Suggestions for chicken breeds please

I've had chickens for almost ten years. But a fox was picking them off this spring
and I decided to give the remaining ones to a friend. I'm going to start fresh again
and would love to hear about your favorite breeds.

I'm looking primarily for eggs and for the enjoyment of seeing them running around
the property. (I keep them in the barn at night). I have had bantums. I am looking
for beautiful and robust hens that are also good layers.

Here's Annette - a large cochin, beautiful and healthy but a terrible layer.

Tammy
Hi I have a lot chickens, from Rhode Island reds to banny molted cochin, she is 7 years old and she still is a top layer, broadest thing in the yard. she is small but packs a punch, she does not take anything off the roosters. also my barred rocks are good layers, I had but no longer do, Buff orpingtons, and they were the best chickens, layers and friendly as all get out. Marie

Tammy, If you're looking for robust hens and big eggs and great layers + pretty ..... Welsumer or Black Orpington. The Welsumer lay a larger egg and a bit more often. They are traditional color of salmon for hens and the roos are BBR. Welsumer eggs are dark brown .... chocolate brown .... as dark or darker than fabled Marans eggs. The Orpington are a bit less flighty ...... real gentle giants. I prefer the Blue, Black & Splash Orpington color variety vs the really common Buff.

I lost a buff orpington when she became egg bound. I read this is
a common problem for this breed. Is this your experience?

I'm so happy to get your inputs. Thank you!
Tam

I LOVE my marans, constant layers and friendly girls! Even Marshall, my roo is laid back. I got 17 eggs in 4 days from my 6 gals, they have laid steadily since the started except the week I had the turkeys dressed, that we I got occasional eggs (even the banties weren't laying) I think it was the change. They might not be the darkest brown eggs, they are good layers, nice birds and the eggs taste great! and I get plenty of double yokers!
I am adding 6 more hens from a local breeder next year and 6 americuanas (sp) for some more color!.

This message was edited Dec 2, 2007 12:41 PM

any breed of chicken, hens obiviously, can get egg bound, there are probably more breeds that have a higher chance, I had three buff orpingtons, raised when we were first married in a "cubical", not really an apartment or studio, anyway they were very friendly would come running when they saw you, only one got egg bound and I was able to tell right away and that was that, she was fine after that. really if you want tame chikens handle them when they are little. eggs well most lay eggs and if you have 4,5 6 hens you'll have eggs:)

Thanks. And I love those Maran & Welsummers. I'll have to find a source.
Do you folks have any suggestions?

I am planning to get a selection of hens. I love Araucanas, cochin & silkies.
I've also had very good luck with cochin bantums. They are tough survivors.
So I'm gonna add to those breeds, either or both maran & welsummers plus
a selection of orpingtons. This should give me a nice selection of eggs
and beauty.

Tam

Lorak when yo say Maran is that anything like a Cucko Maran ? i was reading about teh Cuckoo maran and they are good broody hens.
Or is it a seperate breed ?
just a newbie remember that i m :)
sue

I got my marans from Ideal. I would love to try darkeggs.com http://www.darkeggs.com/public/index.php if I needed 25! that have a great assortment. Is there any local poultry clubs?

Yes they are cuckoo marans, cuckoo is their color and they are marans like a black Lab. They come in a full range of colors.

Lora - I sent them an email earlier this afternoon. I found them by googling
Maran. I don't know if there are local poultry clubs but it seems likely. We're
in farm country here - Berks & Lancaster are both farming counties. I will try
googling poultry club. Is there a national organization that might have local
chapters I could look into?

Thanks for your help! And I'm hoping to have additional suggestions so anyone
just seeing this thread - pls share your experiences & suggestions.
Tam

Tammy have you tried www.Sandhill.com i can't remember but they might have what your looking for.
Thanks Lorak i felt stupid but i had to ask :)
I read they are great birds. I love the name too, fits in our family motto lol
don't quote me on it though *wink *
sue

I had great luck through meyer hatchery.

My favorite chicken I have ever had is my barred rock. She's smart and tough. I don't recommend Silver Laced Wyandottes. I love my girls but they are spotty on egg production and EXTREMELY vocal and not very friendly. They have something to say all the time. My bantam SLW is very broody and mean, but that might just be her own personality.

