Bought 3 clearance Barred Rock and kept them in a kennel in our living room. Every day when I would come home from work I would say 'Hey chickens" and chat with them through out the evening. 4 yrs later...when I holler CHICKENS they come running. So fun.
I love my black Austerlorps. I got mine from tractor supply. I'm going on my second year with my girls. They are so stinking friendly! They adore me as much as I adore them. They are kind to my bird phobic husband and have won him over, and they let my toddlers interact with them. They have been steady layers to boot!
I am a backyard chicken keeper, local ordinances allow 6 hens. My criteria were: 1) brown, green or blue eggs 2) friendly, calm, docile 3) no all white breeds - a pet peeve - white pets and livestock and cars and clothes show dirt and need cleaning more often and look bad 4) no short-lived hybrid super egg producers 5)They all look different from each other, easy to tell apart, even from across the yard. I ended up with a Black Austrolorp, Buff Orpington, Plymouth Barred Rock, Wheaten Marans, Silver Ameracauna, and a Isbar.
I live in Norway and have almost the same criterias as you...... I have 2 Welsumer roosters, Welsumer, Black Copper Marans, Black Australorps and Icelandic hens to. But I also have Cream Legbars, Light Sussex, Rhode Island Reds, Red goldneck Italian (looks like a small Welsumer), Hedemoras and 2 green layer mixes. 😅😅 I even have a few more breeds on my wishlist.....
Have you ever had Dominiques? My homesteader friends LOVE them. They tic pretty much all of your boxes---SUPER cold hardy(have a rose comb) reliable layers(often even through winter) EXCELLENT foragers who thrive at free ranging and don't require as much feed, a darker barred pattern that camouflages REALLY well(seriously they like, melt into the forest) and they are known to be good mothers. Also in my experience their personalities are really outgoing and fun, but like you said that can depend on so many different factors. They are a heritage breed that is considered to be the oldest breed in the US by some sources. IDK, do your own research but I think they are absolutely worth trying for any homesteader or backyard chicken keeper!
I have a buff orpington as well. She is a friendly girl, to all the flock and me of course, but she is a bit on the talkative side sometimes. She does like to go broody though.
Leghorns are not hybrids. They also come in many colors other than white and are great at foraging. They fly well and are always the ones to survive predator attacks.
Live at 5000 ft in Sierras. Already having 20 degree at night. Ran power to coop and now have two of the 3gallon plastic water drinkers with thermostatic controlled heater built into base. Very happy. Got them at tractor supply. They are white plastic with red base.
My Australorps and my Welsummers along with my Blue Cochins are my broody bunch, my Buff Orpingtons not so much. I just got 2 Silver Wyandotte and 2 Lavender Gem, hoping they are not the broody type. My Cochins are the fun chickens, they walk around looking like they are in their pajamas, so docile, they raised the new chicks for me.
I went with the Plymouth Barred Rock and a couple Black Australorps...and now I have a couple 1/2 Bard rock Australorps... :) I used the round auto-turner hatcher. Works well. I then put the chicks in a tub with a heater with water and feed. I do handle the chicks often so they imprint on me as "safe". I don't put the chicks with the adults until they are at least 1/2 size the adults. The youngsters are not picked on and often hide out in the chicken house where most of the chickens do not spend much time in. My criteria are different in that I have pretty much 2 requirements: 1.) High survivability in Wisconsin 2.) Fairly good egg production. Pretty happy with my group so far. BTW: I advise those in northern climates that hatch their own to schedule the start 22 days before your normal season of mild temperatures. If you go in the fall, winter, or early spring then you'll need heaters. for longer times. Also, late summer is bad too because the birds don't get big enough before cold weather. So hatch once a year in early to mid spring. This is optimal for high survival rate birds.
I just put together my group based on egg production and what was available locally. Have barred rocks, Rhode Island reds, black australorps, and one white leghorn (neighbor gave it to me).
I'd like to put an end to the myth of "black chickens are less likely to be taken by predators". I had a flock of 12 with mixed breeds (most of which you mentioned) and the ONLY ones to get taken by hawks were the 2 black ones. Your video is great and I agree chickens should be fun! We love all of the different colored birds and the colorful eggs they lay. I have hatched some of my own and it is fun to go through the whole process. Because of that now I also have a goose and two ducks. :)
I am fortunate that even though we live in a rural city, I can have up to 20 hens (though no roosters) Understanding chicken math, I ordered 7 to start this new flock. (I lost my last flock to raccoons and skunks, and have since built a much more secure coop and run). My choice in "breeds"😂 was mostly based on fun, because for me, they are first pets, and secondly, for eggs and manure. They are 14 weeks old on Monday and bring me so much joy, I can't even! I ordered from Murray McMurray hatchery: An Ameracauna, a black Australorpe, a Blue Andalusian, a Crevecoeur, a Golden Penciled Hamburg, an Egyptian Fayoumis, and a Columbian Wyandotte. Louise (my Australorpe) is definitely the sweetest and enjoys being held, and Claire (Egyptian Fayoumis) has already started singing her egg song! Egyptian Fayoumis lay earlier than most varieties at an average of 16 weeks. ❤
Thx for posting, have had Orphingtons in the past and they do tend to be food aggressive. Right now we got back into the chicken bidness by choosing Speckled Sussex. A very old breed, one of the original dual purpose birds. I joke when I call them my turkeys. Moderate layers, cold hardy. Ours are just over 5 months so when they start laying those will be about 100$ a dozen 🥹
@@OakAbode they are a gorgeous bird when they feather out. We have 8 hens, the dot patterns vary on each bird with some having a lot of white towards the head and some with smaller dots. They can be flighty, we have two escape artists and they will look for horizontal structures to help.
I’ve been debating on getting the Icelandics also for exactly the same reasons! I really like how they don’t eat as much because they are great foragers! I look forward to watching your journey into the Viking chicken world.
So funny I was thinking Icelandic would be your last choice! I first learned about them from Ariel on Fy Nyth TH-cam channel. So many strong reasons to have them….I’m in Vermont and ready for my first chickens! Yes!
Cool breed choices! I wish we had well bred Australorps here in Poland lol. Love your approach. Experimenting with your flock is the most fun thing about keeping chickens. Personally so far I settled on "local" southern landrace strain of chickens. Decent layers March to September, great broodies (they even raised guineafowl without issue), quite stocky build with great amount of meat on roosters, but so far this year I sold more cockerels than were processed, people just stopping by and asking for a young roo because pretty bird. One thing I love about them is rosecomb, which prevents frostbite during our long, cold, humid winter. Something I've noticed with landrace chickens is fertility is extremely high. Purebred chickens sometimes struggle in that department.
