Anyone else out there raise chickens? A couple of months ago I ordered a dozen chicks from Ideal Poultry in Cameron, TX for end of May delivery. First time ordering from this hatchery...the girls arrived healthy and on-time at the local post office here in MI the morning after they were hatched. Have 3 each of NH Reds, Delawares, Australorpes and Araucanas. Araucanas lay the green eggs... the other breeds are all brown egg layers. This is my first time with Delawares and Australorpes so I'm not sure what to expect as far as disposition. Sexing is supposed to be 90% accurate but I actually would prefer to have 1 rooster since they are great at protecting the hens.

Hi Grandiego:

Congrats on your new brood. I too like chickens & used to keep alot of hens, now only just 6 large Reds. I've never owned the Australorpes and not familiar with them. I do have a neighbor who keeps them and is very satisfied with them. The Reds and Plymouth Rocks were always my favorites. They got along with the smaller banties and have always been "variety" friendly when mixed. I've always appreciated the temperaments of the Reds.. they always seem content and never fuss much. Consistent layers. Easy keepers. Always kept just one rooster. It's always fun watching the youngin's grow up. Do you have pictures of the chicks? Best of Luck!

SP

Sorry, no pics. Thx for the luck... I've been told the Australorpes are mellow like Buff Orpingtons--which I've had before. Do you know how New Hamster Reds compare to RI Reds? Chicks are all doing fine at 2 1/2 wks...still can't tell if we have a rooster. At this point they are still in the mud room in a box I made from a 4x8 sheet of OSB. (We keep them apart from the dog and cats.)

Just think when the kids get a little older
You will be able to run 12 logs books

I have been wanting too. Plan on doing it here as as soon as I get set up for it.

Good one. Had to pause about 10 seconds B4 I got it... Actually you would only need a couple of log books since you can fit more than one chicken in a Chicken Tractor. City folks should consider getting one.

What part of the country do you live in? If you live in a warmer climate your choice of birds is better since you can choose from all the skinny white egg laying breeds that don't tolerate cold winters. Here in the upper midwest it makes the most sense to get the larger brown egg layers. They eat more but they're less flighty. When they run loose in the yard they make a satisfying clucking sound as they peck around for food. The better egg laying breeds will produce around 5 eggs/day at peak production. That means a dozen hens will produce approx 9 eggs/day. When I had chickens before, my old dog never bothered them. Only problem I had in the past was with neighbor dogs. Thought about getting the shotgun out once but fortunately I have good neighbors who got their dog under control. I don't think I could have shot someone's pet anyway. I'll have to watch carefully how my current dog reacts after the hens mature. Cats and mature hens seem to have a truce. They just ignore each other. In the past I've had good luck ordering from Murray McMurray Hatchery in Iowa but they have a 25 bird minimum shipping order. That's fine if you can find a friend to go in with you, or if you want that many. I went with Ideal out of Texas since they have a good rep and allow smaller orders. You can usually find chicks locally, but they often sell Straight Run (unsexed), and the breeds available are very limited. The first place I'd go if I were researching chicken breeds is the Murray McMurray website. The online catalog has pictures and descriptions of more chicken breeds than you can imagine.

I live in West KY. I only want about a half dozen. When I get my shed set up for them. I want to fence it in and then open the gate so they can roam around, but if we leave the house; round them up and put them back inside. Myself I prefer the brown eggs. We have no dogs. Just 2 inside cats and 2 outside stray cats that comes around because my daughter feeds them.

I was doing some selective breeding of white leghorns for a while' out of 14 hens, I was getting 18 eggs a day
the chicks are pretty easy to take care of, just keep them warma dn dry and clean (thats the hard part) and watch them grow
like all critters, the more you handle them as babies, the easier they will be to handle as adults

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