I have had some trouble with random illnesses and easter-egger/amaracauna chickens, but I find them beautiful, pretty good layers and the green egg is just so fun!

I love my silkies, although they are pretty useless! :) all for show, I guess.

I have 3 bantam brahmas and they are good solid and dependable girls.

I love my buff orpington, too. She is a big, brassy babe.

I have a black orpington, she lays the largest brown eggs of my flock. She is nearly 4 so the eggs aren't as frequent but just as large. Also have a white and a buff cochin and i agree they are pretty but not exactly what i would call robust. mine are sort of lazy, maybe because of their size?

I have 2 Lakenvelders, they lay a med. white egg and are sort of hyper, great foragers though, and they look so beautiful ranging around with their bright white and black coloring (their name is dutch i read for 'shadow on a sheet').

One of my friendliest and smartest hens is Reba, a speckled sussex. She keeps a close eye on the house and comes running whenever she sees me. Don't we just love that?!

BYH......silkies are good for things!!! LOL They will hatch anything!!! and they are the cutest things going! and mine are great layers! I eat some and friends get dozens each week. The most eye catching bantam has to be a silver sebright! They are great small egg layers.

This message was edited Dec 2, 2007 8:41 PM

my black and white molted bantam Henny mama, is the broadest sp thing she has raised several chicks and would still if I let her, she is about 8 and her nick name is "the boss" she may be small, but she runs the yard, I just love her, she comes to you and she will sit on your lap. I would love to get some more just like her, trouble is when you order you get a straight run and that means roosters, I have 12 of the little (*&^%$$^8's

Tammy, when you first posted you mentioned a fox was picking them off. If you want hens that will have a better chance at "outfoxing" them, you should go with the Mediterranean breeds which are lighter weight, clean legged and fast. The Oriental breeds (Cochins, Brahmas) along with sussex, rocks, orpingtons, Rhode Islanders, you know... the heavy breeds are slower but friendlier. The Sebrights, Lakenvelders, you know...light tight feathered, fast... they would be best for free range and dodging foxes. But like all us chicken lovers, we know any hen lays eggs and we get what we like, whether they are egg-a-day layers or not.
Carol

Silver Spangled Hamburgs (from Murray McMurray hatchery in Iowa) were my best layers. Called the "Dutch everyday layer", they're beautiful, gentle, and thrifty. They lay medium-sized white eggs almost every day. They are often non-setters, so if you want your hens to raise succeeding generations, you'll have to buy a setting hen and put her on a clutch of Hamburg eggs.

I've uploaded a picture of a hen (who was a setter) who's ragged from tending to her chicks, but you can still see her beauty.

Cheers Annie

Carol reminded me of something I had meant to ask you before- did you fix the fox problem with better fencing? I hate to see those postings where birds are killed because of inadequate or careless handling practices. So please do that before ordering any more birds.
All my birds have also come from McMurray hatchery. I think they routinely add 1 or 2 extra chicks in case you lose a couple in shipment, which I never have so I get those for free (and they are not roosters!! I always order all pullets and so far, that's exactly what they are)

Hey Lora. I love my silkies. I actually am getting a lot of tiny, tiny eggs out of them right now. Also, I use them as therapy chickens at the local girls' shelter for troubled teen girls. We got visit the girls every week! So, it's said with love, lol.

My most beautiful bantam is definitely my silver laced wyandotte. But she sure isn't going to win miss congeniality! She's a show quality girl and gorgeous! ( must be stuck up!)

I had chickens for 8 yrs w/o ever a loss in the daylight. (They have secure
accomodations in the barn). I'm hoping the fox has moved on by now. I've
not had anything for them to stick around for since I gave away most of my
chickens. (I still have 3 little bantum hens in the barn but they don't go outside
except on a very rare occasion).

I agree that the bantum's are better survivors. But I still want to get some bigger
hens too. I'm really thinking of those Maran's or Welsummers. Plus some
a few different colors of orpingtons. And an Americana or Araucana for the green
eggs. I 'll have to check out those Hamburgs next.

