New person over here!

[chellbean]

Hi I'm a hard working mother of two little ones. We are preping to move out onto 10 acres in NE Oklahoma. I have been canning for a while now, but a lot of my produce has come from local organic family farms. We don't have the space we want to grow what we need. Thus the move. We are planning on getting chickens, but still aren't sure as to which breeds will do best for our bipolar weather. We are looking forward to getting our little ones to help out on our little homestead. There are too many kids that don't know where their food comes from, and we will not let our children join their ranks.

 

[NH Homesteader]

My Dominique hens are a dream. My rooster is evil. Ok, he's not that bad but my daughter does have to carry a stick because he likes to go for your ankles. He is, however, an amazing protector of the hens and is very gentle with them. Hence why he's still around. @Beekissed how do your white rocks do in the heat? They sound like a great bird for docile temperaments and great layers. They might be a good choice.

 

[NH Homesteader]

I homeschool as well, and previous to that I was a special education teacher. Love talking to homeschoolers also!

I can tell you cold hardy breeds but not so much about the heat tolerant breeds. It doesn't get above 90 here too often. @frustratedearthmother can tell you about heat! I am in love with my dominiques for cold hardiness but they're pretty big birds so not sure how they would do in the summers there. They are by far my favorite breed.

 

[tortoise]

Homeschooling mom here too - sorta. I finally caved and sent DS10 to public school this year. The whole story is in my journal, if you care for details. DS2 is all excited about letters, numbers, and tracing

 

[Beekissed]

My Dominique hens are a dream. My rooster is evil. Ok, he's not that bad but my daughter does have to carry a stick because he likes to go for your ankles. He is, however, an amazing protector of the hens and is very gentle with them. Hence why he's still around. @Beekissed how do your white rocks do in the heat? They sound like a great bird for docile temperaments and great layers. They might be a good choice.

They do remarkably well in the heat for such large birds. Their feather depth and the nature of their feathering seems to insulate them against the heat. As long as they have available shade, they do as well as any other breed.

They also winter well for the same reasons, laying on fat in the fall and their thick feathering and slow metabolism makes them great winter keepers.

Very feed thrifty if you free range as chicks, free range first each day and feed in the evenings.

 

[NH Homesteader]

Bay I've heard great things about the Speckled Sussex. My friend has some and he loves them. They're kind of a scrawny carcass, although it could be he didn't wait long enough to butcher the ones I saw.

Remember when I said my roo wasn't evil? I lied. He just attacked my dog. Jerk.

We have a lot of breeds. Primarily focusing on breeding Dominique, dorking and cornish. Then we have a bunch of randoms. I absolutely adore our white orpingtons. They're awful heavy and fluffy so not sure how heat tolerant they are. But they're just sweet and relatively calm.

 

[Britesea]

I just got some Speckled Sussex this year, and so far I love them. The cockerels we've butchered so far have been on the small side, but I think they just grow a bit slower than the actual meat breeds. They are pretty gentle so far, and SO pretty!

 

[sumi]

Hello Welcome to SS! I love your plan of moving to a bigger property and starting a little homestead for yourselves and your little ones. In my opinion that is probably the best way to raise a child!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Hello and welcome from Texas. Good luck in your venture - it sounds like a great plan!

 

[NH Homesteader]

Hi and welcome from NH! I don't know what your weather will be like but most of us keep chickens and could help direct you towards a breed or breeds. Of course we might be a little biased towards the ones we keep... Lol

Love talking to others with kids they're raising on the homestead. I have one, and another on the way. Look forward to hearing about your journey!