We get snow in the winter but I also get temperatures over 100 in the summer. I need chickens that are both heat tolerant and cold tolerant. Any suggestions?
My Speckled Sussex lean to cold hardy but here in Texas it does get hot. I added a small oscillating fan to the coup to keep the air moving on those stagnant hot days. The front of my coop I used small square wire mesh to get more air in and added small vent windows I can close in winter or storms.
We’re getting our first chicks on Halloween! 1 splash maran, 1 buff Orpington, 2 Easter Eggers and 1 black astralorp! 🥰 So stoked. I got Easter Eggers based on your prior videos. 🤩 Beyond excited!
I started my flock with Heritage breed Buff Orpingtons, its been great, doubled my flock just 8 months after they were born, Grandson thought I needed a couple more chicks so he got me 2 Easter Eggers, and 2 Cream Leg Bars, one is a Roo, He thought it would be fun to see some blue eggs😄 I picked the Orpingtons because they are dual purpose, to my surprise they lay super well too, 13 hens laying 15 eggs a day, that has slowed to 9 eggs a day now that they are molting, but AWESOME bird! No idea how ill like the blue egg layers yet, the Roo just started to crow, WAY different voice to him, but I suppose I can breed in some more blue laying birds if I choose next spring...they've yet to start laying since they are young yet, they are a bit skiddish not like the Orpingtons at all they who run to meet me the second they see me, I would like to try some copper Moran MAYBE next year...haven't decided yet, in the spring I'll butcher some if I see the need...Heritage Orpingtons are a VERY hefty bird the Rooster must weigh in at least 9-10 lbs, I too give NO table scraps, do buy them fruit in sumner, and just started cracked corn going into winter fir warmth, other that that they get well balanced crumble suitable for laying and then back to chick starter fir whole flock till new ones start to lay, Shell strength is AWESOME, they do get meal worms and black oil sunflower seed but I'm fussy that they get organic only! the new breeds have not really blended in to the flick well, they isolate themselves at the present, I suppose it's got some pecking order pains to get thru first...enjoyed ur video...my goal is sustainability eggs and meat, and NO roosters that flog, they flog they go to freezer camp...but none have as of yet...AND these are fun birds...thats my take...😊
You might want to try Partridge Chantecler. I got 1 which I thought was going to be a huge mistake since I live in South Texas but she has done great during her 1st Summer and lays daily. She's also friendly but not overly so. She will take a treat from my hand She is not a" mean girl" and she is a good forager.
I’m so glad you mentioned personality as not your category - that was honestly my first category (starting chickens next year) but I can see survivability and sustainability being so much more important! Thank you ❤
I had about 30 chickens at one time, it was way too much to keep up with regularly on top of working a full time job, plus I couldn't get rid of the eggs fast enough they were producing so many. Cut it down to 5 hens and a rooster, all of different breeds. Ilost one recently, wanting to replace it with a Lavender Orphington.
We have 7 laying hens and 2 younger hens in our suburban central Florida backyard. Between their eggs, our vegetable garden and food forest, and delivered milk we try to focus on food quality and self sufficiency as much as possible, even while living in the city. Great channel! I focus on teaching the vegetable garden and food forest portion.
Icelandics are super popular here in Alaska! We have a mix of girls in our flock of 10, some of which I wouldn’t get again (Columbian Wyandotte I’m looking at you girls who are still freeloading!) Once our flock slims down and we’re ready to add more I will try a few icelandics and possibly hedemoras
I bought ten chicks last Spring: 2each of black sex links, black copper marans, sapphire gems, New Hampshire reds, 2 Aracona. They all laid well and beautiful colors from blue, pink, lt. brown dk brown and speckled brown. They were mostly pretty friendly as long as I worked with them. I couldn’t allow them out of the pen because of very high predator pressure. Their coop and pen is located inside a game fenced orchard. The game fence is so wide the chickens can get out and all smaller predators come in easily. The only chicken I would not purchase again would be the sex links. They are hardy, but small and they get picked on the most.
love listening to your reviews. Learn so much. Knew very little when I started, got 10 chicks from local box store. Black jersey giants, 9 hens and a roo. Been very happy with their egg laying at this point. Plan to add some variety in the future, when I expand my coop.
My flock of six is based on what was available from my local hatchery and ones I thought looked cool, buff orp, black astra, astrawhite, ameraucana, light brama, and silver laced whyn . Also want a veritable colors of eggs and winter layers. So I totally get the “fun factor”. My favorite is my brama who ended up being a rooster, so I will need some more for next year. My plan is 6 chickens a year for egg production to hopefully reach a good number of eggs a week. But it might be hard to limit the number next year, the list of breeds I want is insanely long😅
I am just in the planning stage of getting chickens, other than the couple of chickens that we received from a friend, after a tornado destroyed their whole house and chicken coop (wiped right off the map). They were the ones who survived the tornado that they were able to catch, without any fences or structures to contain them. This video was really helpful. I also watched a different video of yours about a year ago, with your favorite chicken breeds at that time. It’s great to hear different perspectives and of course different people have various likes / dislikes and priorities.
Have you looked in to the buckeyes they are really good layers they will frerandg great they are a heritage and in my experience they go broody a good amount of time they are also very cold hardy and heat
I just did my first hatch with an incubator as kind of a science experiment for my sister-in-law‘s fifth grade class… And now it’s a struggle not to do another one immediately!🙈I absolutely loved the process!🥰 Thankfully, I am partnering with another teacher from the school to do an Ayam Cemani hatch in about a month so I can’t start another one right now lol.☺️
Thank you qgain for shoing beautyful chicken breed. They all are in good health. Black australorp is very common and resistance to diseases and very good in production. Keep sharing and enjoy ur life.
Great timing for this video. I will have the finishing touches on my coop tomorrow morning. I am going to start with 4 chicks but trying to decide on the breed.