I definitely want a few silkies... I had one once and just loved her. She was a
great mom too.

I better "unwatch" this thread, I'm already looking through the Murrray McMurray catalog drooling over Cochins. I just love those big friendly (though poor layers) fluffs of magnificent chickenhood.
Carol

I have a Black Star, two Silver Laced Wyandottes and a Buff Orpington...They're all sweeties, and wonderful layers! We've also had Rhode Island Reds, which were wonderful layers as well. They've all been very hardy girls! Although all my girls are sweet, the Black Stars are like lap dogs! They'll come when you call their names and jump on your lap! lol And they don't skip a beat when it comes to laying eggs, big, beautiful brown eggs every day! Here's a link about them...

http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/product/black_star.html

(and that picture on the site does not do them justice!) I know you won't be disappointed if you add a couple of them to your flock. =) We're getting more next spring! We used to have our chickens free range but our neighbor's dog came over and had a hay day with them, the Black Stars were the few that survived. They're smart ones...but now they're in a fort! lol

Here's a picture of a Black Star(Her name is Claira May!) when we had them out free before the dog.. she was out chasing bugs in the field that the goats and I were stirring up on our walk. =)

You guys are mean... ... drools more

lol Sorry!!! I do the same thing..I can't wait until the feed stores are full of little 'peep peeps' this spring! I have yet to have a Cochin, but boy do I want one! lol! There's a house I pass all the time, I call him the "bird man" because he has chickens and guineas and turkeys and peacocks just running all over his yard....That's where I first saw the Cochins, and you can bet I'm going to be stopping by next spring to see if he'll sell me some of the babies! lol They're so cute!

There are a bunch of negative ratings in Product Ratings section. I looked
at all the negative posters & didn't recognize them. None has ever started a
thread and they only have posted one rating each. Do you guys know these
people? Are they really DG folks? Do you agree with all the negative ratings?

http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/4869/

Thanks
Tam

Tammy
I read through them all and I think they are shills posted by some people associated with other hatcheries; and all of us with the best dealings with Murray McMurray just take it for granted and don't bother to post our good results. I decided to post a positive after reading those negatives that I think are "salted" in there. "Salted" is an Alaskan gold mining term which meant, when a miner wanted to sell a claim that wasn't panning out too well, he would "salt" the claim with some "color" (gold dust or nuggets) and the prospective buyer would get all excited and buy the claim.
I suggest that everyone with good and proper dealings with Murray McMurray post your experiences about them.
Carol

Carol, What is pathetic about the shills is that Dave's Garden has something like 1500 or so members. As if their remarks are actually going to have an effect on the revenues at McMurray. It was a total wast of their time. Quality and value are almost always rewarded with high volume patronage .... the good words get around a lot more than those from a few naysayers.

Hey Tammy; Don't forget to check out http://www.feathersite.com/

Photo, but go to Murray McMurray and see how those shills affected the percentile of Pos and Neg, with just those ones. I went to all of their home pages and they have no posts and one of them has a handle of "deadchicks", so that lets me know something foul is up.
Carol

btw, the GWD is highly publicized and used by many nonmembers, so i wouldn't hold that against them. i have not had a bad or good experience with them because i am happy to use smaller hatcheries. just hte kind of person who stays away from anything big i guess.

