Hey folks! This past spring we got a few chickens for egg laying and as pets. We got the chickens from neighbors and they had no idea what kind of chickens they are, but mentioned they are kind a wild breed. So we built a coop, and a pen and i let them out to free range. Well, our chickens are very wild. They will have nothing to do with the coop, fly out of the pen, hide their eggs and every night they fly up and sleep in the trees. You can't get near them, so picking them up and putting the in the coop is not an option. Anyhow, over the last couple weeks we have started losing chickens to some nighttime predator. i think an owl. We are now down to one hen, one rooster and one chick. It's really breaking my heart, i really love my chickens. So my question... we are planning to get some new chickens, hopefully some that are a bit more domesticated, so they'll sleep in the coop. i really like the ones we have now, they are smaller than regular production layers (maybe 4-5 lbs), but lay large light brown eggs. i was looking around a website that described the different breeds and i can't find anything that matches with what i want. Most of the egg layers sold are really large, like leghorns and Rhode island Reds...the Bantams (smaller than normal chickens) seemed really small..like 22-24oz. full grown and were not listed as good egg layers. Can anyone recommend a good breed? Something smaller, domesticated, that lays med-large brown eggs? Thanks! ~tree i'm attaching a picture of our rooster Little Brother.
Thanks for the reply, When i was reading about the different breeds (www.ideal-poultry.com), Bantams were not listed as good layers. We don't eat a ton of eggs, so we don't need a production layer...but i would like something that lays about an egg a day. Bantams also seem really small, they were listed as being about 22oz. full grown. Do you know what size their eggs are? i'm suprised more folks on here don't raise chickens. There is nothing like organic farm fresh free range eggs...especially when you know exactly where they came from. They make great pets too.
I've always wanted to have a chicken or 2 in my garden but i've never really known enough about them. How large does the coop need to be? Do you just leave them free in the daytime, do you need to 'supervise' them? What do they eat? I remember my friend used to have 3 chickens which she had trained and were really tame but she left her coop open one night and they ran away..
Hey Shirley! Most chickens are really easy to care for...however mine don't do anything according to the books. lol. i don't know how big a space you need for chickens. We have a really large coop, really too big for the amount of chickens we have. We allow ours to free range. They eat grass and weeds, bugs and seeds. i also give them alot of our kitchen scraps. Stuff i would normally put in the compost. The chickens pick through it, eat what they want, scratch it around and leave their own addition to it. Turns it into a nice compost/fertilizor. i also give them some corn scratch. You can also purchase chicken feed, but if your chickens are free ranging and getting kitchen scraps they really don't need much else. Everything i've read says that if you provide a coop for your chickens, you can easily train them to sleep in it and they'll get in the coop around dusk every evening. Mine however, run for the trees around 5pm. lol. So everyday around 4:30 we have to chase them and try to corral them into the pen. It's a huge pain. Once they are in the pen, they get up into the coop. We lock them in and let them out in the morning. Otherwise they'll get eaten by one of the many predators around here. i really love having chickens, more than i thought i would. i had heard that chickens were alot of fun, but never really understood that. Now that i have them, i tell everyone how fun they are. hee hee.
Hey Tree... Wow! That's a beautiful rooster! He definitely looks like something that might be wilder than others... Maybe a game chicken cross? Often, after years of mixing domesticated breeds, you'll get something a little wilder, like they've had all the "nice" bred out of them. They sure are pretty though. *smile* I have raised chickens on my family farm for years, and there are many many breeds that are nice chickens, as well as good layers. Buff Orpingtons(big yellow birds) are in the same boat as Rhode Island Reds, very good layers, and I think they are prettier. Barred Rocks are good layers, a standard along with the above mentioned, but I don't really find them attractive... They have black and white "bars", like stripes almost... All of these are brown egg layers. If you want some truly beautiful birds with fabulous dispositions, I would go with Cochins, of any kind. They come in all colors, and they have feathery feet, and are very puffy. They are some of the sweetest birds I've ever owned. They don't lay as heavy as Orpingtons, Reds, or Rocks, but they make a wonderful addition to the group with moderate production of both brown and white eggs. And I have another bird that I place very high on my list as being wonderful all around... Aracaunas. These chickens have beautiful tempers... Very, very sweet and gentle, with personality. Our Aracauna rooster Blackbeard will follow us around like a puppy, begging for food. They are also very pretty. They have puffy cheeks, which are very endearing. You should look up pictures. They also lay very well... And they lay green eggs! It's really a hit with little kids... The shell of their eggs are a pale greenish-blue, some olive, some more blue, some more green. Rarely you'll get an Aracauna hen that will lay white eggs, but they are still wonderful. And they make very good moms... They are sweet birds but boy will they get nasty with anyone who tries to mess with their chicks. Anyway, I would recommend that you purchase your new birds as chicks. They grow up in your routine, and you get a chance to handle them from the start, making for very friendly chickens depending upon how much you interact with them. When I was little, I had many pets(mostly Cochins, they are so cuddly) that I could pick up and walk around with and snuggle because I played with them every day. And chickens grow fast, so young hens will lay as early as four to five months old. I live in Missouri, and there is a really great hatchery near where I live, but they ship all over the country, with great success, and you can order any number of babies. They have a really good selection, and offer alot of really cool specials. They even add one "exotic rare breed" chick for free with every order. It was so much fun to try and pick out the "crazy" baby in the bunch and figure out what it was. Here is their website if you are interested... http://www.cacklehatchery.com/default.html I definitely recommend them, we have always gotten marvelous birds from them... And their catalog is really beautiful, with really detailed descriptions and histories on the birds. Not only is it an ordering tool, but a very interesting thing to have around. I can read their catalog like a book. Hope it helps!
Hey! I think I figured out what kind of chicken Little Brother is(at least maybe they are related, a cross like I said)... Wowza is he an expensive bird! Here is a link of the Cackle Hatchery site, scroll to the bottom of the page, and look at the Silver Duckwing... Looks just like him, although I'd say your rooster is much prettier! http://www.cacklehatchery.com/oldenglishgamepage.html
The Buff Orpington is the only way to go. They are the most gentle chickens that you'll find. Even the Roosters are easy. Spend a lot of time around them and they can be just like a pet. They'll follow you around and you can lead them right into the yard/coop if you have a handfull of feed.
Just wanted to show off my new chickens. They are Bantum d'uccles, i actually got them off freecycle. Unlike my wild chickens that i can't get in the coop...these guys i can't get out of the coop.
I second the Aracunas! They are GREAT birds. We have had many different breeds and I like them the best. They develop great personalities if they are handled from a young age. We try to scoop them up and handle them at least three times a day when they are chicks and continue to pick them up on a daily basis when they are mature. This way you can check for injury and illness easily. We keep them in a large Rubbermaid container (the biggest size they make, I think it is 50" by 24") in our garage when they are chicks and then move them into the main coop when they are "teenagers." Our coop has an inside living space that is 8' x 12' and about 8 feet tall with bedding, roosts and laying boxes and then a sliding door opens to a 12' x 16' by 8 foot high outside pen. Our flock gets about 8 hours free range a day and the rest of the time they hang out in the outside pen. They all roost by 8 pm each night in the indoor part and we just close the door to protect them from foxes. It is best to keep them in a small area when they are tiny and let them run around in a confined area. That way they do not turn "wild." When they are teens we introduce them to the rest of the older birds and allow them in the coop pen during the day and in the inside part at night. We get them used to being outside when it is light and then going inside on their own when it is dark. Then, they can start to go out a few hours at a time with the flock.