Thank you for putting out this video. As a kid I remember my family had chickens mainly for eggs and probably about once a week (few times a month) for dinner. My parents and great uncle would go each spring and get more chicks to replenish our flock, they said it was easier this way. As an adult I was able to get few chickens (about 5 years ago). My main goal was to have our own eggs and to gain the full experience of owning chickens. Those chickens are gone now (moving reasons), but they left me thinking of what I would like from next flock, and here it is: 1) EGG 😊 that might be everyone’s #1 reason; 2) Hardiness - minimal health problems; 3) Friendly - no Velcro chickens, no scared chickens that run off when people are near, no MEAN chickens (they will become dinner); 4) Foraging Ability - to some degree to off set cost of food and pest control; 5) Sustainability - ability to hatch our own and for meat
I love your passion for chickens. Very informative content, I think a lot of us who are new to chickens are sort of feeling our way. Really appreciate the knowledge you bring to these videos!!!
Still in the researching stage but considering 3 Black Jersey Giants and 5 Gold Laced Cochins raised from hatchlings together. Watching your videos on the subject is very helpful, thank you for sharing your experience.
I really like the Plymouth, barred rocks and New Hampshire reds. I have some Easter Eggers and will summers for some colored eggs. I like having different kinds of chicken, slightly different colored eggs, etc. Makes for a nice colorful flock and colorful egg basket.
Enjoyed your video and your chicken selection criteria. After 13 years of raising egg layers, I have favorites. Easily, Welsumers, Salmon Favorelles, Barred Rocks, Easter Eggers/Americanas (never sure of the difference), Australorps or Black Jersey Giants, and Speckled Sussex. In Colorado being cold hardy AND heat tolerant is a must. Buff Orp were among my first flock and loved them - broodiness got to be an issue. Had a Blue Andalusian that was smart - played dead when my dog got her. Saved her life - as long as the bird didn't move my dog just watched. We named our chickens and handled them from day 1. The Salmon Favorelles were so friendly and laid cream colored medium eggs. The Maran lived 9 or 10 years! Although I want to get back to raising 8 or so chickens, it's hard to select only 4 'breeds' ... we had 35 chickens at one point and that was too many. Thanks again for a fun video!
My Welsummers are great in my backyard. I ended up with a rooster. I’ve sold babies a few times. I also have two black Jersey Giants. Friendly decent layers. The eggs are large.
The Icelandic Chickens definitely got my attention. I already planned on adding Blue Australorps and Marans to our flock (probably next year). The Icelandic Chickens sound like they would also make great additions! My partner and I started our first flock this year - he had me settle on 7 for now lol (he originally only wanted 4). Our flock is 1 Isbar cockerel named Dale, 1 Isbar pullet named Petunia, 1 Lavender Orpington pullet named Iris, 1 Cream Legbar pullet named Poppy, 1 Golden Laced Polish pullet named Hellebore, 1 Speckled Sussex pullet named Tulip, and 1 Double Silver Laced Barnevelder pullet named Magnolia. I really like the approach of mixing breeds in a flock for balancing different characteristics! So far they've been doing really well with each other. We handle them a lot and socialize them, so they've become lap chickens ❤ Other breeds I was thinking of adding next year: Blue Laced Red Wyandotte, Chocolate Orpington, maybe some sort of Laced Orpington, Moss Egger and a hybrid breed that a local hatchery has called Alchemist Blue (same hatchery we got our Isbars and Barnevelder - good folks, Alchemist Farm and they have a website for shipping chicks as well as buying for pick-up).
My Wheaton Maran is very laid back and has such a sweet personality. Her Dark brown eggs arrive in a few dark shades, sometimes with freckles. No Rhode Island Reds? For “fun factor” they receive high marks for me. Smart birds! One loves to fly up and rest on my shoulder or back. She is very social. Shes also the one that likes to mount and pick on the others occasionally, though her bully ish behavior has improved some moving in to year 2. Their egg laying is large, light brown eggs and always consistent. They even lay in winter though not every day. My other breeds completely stopped laying this winter. Enjoyed hearing about your breeds and reasons for your choices. Would love to see them now.
If you want Ancona you can get Rose Comb Ancona. They are brilliant. They lay really well, large white egg. I love them and perfect comb for cold weather.
They check all your boxes. They don't eat much compared to the egg size and quantity they lay. They are really economical. They forage really well, also.
Well, I have 4 Silkies and they each lay 1 egg/day in the warmer weather and 3-4 eggs/week in the winter. I have one bantam Steel Egger that lays blue eggs daily, but only in the summer. She hasn't laid an egg in 2 months despite being just a year old. My bantam Mottled Cochin was going through a molt and went from being mostly black to looking more like a paint. She lays frequently, but not in the cold. There were a few very cold days when the girls decided to stay in the coop, but now they're enjoying free-ranging again during nice weather. At the end of summer I''m getting a Golden Laced Polish, a Mille Fleur d'Uccle, a bantam splash Ameracauna, and another Silkie. As you can see, FUN is a major factor for me. All my girls come running when I come out of the house. Many of them come up to the door and look in to see if I'm there or they like to check out the indoor cats. Sometimes they sit under the cantilevered window. Always they explore the back yard. According to my chicken math, 4 bantams = 1 standard chicken, so I have 1.5 chickens now and the babies have to grow up before they become 1 full chicken. That's my story and I'm sticking to it! Seriously, keep it fun.
Hi, I have just recently come across your channel, and was watching it today and saw that you intend to get some Icelandic chickens. I was considering getting some, but I came across “Swedish flower hens” which are also a landrace chicken and have all mixed looks of the Icelandic, but are larger and more tolerant of being confined. You may like to also check them out. I live in England so do not need quite such extreme cold tolerant chickens here. Thanks for sharing and making such lovely videos.❤
Agree with your comments on the breeds. I have a French Black Copper Maran. For some reason my dog loves riling her up and she gives it right back. She is the sweetest too. I wonder if you've looked at Bielefelder Kennhuhns. Really friendly with olive eggs. I stayed at a B&B in Iceland and they had a flock (descended from the vikings 🙂). They would march outside together in the morning and back again at night. It was fun.
I honestly after watching your vids and several others went with Buff Orpingtons and black copper marans also went with 2 buff brahma. I will definitely be getting more Marans again love the egg color and size, and the consistency of the buff orpingtons is amazing! I did ass a Speckled Sussex to my flock this year and 2 Americana’s for color in the egg basket.
I have Easter egger, Americana golden lace whyendotts, bared rock, brown leghorn, buff orphington, isa browns, and Guinea hens. 3 of these breeds I got for a dollar a piece. Whyendotts ameruncona and Guineas., are great for laying eggs and eating ticks
There are Rose Combed Anconas! No hatcheries have them, but you could order eggs from a breeder and place them under an Orpington! Would be a super fun video series 😊. Also Australorps are my faves, I think they’re iridescence is gorgeous- adds a fun factor for me.