Tammy, I read everyone of those 'negative' entries, and went to their homepage and one is even going by the handle of "deadchicks". None of them has ever started a thread, and I have my suspicions about them. Since they have drug Murray McMurray down so bad I think that all of us that have had good (or the best, in my case) dealings with them (Murray McMurray) should go into watch dog and put our comments and ratings in. I just did that, I was so outraged by that one that ordered day-old pheasant chicks and the postal system screwed it up and the woman (she goes by "Leva") professes that:
"The chicks were so tiny, they must have been an hour old when they got into the US Postal Service box! The following two days are an agony: they just keep dying unable to eat, drink or even get under the heat lamps - they are just too weak. "
Well, she doesn't even know the first thing about shipping day old chicks! The whole idea is that chicks have a yolk sack that lets them be shipped without food or water for 3 days and are packed so many to a box for group warmth. Her problem, obviously, was with the Postal System in her area, and not with Murray McMurray!
Another problem with her is her ignorance of poultry shipping first, and I would question her care of them after reception of the chicks.
When I order MM chicks from Webster City Iowa, I order the delivery for the best possible weather both from there and weather here, plenty of people order every year to Alaska and have no proplem. My local Post Office has my phone number, so they call me as soon as soon as they hear the peeping, so I rush right down there and scoop them up in my nice warmed up car, warm box and food and water waiting at home,...,... you know,... the usual care after, dipping the beaks into water (warmed and sugared and 'quikchik') and making sure they each swallow, beaks tipped up, always a satisfying sight...
Anyway, put your comments into "watchdog", it will help.
Carol

Oh, i agree Carol, ignorance of the buyer and indifference by postal workers is a big problem. My PO always calls early AM because the chicks are so NOISY. I finally told the right person that they only make noise when they are cold, so try putting them ina warm spot and they won't bother you so much. She did ;-)

I am just fortuante i have never had a bad experience!

I did the same thing you did Carol - they really looked suspicious to me.
No feedback, only one rating and no threads started. I thought I'd check
here before reporting them to Dave.

Thanks
Tam

Good idea, Carol I did as you suggested and put my rating for MM there. Seeing those remarks doesn't change my opinion of MM as a hatchery but I can see where someone who is shopping and has no experience with them would be affected by that. As you said, something 'fowl' is going on with that.

I posted a note to Dave and Terry answered. She said that they looked into these
posters and found no proof of an issue. She said there are many folks providing a
single rating & it is up to the user to decide what this means.

Tam

Actually, nothing foul or fowl is up - as far as we can tell ;o)

I've been contacted by several of you about the negative reviews, and here's what I can tell you.

1) Many people use the GWD without using our forums, and that really doesn't make their feedback less legitimate than feedback from subscribers or active forum participants.

2) Many people only leave one review for a company (positive or negative.) Whether you discount their review because they didn't rate any other companies is up to you.

3) These reviews have already been analyzed. We compare email addresses, IP addresses, check for consistency between where they SAY they're from and what their login shows, whether anyone else has ever logged in from that IP address, etc.

Nothing came up suspicious other than the fact that several of the reviews came up in a short amount of time and each of them only posted one review (which is what flagged them for review earlier this year.)

As a reader, you aren't obligated to believe every review you read - and you are entitled to ascribe your own "weight" to a review, based on whatever factors you deem important.

In fact, we make it easy for you to see a person's location, signup date, read their other reviews, and see their activity history, precisely so you can make your own judgment about the credibility of their review.

However, something to keep in mind that as humans, most of us have a built-in bias: If we like a company, we are suspicious of any negative comments, and if we dislike a company, we're suspicious of positive comments.

In six years of helping oversee the GWD, I can tell you it is exceedingly rare that we find a company attempting to smear a competitor. Most of the falsified feedback we find is traced back to a company trying to bolster its own rating - either to break into the Top 30, or to counteract negative feedback. Those are disclosed for everyone to see, and most companies won't risk getting caught if they see the consequences.

I'm putting in my order tomorrow. The list I have is as follows:

Araucanas/Americanas - 2 (female)
Black Frizzled Cochins - 2 (straight run)
Golden Laced Wyandottes - 2 (female)
Cuckoo Marans - 3 (straight run - I sure hope I get at least ONE hen)
Black Silky Bantum - 1 (straight run)
Red Frizzled Cochin Bantum - 1 (straight run)
Lakenvelders - 2 (female)
Black Star - 2 (female)

The straight run have no option. Do you folks think I have a chance
of getting hens from those?

I do not know much, but I think the black auatralorpe holds the record for egg laying!
355 eggs out of 356days in a year.. I have 3 australorpes, and they all are great egg layers.The RIR's are steady ,but , I like these black ones.Seems my aussies lay pretty much everyday! The reds tend to skip a day sometimes. I can pretty much look at the egg and tell which hen layed it! I am gonna stick to the black aussies from here on out.