

It's important to think about what style of house you would like/have space for as well when picking breeds - for example heavy breeds (Buff Orpingtons (my personal favourite)) and breeds with feathered legs won't enjoy an ark style house...the big girls just won't fit through the hole into the bedroom and the ones with feathered legs don't seem to like ladders/ramps (they can't work out where their feet are and don't feel confident going up and down).

I have a black D'uccle who goes up and down the ramp at quite a speed! It's a big ramp though as the LF's have to use it too, maybe this makes it easier?!

[matthew2riches]

Hi,

I had 6 Black Rocks and they haven't hardly missed a day!

I lost one (partly my fault) but I still get 4 or 5 eggs a day. It costs me around £5 a month to feed them all!

We have decided to feature them on the company website (Riches Creative Design : Design Print Web Screen Printing T Shirts Sign Makers Ipswich Suffolk) for a little while as they are going to be published in a business magzine next week!!!

World famous hens for advertizing a creative design company?

lol

[Adrastea]

Wish I had some chickens

I used to work at a nursery where there were loads of chickens and chicks hatching all the time. I had to catch some chicks one time, managed to get them to run into a box...then spent an hour trying to catch the mum. I put the wrong mum with them at first well they both looked quite similar! Took her out and chased the right mum round the field. Luckily a randy cockerel stopped her in her tracks (saved me a job! If you know what I mean!!) and I managed to grab her and re-unite them all together in a lovely pen indoors.

Aaah I love chickens. I don't remember the exact breeds, but I really liked a blue/grey Pekin Bantam cockerel I think it was - made a funny warning sound when you came near and there were two pretties - can't remember them very well (terrible memory)I think they were pale grey and small... they were just the prettiest chickens I've seen!!!

[lynda66]

i really need somewhere with lots of different breeds, so i can just go and pick some in different colours i think

[Birdie Wife]

Have a look here lynda... more chickens than you could shake a very large stick at!

[fitzilian]

just looked on the link...

looks like my sikie is a silkie cross... she's not fluffy all over...! ah well doesnt change how i feel about her... but still she was sold as a silkie to me!

[lynda66]

Have a look here lynda... more chickens than you could shake a very large stick at!

nooooooooooo now i'm gonna end up with geese peacocks, pigeons .........

[Flummery]

Have a look here lynda... more chickens than you could shake a very large stick at!

Birdie, you temptress! Just had to add that to the Chickens folder in my Favourites!