Black chickens not taken is a myth...I have in my group, Black Australorps, carried off by a hawk...Cuckoo Marans, which are higher in the pecking order of the BA and do NOT lay dark brown eggs, more like brownish...The australorps, in my group, I have 4, are a pain in my a@@. They are a big chicken and loud...super chatty. Then they go broody for about 5 minutes and walk around like they're on a permanent period. My Sapphire Gems, ISA Browns and Easter Eggers, are fantastic - my newest, not that anyone asked...breed are Turkens...love these little naked necks. Fantastic personality, by far some of the best in friendliness even so young...they get along with everyone and just wonderful all around. I'm curious how you'll like the Australorps as they grow...they lay soft brownish/white eggs.
I also have Icelandics ordered for next year, along with Kraienkoppes which similar to Icelandics lay well, are great mothers, are hardy, thrifty, but maybe more predator savy. I plan to cross Buckeye with Leghorn, and Chantecler with Catalana or Leghorn, to create heat/cold hardy dual purpose mid size productive breeds that are hopefully similar to the Australorp but smaller combs for frostbite! And i also got Whiting True Blues to try, they sound like a neat thrifty productive breed!
This is a great video if you're looking into getting your first batch of chickens. Also, if you want to have fun with your chickens, I recommend getting a variety of breeds. We got all black australorps for our first batch of chickens, and we mostly can't tell the difference between them, so our kids couldn't name them, and they don't feel as much like pets as I think they could have. I feel like we missed out on a lot of the fun of having chickens.
Oh my goodness! I loved watching your video about this! We happen to have all 4 of the chicken breeds you suggested in this video........Austrolorps, (black) Marans, (Buff) Orpingtons and Wellsummer.........well I only have Mrs. Wellsummer. The rest were killed by a fox a few years back. Anyway, we also have (Plymouth) Barred Rocks. I have had many chicken breeds for the past (I think) 7 or 8 years and I do recommend Barred Rocks. They are great egg layers, go broody, are cold hardy and even talk to you! so there's the fun factor. LOL. I love your channel. I don't know why I wasn't subscribed sooner! I would like to get Islandic chickens also. We've talked about it before, but since you suggested it, I want to get some too. Thank you for the great video..........from another chicken mamma.
If anyone can tell me which breeds are HEAT-hardy + more survivable for diggers/land predators, I would love it! Here in OK, we have air predators, but most folks I know lose birds to racoons/coyotes/bobcats/skunks, etc. We fortified a coop like Ft. Knox, but I'm still nervous about getting chickens due to the fact that everyone in my area seems to lose them to land predators. 😕
Home flock first time...straight run 4 buff orpingtons...three roosters and one hen thats reclusive. No more buffs for us. Three easter eggers, very social, clowns of the flock and lay every other day. Two golden comets, very social and gentle, very curious and lay every day. One adult Australorpe ,very social and gentle, lays every day. Two teen olive eggers , teen australorpe ,and a teen speckled sussex are also very social but dont know how well they will lay. After brooder we had them in a dome tent in the living room before going out in coop and covered run so they have been handled and hand feed treats so very tame....the hand that feeds. Had three rescue chickens.....white leg horn....very mean, a baird rock...fought like a rooster with our buff, and a ratty gold comet....they were just not integrating with our gentle flock and we had to give them back. Will only introduce chickens we have raised from chicks.
So are English Orpingtons different from buff Orpingtons? Chocolate Orpingtons? Black Orpingtons, etc? Are the Buff, chocolate, black, just colors? Same chicken breed but different colors.
The only chicken I lost from my first flock was a black sex link 😢 my two sapphires and red are still doing great, but the black one disappeared early one morning and I am almost certain it was a hawk. I guess anything can happen.
I am very new to chicken keeping and still doing my research before buying a coop and run. Looking for some advice, How do you keep mice or rats out of the food and water? Does hanging the feeder work? Any opinion on the Over EZ feeder? Is is mouse proof? Thanks! Barbara
Question i hatched some of our chickens eggs last month. They are 5 weeks old. I live in northern texas. I read they cant go outside to the coop till the lows stay in the 50s just wondering your opinion
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Bought 3 clearance Barred Rock and kept them in a kennel in our living room. Every day when I would come home from work I would say 'Hey chickens" and chat with them through out the evening. 4 yrs later...when I holler CHICKENS they come running. So fun.
I’m living with 4 Vorwerks atm, tonight is their last night in the house though. They are getting too big.
I love my black Austerlorps. I got mine from tractor supply. I'm going on my second year with my girls. They are so stinking friendly! They adore me as much as I adore them. They are kind to my bird phobic husband and have won him over, and they let my toddlers interact with them. They have been steady layers to boot!
I am a backyard chicken keeper, local ordinances allow 6 hens. My criteria were: 1) brown, green or blue eggs 2) friendly, calm, docile 3) no all white breeds - a pet peeve - white pets and livestock and cars and clothes show dirt and need cleaning more often and look bad 4) no short-lived hybrid super egg producers 5)They all look different from each other, easy to tell apart, even from across the yard. I ended up with a Black Austrolorp, Buff Orpington, Plymouth Barred Rock, Wheaten Marans, Silver Ameracauna, and a Isbar.
I live in Norway and have almost the same criterias as you...... I have 2 Welsumer roosters, Welsumer, Black Copper Marans, Black Australorps and Icelandic hens to. But I also have Cream Legbars, Light Sussex, Rhode Island Reds, Red goldneck Italian (looks like a small Welsumer), Hedemoras and 2 green layer mixes. 😅😅 I even have a few more breeds on my wishlist.....
Had to look up Isbar -- very cool find!
Which ones of yours lay the blue eggs?
I thought you were going to say Easter Eggers. Mine fits all that criteria, too.
Love your videos❤ please upload videos on chickens more frequently.
Have you ever had Dominiques? My homesteader friends LOVE them. They tic pretty much all of your boxes---SUPER cold hardy(have a rose comb) reliable layers(often even through winter) EXCELLENT foragers who thrive at free ranging and don't require as much feed, a darker barred pattern that camouflages REALLY well(seriously they like, melt into the forest) and they are known to be good mothers. Also in my experience their personalities are really outgoing and fun, but like you said that can depend on so many different factors. They are a heritage breed that is considered to be the oldest breed in the US by some sources. IDK, do your own research but I think they are absolutely worth trying for any homesteader or backyard chicken keeper!
