Which breed ~ For self sufficieny purposes?

[lupinfarm]

Well, surprises are always great! They're very pretty and I've read they're pretty good mothers, even the modern stock. I'm not super concerned about having an egg every day, I can for sure tell you my red hens do not lay an egg every day or close to it. Everyone wants my darn red hens! I'm giving them away for free mostly and there's supposed to be a lady coming but she hasn't showed yet, so next person on the list of she doesn't show.

 

[justusnak]

I have 4 pens, of LF.

#1 RIR/Leghorn/Australorp mixes

#2 Buff Orpingtons

#3 Barred Rocks

#4 Wellsummers
Now, in pen 1, they are 3 yr olds...and out of 5 hens, I am getting 1 to 2 eggs a day. The only reason I keep them on, is because they are sweet birds, and clean up mist of the outside messes from the garedn, pigs, or bird feeders.

Pen 2 there are 7 ladies in there, with 2 roos. ( One roo is a white with buff EE, he is looking for a home, or stewpot) I am getting 5 eggs a day from them, and they are 2 yrs old this spring.

Pen 3 are my Lovely Barred rocks..7 ladies, one roo. I get 6 to 7 eggs a day. They are 2 yrs old this spring. ( they are my altime favorites)

Pen 4 The welsummers..1 roo, 3 ladies. ( Im just trying them out) I get 1 egg a day. Sometimes 2. I love the darkness of thier eggs, but they are flighty, and SCREAM if I hold them to do weekly "body checks"
In the Banty Shanty...I have 2 pens...will be makeing a 3rd. #1 is a pair of black Silkies. My son said I just " had to have" so he sent them to me from OK, for my birthday. They are ...ok birds..just not my style. Guess I have to keep them tho...being they were a B day gift.
Pen 2 is a mix of Banty Cochin Frizzles, and flats. From rust, to black and gold,one white hen, and one little speckled hen. She was a gift as well.
In a brooder, I have 6 i think...Showgirl Bantams. Have you ever seen these freaks?? Oh MY!! They too were a goft froma dear friend...who said I just needed them. They need a pen now...so I will be building one this spring. Oh, and there are 2 little white flat feathered chicks in there, I think are Old English Games. Not sure yet.
Then of course...we have the Turkey hut, 2 rooms. #1 has a RP tom with a RP hen( who doesnt lay because of complications from Blackhead) and a blue slate hen. #2 has a Chocolate hen, with a bronze Tom. Then...we have the Ducks...they sleep..well, wherever they want to! LOL
Over all....I like my Barred Rocks the most. Heavy birds...good layers, great personalities.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Do most of you do all in all out or do you add to your flock?

I was going to do all in all out but now Meyer Hatchery has some really cool chickens that I really want to get. My current chickens aren't even a year old yet so I'm not even close to ready to get rid of them. But I love the Buckeyes and the Blue Laced Red Wyandottes.

I've already had the experience of adding chickens because I bought my chickens at different times so there were 3 groups that I had to put together into one flock. But I know disease is a concern when you keep adding new chickens to an established flock. I have a total of 19 chickens right now. 18 hens and one rooster.

I think the Red Stars are the same as my Golden Buffs which are great layers. Also my Speckled Sussex are very good layers.

I add to my flock....every year....lol

but I tend to wait until my birds are grown, or ready to lay, before I add them. I also put them in at night, and try to add 3-5 at a time.

Adding just 1-2 is sometimes a bad idea, because the already established flock may gang up and kill the newcomers...my friend over the hill learned that the hard way...she put two half grown chickens in with her adult flock, and the adults murdered both juvenile birds and ate them....that's right ate them!

The flighty Welsummer stories are killing me! My Wellies are lovely, and very friendly, and definitely know that I'm the one buttering their bread!

 

[lupinfarm]

I had a coop within a coop for my 5 Easter Eggers who never really TRULY integrated into the red hens. They all sleep together on the nest boxes and windowsills and keep to their group mostly. No one picks on anyone though lol.

Well 10 of our red hens just left in a rather nice F-150! And to top it all off the lady who took them (and her husband) were super nice people, locals, and they have a pygmy buck so I may look into breeding Cissy before we get our buck, if he tests negative for CAE/CL

 

[ksalvagno]

Sounds like everything is working out for you. Hopefully the rest of your red hens will go soon and then the Dominiques will be great layers for you.

 

[lupinfarm]

Yep! I have 4 red hens left now, 3 are moulting and 1 is baldy hen who is permanently in poor shape. Baldy hen is probably going to meet her end in the spring, and the 3 moulty hens will find new homes.

 

[Beekissed]

I cull vigorously for nonlaying, so I can tell you the birds who have stood the test of time for going on three years now:

White Rocks
New Hampshire Reds
Dominiques
Black Austrolorpes

These four breeds are consistent egg layers, hardy to disease and weather, easy keepers, great foragers, nice dispositions.

The Black Stars and Red Stars have a few problems. The Black Stars all started dropping dead of heart attacks into their second year....I had five and now have one left.

The Red Stars someone gave me are two year olds and they are the first at the food trough, last on the roost and spotty egg-layers at best...but to be fair they were 2 when I got them and had been raised entirely inside and had been debeaked. Friendly birds though. Have turned out to be good foragers and cold hardy.

I have a wonderful Partridge Rock roo that I am very pleased with now that he has some age on him....he is an active but gentle breeder, a friendly guy and very, very quiet! When he does manage to crow it is very muffled and discreet....me likes!

I try to let broodies raise new chicks for the flock and this year will try to encourage the same. Last year was a disaster for a few reasons and I only got to keep one replacement hen...she is wonderful but I need more this year or I will have to replace my flock soon. I hate to buy from a hatchery if I don't need to do so.

I may break down and get some Colored Rangers this year for a meat flock and keep a few of the hens to reproduce more meaties. My sis has an incubator handy.

 

[lupinfarm]

I was hoping you'd chime in Bee! I really liked the look of the Dominiques more than anything. We had originally looked at Barred Rocks but the problem was that they had single combs and having dealt with cold issues with my red hens (basically Red Sex-links) and their single combs I had decided to look into getting more peacombed birds (I have 5 EE's). I love my EE's, they're great and friendly and terribly goofy but we do need more than 5 birds to keep the household running on baked goods.

We're getting a rooster with this batch so that we can brood our own next year, I'm really curious to see what the EE / Dom crosses would look like (if, of course, our roo takes a liking to my EE's). I've also heard that the Doms are good broodies too, so that was definitely a bonus for us.

 

[Beekissed]

Lupin, all my "fave" list of birds have gone broody except my Doms. I wish they would, as I would love to have more from the old fashioned way. For now, I will try to slip a mix of eggs under a broody and see what comes out. So far, have not had any Dom looking chicks using this method. Darn it!

I had an EE that was a perpetual broody but she wasn't a consistent layer, so she had to go.

My granny's Doms were good broodies, but mine have not been so far.

 

[lupinfarm]

Haha well theres always a first right! My red hens weren't known to be broody at all, infact that was one selling feature the hatchery that breeds them uses but I had one that refused to stop being broody -_- she was setting some stolen eggs this afternoon when we were rounding up 10 chickens to go to a new home (her included).

I'm not terribly concerned though, we're buying a 'bator anyway. I'd love for them to go broody but its not necessary