Which of these breeds would go well together?

[Curlykale]

I'm so excited - we have finally decided to take the plunge and get some chickens and are trying to decide which breeds to get. We watched some Lakenvelder chicks hatch a couple of weeks ago (a magical experience for my DD) and thought it would be lovely to have a couple of them as we felt a bit of a bond having watched them being "born"!. We planned to get another couple of (different breed) hens from a later hatching in a few weeks time. Having read through posts on the Rule the Roost forum I'm changing my mind though, as it sounds as thought it would be a problem to integrate them if we got them at different times.

Our local breeder is currently hatching some Arancunas, Friesian Fowl, Lakenvelders, Pekin Bantams and Welsummers which will all hatch at the end of March. We have 'met' and quite liked some of their pretty little Friesian Fowl and the Welsummers, but have no idea what Arancunas and Pekin Bantams are like. (I loved the big black Orpingtons which we met but understand that space-wise they have to be classed as 2 'normal' size birds, which would reduce the number we could get). Of course I realise it is very subjective and everyone will favour the breed which they have themselves, but I would be grateful for any advice as to which of the above breeds would/would not work well together, and whether it would be better to wait and get them all from the later hatching so they all arrive together and will be the same age. (I'm hoping someone will tell me otherwise though as I'm very impatient and really wanted to get some of the Lakenvelders which we had watched hatch!).

We have been given a hen house - I'm a bit anxious as to how many chickens it will hold comfortably so will post some photos soon. The house will be enclosed in a run which will stand on a paved patio area, with free range access to the rest of the garden (a mixture of lawn/shrubs/bark chippings/gravel) at weekends and on light evenings.

Our plan is to get 4 chickens. The priorities are that they must be friendly and suitable for children to handle, and produce a few eggs a week for us. A variety of different coloured eggs would be a bonus!

Sorry about the long ramble - no doubt there will be many more daft questions to follow!

Thanks in advance for any advice/guidance

[petal]

don't count your chicks before they are hatched!!!!! the lakenvelders could all be male!
Are you obtaining these pure breeds from the breeder when they are point of lay, in a few weeks time? i would strongly advise against it otherwise- raising youngstock can be upsetting when one snuffs it and there are so many things to look out for. As it is financially not viable to vaccinate purebreeds(the dose comes in 1000's, deteriorates rapidly, and rarebreed breeders never hatch 1000 lakenvelders at once! Without vaccination one needs strict biosecurity and must accept losses as survivors develop strong immune systems, which they pass on to their progeny.
You can keep any breeds together, say bought from separate pens at 20 weeks old then carefully introduced - and small pekins(great with children and very cuddly) can easily beat up a large buff orpington if they want to!!!
Lakenvelders are beautiful, pekins cuddly, orpingtons big balls of fluffy cuddles, araucanas flighty and independent- lovely blue eggs tho', friesian fowl good layers but independent, welsummers i have always found to be mean- but there you go!
Do not go down the route of buying growers - - I NEVER sell chicks or growers to anyone unless they have experienced keeping say some hybrids for a few months first. It is not fair on the young birds and not fair on the first time owners- they have too long to wait for eggs and might face disappointment . The best advice I can give you: Get 3/4 fully vaccinated hybrids, point of lay then in the future, when more experienced, you could expand and look at purebreeds. Go for a skyline(blue eggs)warren(brown hen and easy to tame)speckledy(great layer of darker brown eggs)and perhaps a hybrid light sussex which tend to like children, a bluebelle- very pretty?etc. i hope that helps.

[Newtothis]

I can only affirm what Petal says about hybrids for first time birds. We started keeping chickens last August and it is a learning journey!! Great fun most of the time - but I'm glad we were advised to start with strong point of lay hybrids, as they have weathered my mistakes well.
Each Hen has her own personality and gives endless pleasure - and so far lots of eggs...

Have fun

David

[tlck9]

I would also agree with the comments, keeping chickens for the 1st time is a big learning curve and I bought 4 beautiful hybrids, a white leghorn x, warren, plymouth/rock and sussex cross - all lay well. since then I've taken on another 12 ex batts over the last few years which have been quite hard work but the feelng of rescuing them was worth the extra effort.

I now have 3 additional warrens which will be a year next month having lost a number of my originals to old age etc

I noticed you are north west coast, so think about the environment they will be in, my allotment is coastal and prone to extremem differences in weather and can be quite evil int he winter - so I looked for birds that could cope with these weather conditions

[Curlykale]

Thanks so much for all your helpful replies.

PETAL, We were going to buy them at 6 weeks old, partly because they are cheaper(!) but mainly because we thought it would be good to get them young so we can get them used to being handled, as we do want them to be pets as well as egg-producers. We don't mind waiting for eggs. From your advice it sounds like that isn't the best plan though, especially as the breeder doesn't guarantee the sex if you get them at 6 weeks! (The Lakenvelders and Friesian fowl cost £15 at 6 weeks and £40 at 18 weeks, and the other breeds are £10 at 6 weeks and £25 at 18 weeks). Does that sound about right?

DAVID, good point about getting hardy birds that can weather our mistakes!

TICK9, we are planning on putting the hen-house and run in a very sheltered spot close to our house, in an area which is sheltered on two sides by a wall and a fence, so they won't be exposed to strong wind etc.

Looks like I need a Plan B and start looking for some hybrids. A friend has suggested I just ask a local farmer for a few of his young hens. Does this sound like a bad idea?

I'm very grateful for all your advice!

[RichmondHens]

You can get "done" by breeders and farmers alike so if you are inexperienced in choosing birds take along someone who knows what to look out for. Don't buy anything that looks sorry for itself or is on its own, it will be ill. Don't buy anything that is sneezing or has a dirty bum. It needs to be perky and active, bright eyed and with all its feathers. A scruffy bird will have been picked on by its mates and therefore also may be under the weather. And make sure you get the one you choose, don't let someone go off into a shed and bring one out. If you can't buy the one that you have picked out of a group and had a look at close up then walk away. Be prepared to be disappointed too. It's very easy to go out excited thinking you will come home with a bird and then not like what you see but buy anything just so you can go home with something. Unlike a dress or pair of shoes, returning a chicken is not always easy or possible.

A chicken off a farm will undoubtedly be cheaper than something from the breeder but the prices you quote are about right. Personally I would avoid fancy breeds like Friesian and Lakenvelder until you are a bit more experienced but you can't go far wrong with Light Sussex, Marans or Rhode Island Reds if you want a pure breed. Also avoid birds with feathery feet/legs if you live in a wet area. However a vaccinated hybrid would probably be the most sensible to start with.

[petal]

Agree with RH. If you think about it £40 is cheap for a decent pure breed. You can get hybrids here for around £15 as a guideline and dependent upon where you go and quality a buff orpington will cost £25 to £60 in bedfordshire.