I have 3 of these coming!
@@1997LT1Camarohow are they
My Buff Orpington is the friendliest of all my hens. She’s so sweet and is my best layer.
I have 3 of these golden girls coming
I have a buff orpington as well. She is a friendly girl, to all the flock and me of course, but she is a bit on the talkative side sometimes. She does like to go broody though.
Leghorns are not hybrids. They also come in many colors other than white and are great at foraging. They fly well and are always the ones to survive predator attacks.
Live at 5000 ft in Sierras. Already having 20 degree at night. Ran power to coop and now have two of the 3gallon plastic water drinkers with thermostatic controlled heater built into base. Very happy. Got them at tractor supply. They are white plastic with red base.
My Australorps and my Welsummers along with my Blue Cochins are my broody bunch, my Buff Orpingtons not so much. I just got 2 Silver Wyandotte and 2 Lavender Gem, hoping they are not the broody type. My Cochins are the fun chickens, they walk around looking like they are in their pajamas, so docile, they raised the new chicks for me.
I went with the Plymouth Barred Rock and a couple Black Australorps...and now I have a couple 1/2 Bard rock Australorps... :) I used the round auto-turner hatcher. Works well. I then put the chicks in a tub with a heater with water and feed. I do handle the chicks often so they imprint on me as "safe". I don't put the chicks with the adults until they are at least 1/2 size the adults. The youngsters are not picked on and often hide out in the chicken house where most of the chickens do not spend much time in. My criteria are different in that I have pretty much 2 requirements: 1.) High survivability in Wisconsin 2.) Fairly good egg production. Pretty happy with my group so far.
BTW: I advise those in northern climates that hatch their own to schedule the start 22 days before your normal season of mild temperatures. If you go in the fall, winter, or early spring then you'll need heaters. for longer times. Also, late summer is bad too because the birds don't get big enough before cold weather. So hatch once a year in early to mid spring. This is optimal for high survival rate birds.
I just put together my group based on egg production and what was available locally. Have barred rocks, Rhode Island reds, black australorps, and one white leghorn (neighbor gave it to me).
I'd like to put an end to the myth of "black chickens are less likely to be taken by predators". I had a flock of 12 with mixed breeds (most of which you mentioned) and the ONLY ones to get taken by hawks were the 2 black ones. Your video is great and I agree chickens should be fun! We love all of the different colored birds and the colorful eggs they lay. I have hatched some of my own and it is fun to go through the whole process. Because of that now I also have a goose and two ducks. :)
I am fortunate that even though we live in a rural city, I can have up to 20 hens (though no roosters)
Understanding chicken math, I ordered 7 to start this new flock. (I lost my last flock to raccoons and skunks, and have since built a much more secure coop and run).
My choice in "breeds"😂 was mostly based on fun, because for me, they are first pets, and secondly, for eggs and manure.
They are 14 weeks old on Monday and bring me so much joy, I can't even!
I ordered from Murray McMurray hatchery:
An Ameracauna, a black Australorpe, a Blue Andalusian, a Crevecoeur, a Golden Penciled Hamburg, an Egyptian Fayoumis, and a Columbian Wyandotte.
Louise (my Australorpe) is definitely the sweetest and enjoys being held, and Claire (Egyptian Fayoumis) has already started singing her egg song! Egyptian Fayoumis lay earlier than most varieties at an average of 16 weeks. ❤
Thx for posting, have had Orphingtons in the past and they do tend to be food aggressive. Right now we got back into the chicken bidness by choosing Speckled Sussex. A very old breed, one of the original dual purpose birds. I joke when I call them my turkeys. Moderate layers, cold hardy. Ours are just over 5 months so when they start laying those will be about 100$ a dozen 🥹
Bidness lol 👍👍👍👍👍👍
I want some Speckled Sussex so badly!
@@OakAbode they are a gorgeous bird when they feather out. We have 8 hens, the dot patterns vary on each bird with some having a lot of white towards the head and some with smaller dots. They can be flighty, we have two escape artists and they will look for horizontal structures to help.
Speckled Sussex are my favorite! My Suss Rooster was gorgeous and super friendly (likely because we raised him from chick)
I’ve been debating on getting the Icelandics also for exactly the same reasons! I really like how they don’t eat as much because they are great foragers! I look forward to watching your journey into the Viking chicken world.
So funny I was thinking Icelandic would be your last choice! I first learned about them from Ariel on Fy Nyth TH-cam channel.
So many strong reasons to have them….I’m in Vermont and ready for my first chickens! Yes!
Cool breed choices! I wish we had well bred Australorps here in Poland lol. Love your approach. Experimenting with your flock is the most fun thing about keeping chickens. Personally so far I settled on "local" southern landrace strain of chickens. Decent layers March to September, great broodies (they even raised guineafowl without issue), quite stocky build with great amount of meat on roosters, but so far this year I sold more cockerels than were processed, people just stopping by and asking for a young roo because pretty bird. One thing I love about them is rosecomb, which prevents frostbite during our long, cold, humid winter. Something I've noticed with landrace chickens is fertility is extremely high. Purebred chickens sometimes struggle in that department.
We get snow in the winter but I also get temperatures over 100 in the summer. I need chickens that are both heat tolerant and cold tolerant. Any suggestions?
My Black Barred an EE did ok here in sw Oklahoma. 113 during the summer. Could be 0 and lower in January through March
My Speckled Sussex lean to cold hardy but here in Texas it does get hot. I added a small oscillating fan to the coup to keep the air moving on those stagnant hot days. The front of my coop I used small square wire mesh to get more air in and added small vent windows I can close in winter or storms.
My Rhode Island Reds lay regardless if it's 100 deg or -10
We’re getting our first chicks on Halloween! 1 splash maran, 1 buff Orpington, 2 Easter Eggers and 1 black astralorp! 🥰 So stoked. I got Easter Eggers based on your prior videos. 🤩 Beyond excited!
lol incubating chicks is addicting. We just hatched out our first chicks and I was so tempted to put another round in but I stopped myself lol.
I started my flock with Heritage breed Buff Orpingtons, its been great, doubled my flock just 8 months after they were born, Grandson thought I needed a couple more chicks so he got me 2 Easter Eggers, and 2 Cream Leg Bars, one is a Roo, He thought it would be fun to see some blue eggs😄 I picked the Orpingtons because they are dual purpose, to my surprise they lay super well too, 13 hens laying 15 eggs a day, that has slowed to 9 eggs a day now that they are molting, but AWESOME bird! No idea how ill like the blue egg layers yet, the Roo just started to crow, WAY different voice to him, but I suppose I can breed in some more blue laying birds if I choose next spring...they've yet to start laying since they are young yet, they are a bit skiddish not like the Orpingtons at all they who run to meet me the second they see me, I would like to try some copper Moran MAYBE next year...haven't decided yet, in the spring I'll butcher some if I see the need...Heritage Orpingtons are a VERY hefty bird the Rooster must weigh in at least 9-10 lbs, I too give NO table scraps, do buy them fruit in sumner, and just started cracked corn going into winter fir warmth, other that that they get well balanced crumble suitable for laying and then back to chick starter fir whole flock till new ones start to lay, Shell strength is AWESOME, they do get meal worms and black oil sunflower seed but I'm fussy that they get organic only! the new breeds have not really blended in to the flick well, they isolate themselves at the present, I suppose it's got some pecking order pains to get thru first...enjoyed ur video...my goal is sustainability eggs and meat, and NO roosters that flog, they flog they go to freezer camp...but none have as of yet...AND these are fun birds...thats my take...😊
You might want to try Partridge Chantecler. I got 1 which I thought was going to be a huge mistake since I live in South Texas but she has done great during her 1st Summer and lays daily. She's also friendly but not overly so. She will take a treat from my hand She is not a" mean girl" and she is a good forager.
I just got my first flock and saw a few horror stories about getting pecked in the eye so seeing your shades us a smart move! 🤣
I’m so glad you mentioned personality as not your category - that was honestly my first category (starting chickens next year) but I can see survivability and sustainability being so much more important! Thank you ❤
I had about 30 chickens at one time, it was way too much to keep up with regularly on top of working a full time job, plus I couldn't get rid of the eggs fast enough they were producing so many. Cut it down to 5 hens and a rooster, all of different breeds. Ilost one recently, wanting to replace it with a Lavender Orphington.
We have 7 laying hens and 2 younger hens in our suburban central Florida backyard. Between their eggs, our vegetable garden and food forest, and delivered milk we try to focus on food quality and self sufficiency as much as possible, even while living in the city. Great channel! I focus on teaching the vegetable garden and food forest portion.
I'm in Central Florida what kind of Hens do you have?
Icelandics are super popular here in Alaska! We have a mix of girls in our flock of 10, some of which I wouldn’t get again (Columbian Wyandotte I’m looking at you girls who are still freeloading!)
Once our flock slims down and we’re ready to add more I will try a few icelandics and possibly hedemoras
Alaska?? How cool! Had to look up the Hedemoras... these are fascinating already
There’s a lady local to us who breeds and sells hatching eggs. That’s my plan eventually. We need as cold hardy as possible up here!
@@tessmoosey you should check out chanteclers.
I bought ten chicks last Spring: 2each of black sex links, black copper marans, sapphire gems, New Hampshire reds, 2 Aracona. They all laid well and beautiful colors from blue, pink, lt. brown dk brown and speckled brown. They were mostly pretty friendly as long as I worked with them. I couldn’t allow them out of the pen because of very high predator pressure. Their coop and pen is located inside a game fenced orchard. The game fence is so wide the chickens can get out and all smaller predators come in easily.
The only chicken I would not purchase again would be the sex links. They are hardy, but small and they get picked on the most.
love listening to your reviews. Learn so much. Knew very little when I started, got 10 chicks from local box store. Black jersey giants, 9 hens and a roo. Been very happy with their egg laying at this point. Plan to add some variety in the future, when I expand my coop.
My flock of six is based on what was available from my local hatchery and ones I thought looked cool, buff orp, black astra, astrawhite, ameraucana, light brama, and silver laced whyn . Also want a veritable colors of eggs and winter layers. So I totally get the “fun factor”. My favorite is my brama who ended up being a rooster, so I will need some more for next year. My plan is 6 chickens a year for egg production to hopefully reach a good number of eggs a week. But it might be hard to limit the number next year, the list of breeds I want is insanely long😅
Chicken math is REAL!❤🐔
Haha! I'm glad I'm not the only one with this problem. :)
My Welsummer chickens are favorites. The roosters are beautiful as well. The Rhode Island Reds are my second favorites.
I am just in the planning stage of getting chickens, other than the couple of chickens that we received from a friend, after a tornado destroyed their whole house and chicken coop (wiped right off the map). They were the ones who survived the tornado that they were able to catch, without any fences or structures to contain them. This video was really helpful. I also watched a different video of yours about a year ago, with your favorite chicken breeds at that time. It’s great to hear different perspectives and of course different people have various likes / dislikes and priorities.
Have you looked in to the buckeyes they are really good layers they will frerandg great they are a heritage and in my experience they go broody a good amount of time they are also very cold hardy and heat
They are also fun because the roosters crow sometimes like a dinosaur
I just did my first hatch with an incubator as kind of a science experiment for my sister-in-law‘s fifth grade class… And now it’s a struggle not to do another one immediately!🙈I absolutely loved the process!🥰 Thankfully, I am partnering with another teacher from the school to do an Ayam Cemani hatch in about a month so I can’t start another one right now lol.☺️
Where did you find the ayam cemani? ❤
Thank you qgain for shoing beautyful chicken breed. They all are in good health. Black australorp is very common and resistance to diseases and very good in production. Keep sharing and enjoy ur life.
Great timing for this video. I will have the finishing touches on my coop tomorrow morning. I am going to start with 4 chicks but trying to decide on the breed.
Omg I should have asked you ( this is my original you tube) you are awesome about my egg born 🐣 🙏👼🏡
What is your opinion of the Barnevelder and all the different colors?
Have you considered or tried the Wyandotte? They are cold hardy and have fun colors. :) good eggs and decent meat too.
Thank you for putting out this video. As a kid I remember my family had chickens mainly for eggs and probably about once a week (few times a month) for dinner. My parents and great uncle would go each spring and get more chicks to replenish our flock, they said it was easier this way.
As an adult I was able to get few chickens (about 5 years ago). My main goal was to have our own eggs and to gain the full experience of owning chickens. Those chickens are gone now (moving reasons), but they left me thinking of what I would like from next flock, and here it is: 1) EGG 😊 that might be everyone’s #1 reason; 2) Hardiness - minimal health problems; 3) Friendly - no Velcro chickens, no scared chickens that run off when people are near, no MEAN chickens (they will become dinner); 4) Foraging Ability - to some degree to off set cost of food and pest control; 5) Sustainability - ability to hatch our own and for meat
I love your passion for chickens. Very informative content, I think a lot of us who are new to chickens are sort of feeling our way. Really appreciate the knowledge you bring to these videos!!!
Would love to know your choice for urban coops, with the needs to have eggs, and quiet friendly family birds. :)
Still in the researching stage but considering 3 Black Jersey Giants and 5 Gold Laced Cochins raised from hatchlings together. Watching your videos on the subject is very helpful, thank you for sharing your experience.
I really like the Plymouth, barred rocks and New Hampshire reds. I have some Easter Eggers and will summers for some colored eggs. I like having different kinds of chicken, slightly different colored eggs, etc. Makes for a nice colorful flock and colorful egg basket.
Enjoyed your video and your chicken selection criteria. After 13 years of raising egg layers, I have favorites. Easily, Welsumers, Salmon Favorelles, Barred Rocks, Easter Eggers/Americanas (never sure of the difference), Australorps or Black Jersey Giants, and Speckled Sussex. In Colorado being cold hardy AND heat tolerant is a must. Buff Orp were among my first flock and loved them - broodiness got to be an issue. Had a Blue Andalusian that was smart - played dead when my dog got her. Saved her life - as long as the bird didn't move my dog just watched. We named our chickens and handled them from day 1. The Salmon Favorelles were so friendly and laid cream colored medium eggs. The Maran lived 9 or 10 years! Although I want to get back to raising 8 or so chickens, it's hard to select only 4 'breeds' ... we had 35 chickens at one point and that was too many. Thanks again for a fun video!
My Welsummers are great in my backyard. I ended up with a rooster. I’ve sold babies a few times. I also have two black Jersey Giants. Friendly decent layers. The eggs are large.
The Icelandic Chickens definitely got my attention. I already planned on adding Blue Australorps and Marans to our flock (probably next year). The Icelandic Chickens sound like they would also make great additions! My partner and I started our first flock this year - he had me settle on 7 for now lol (he originally only wanted 4). Our flock is 1 Isbar cockerel named Dale, 1 Isbar pullet named Petunia, 1 Lavender Orpington pullet named Iris, 1 Cream Legbar pullet named Poppy, 1 Golden Laced Polish pullet named Hellebore, 1 Speckled Sussex pullet named Tulip, and 1 Double Silver Laced Barnevelder pullet named Magnolia. I really like the approach of mixing breeds in a flock for balancing different characteristics! So far they've been doing really well with each other. We handle them a lot and socialize them, so they've become lap chickens ❤ Other breeds I was thinking of adding next year: Blue Laced Red Wyandotte, Chocolate Orpington, maybe some sort of Laced Orpington, Moss Egger and a hybrid breed that a local hatchery has called Alchemist Blue (same hatchery we got our Isbars and Barnevelder - good folks, Alchemist Farm and they have a website for shipping chicks as well as buying for pick-up).
Where did you order your chicks from these mixes seem super fun!
This time around they came from Hoover's
Yes this is exactly what I'm looking for!!!
My Wheaton Maran is very laid back and has such a sweet personality. Her Dark brown eggs arrive in a few dark shades, sometimes with freckles. No Rhode Island Reds? For “fun factor” they receive high marks for me. Smart birds! One loves to fly up and rest on my shoulder or back. She is very social. Shes also the one that likes to mount and pick on the others occasionally, though her bully ish behavior has improved some moving in to year 2. Their egg laying is large, light brown eggs and always consistent. They even lay in winter though not every day. My other breeds completely stopped laying this winter. Enjoyed hearing about your breeds and reasons for your choices. Would love to see them now.
The feather 🪶 beauty !
The nature nutritious healthy eggs !
If you want Ancona you can get Rose Comb Ancona. They are brilliant. They lay really well, large white egg. I love them and perfect comb for cold weather.
They check all your boxes. They don't eat much compared to the egg size and quantity they lay. They are really economical. They forage really well, also.
Well, I have 4 Silkies and they each lay 1 egg/day in the warmer weather and 3-4 eggs/week in the winter. I have one bantam Steel Egger that lays blue eggs daily, but only in the summer. She hasn't laid an egg in 2 months despite being just a year old. My bantam Mottled Cochin was going through a molt and went from being mostly black to looking more like a paint. She lays frequently, but not in the cold. There were a few very cold days when the girls decided to stay in the coop, but now they're enjoying free-ranging again during nice weather. At the end of summer I''m getting a Golden Laced Polish, a Mille Fleur d'Uccle, a bantam splash Ameracauna, and another Silkie. As you can see, FUN is a major factor for me. All my girls come running when I come out of the house. Many of them come up to the door and look in to see if I'm there or they like to check out the indoor cats. Sometimes they sit under the cantilevered window. Always they explore the back yard. According to my chicken math, 4 bantams = 1 standard chicken, so I have 1.5 chickens now and the babies have to grow up before they become 1 full chicken. That's my story and I'm sticking to it! Seriously, keep it fun.
My three buff The Golden girls are the 2 Rhode Island reds Thelma and Louise are just awesome producers. A good mix.
Hi, I have just recently come across your channel, and was watching it today and saw that you intend to get some Icelandic chickens. I was considering getting some, but I came across “Swedish flower hens” which are also a landrace chicken and have all mixed looks of the Icelandic, but are larger and more tolerant of being confined. You may like to also check them out. I live in England so do not need quite such extreme cold tolerant chickens here. Thanks for sharing and making such lovely videos.❤
Love your videos! I might be wrong, but your wheaten Maran looks more like buff Brahma.
Agree with your comments on the breeds. I have a French Black Copper Maran. For some reason my dog loves riling her up and she gives it right back. She is the sweetest too. I wonder if you've looked at Bielefelder Kennhuhns. Really friendly with olive eggs. I stayed at a B&B in Iceland and they had a flock (descended from the vikings 🙂). They would march outside together in the morning and back again at night. It was fun.
Of the 6 breeds I have, I have 3 of yours. Australorp, Orpington, Welsummer. My others are Sussexs, Delawares and Jersey Giant
The chick that you said was a wheaten maran is a buff brahma.
I honestly after watching your vids and several others went with Buff Orpingtons and black copper marans also went with 2 buff brahma. I will definitely be getting more Marans again love the egg color and size, and the consistency of the buff orpingtons is amazing! I did ass a Speckled Sussex to my flock this year and 2 Americana’s for color in the egg basket.
I currently have Easter Eggers and Cinnamon Queens... I firmly believe I am so good at nutrition, I can have a healthy bird of any breed.
Svort Hona and Buff Orpington here, 1st time papa
I think you should get jersey giants. They seem to check all boxes
I have Easter egger, Americana golden lace whyendotts, bared rock, brown leghorn, buff orphington, isa browns, and Guinea hens. 3 of these breeds I got for a dollar a piece. Whyendotts ameruncona and Guineas., are great for laying eggs and eating ticks
There are Rose Combed Anconas! No hatcheries have them, but you could order eggs from a breeder and place them under an Orpington! Would be a super fun video series 😊. Also Australorps are my faves, I think they’re iridescence is gorgeous- adds a fun factor for me.
Where are you getting your Icelandic Chickens from?
Black chickens not taken is a myth...I have in my group, Black Australorps, carried off by a hawk...Cuckoo Marans, which are higher in the pecking order of the BA and do NOT lay dark brown eggs, more like brownish...The australorps, in my group, I have 4, are a pain in my a@@. They are a big chicken and loud...super chatty. Then they go broody for about 5 minutes and walk around like they're on a permanent period. My Sapphire Gems, ISA Browns and Easter Eggers, are fantastic - my newest, not that anyone asked...breed are Turkens...love these little naked necks. Fantastic personality, by far some of the best in friendliness even so young...they get along with everyone and just wonderful all around. I'm curious how you'll like the Australorps as they grow...they lay soft brownish/white eggs.
I also have Icelandics ordered for next year, along with Kraienkoppes which similar to Icelandics lay well, are great mothers, are hardy, thrifty, but maybe more predator savy. I plan to cross Buckeye with Leghorn, and Chantecler with Catalana or Leghorn, to create heat/cold hardy dual purpose mid size productive breeds that are hopefully similar to the Australorp but smaller combs for frostbite! And i also got Whiting True Blues to try, they sound like a neat thrifty productive breed!
Good to know. We might need a broody hen in the future.
Love your hat! Fieldcraft is awesome! Great to see folks following them
Hi, you got your icelandics yet, please don't forget to update.
My flock consists of 3 Easter eggers, a black australorp, 2 speckled sussex, and 2 blue andalusians.
This is a great video if you're looking into getting your first batch of chickens. Also, if you want to have fun with your chickens, I recommend getting a variety of breeds. We got all black australorps for our first batch of chickens, and we mostly can't tell the difference between them, so our kids couldn't name them, and they don't feel as much like pets as I think they could have. I feel like we missed out on a lot of the fun of having chickens.
I was stuck on having barred rocks. Used brightly colored marker on their chick head spots, but transitioned to nail polish after they feathered out.
@@kmcg6444 Great solution! I plan on doing this with my australorp flock (arriving this month) to tell them apart
Oh my goodness! I loved watching your video about this! We happen to have all 4 of the chicken breeds you suggested in this video........Austrolorps, (black) Marans, (Buff) Orpingtons and Wellsummer.........well I only have Mrs. Wellsummer. The rest were killed by a fox a few years back. Anyway, we also have (Plymouth) Barred Rocks. I have had many chicken breeds for the past (I think) 7 or 8 years and I do recommend Barred Rocks. They are great egg layers, go broody, are cold hardy and even talk to you! so there's the fun factor. LOL. I love your channel. I don't know why I wasn't subscribed sooner! I would like to get Islandic chickens also. We've talked about it before, but since you suggested it, I want to get some too. Thank you for the great video..........from another chicken mamma.
Hey kid great video as always
I have two Swedish Flower hens, they would be great to have with the icelantics
Why no Rhode Island Red love? I feel like they check all of the boxes... I have two!
Love the Fieldcraft hat!
If anyone can tell me which breeds are HEAT-hardy + more survivable for diggers/land predators, I would love it!
Here in OK, we have air predators, but most folks I know lose birds to racoons/coyotes/bobcats/skunks, etc.
We fortified a coop like Ft. Knox, but I'm still nervous about getting chickens due to the fact that everyone in my area seems to lose them to land predators. 😕
Great information. I happy you shared your observations and thoughts!
chanteclers would tick most of your boxes. they're bred for the canadian climate.
Home flock first time...straight run 4 buff orpingtons...three roosters and one hen thats reclusive. No more buffs for us. Three easter eggers, very social, clowns of the flock and lay every other day. Two golden comets, very social and gentle, very curious and lay every day. One adult Australorpe ,very social and gentle, lays every day. Two teen olive eggers , teen australorpe ,and a teen speckled sussex are also very social but dont know how well they will lay. After brooder we had them in a dome tent in the living room before going out in coop and covered run so they have been handled and hand feed treats so very tame....the hand that feeds. Had three rescue chickens.....white leg horn....very mean, a baird rock...fought like a rooster with our buff, and a ratty gold comet....they were just not integrating with our gentle flock and we had to give them back. Will only introduce chickens we have raised from chicks.
Have you raised Bielefelders? If so what is your experience with them? We are thinking of getting them in the spring.
Genetic diversity is good......I'm looking at you Alabama.
How do you breed with all of the combinations of breeds in your flock?
Why didn't I hear you talk about the silkie chicken or the frizzle chicken
So are English Orpingtons different from buff Orpingtons? Chocolate Orpingtons? Black Orpingtons, etc? Are the Buff, chocolate, black, just colors? Same chicken breed but different colors.
You have a beautiful well cared for flock. May I ask which hatchery you purchase your chicks from? Beautiful flock!
The only chicken I lost from my first flock was a black sex link 😢 my two sapphires and red are still doing great, but the black one disappeared early one morning and I am almost certain it was a hawk. I guess anything can happen.
I am very new to chicken keeping and still doing my research before buying a coop and run. Looking for some advice, How do you keep mice or rats out of the food and water?
Does hanging the feeder work? Any opinion on the Over EZ feeder? Is is mouse proof? Thanks! Barbara
I could have sworn your mystery breed was going to be Easter eggers.
Question i hatched some of our chickens eggs last month. They are 5 weeks old. I live in northern texas. I read they cant go outside to the coop till the lows stay in the 50s just wondering your opinion
Good video
What are your thoughts on the "Indian Game Bird" the original cornish not the crosses?
Do you know of some good breeds for heat tolerance?
Where did u purchase your French Orpington?
Where do you buy your chicks from?
How are Marans in heat?
What about snuggleabillity?
Are Black Copper Marans good moms?
well different breeds cross-breed with other breeds