What chicken breed am I looking for?

[BarredBuff]

I am already toying with the 2011 chick order, as always its a dilema. I cant decide what I want nor can any other person in this house give me an idea. I want a good egglayer, good meatie (we will chopping the roo heads off), broody often, and good forager all in that order. And it cannot be white as a base. What chicken is this?

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

RIR
Barred Rock
Buckeyes.. but these are nuts
;-)

 

[k0xxx]

Buff Orpingtons are nice, dual purpose (meat & eggs) birds. They also have a very mild disposition.

 

[Wannabefree]

Barred Rocks. Buff Orps. HERITAGE RIR (not production Reds) which means from breeders only. I'd go with some good quality stock from breeder lines. I'd get breeder stock for any chickens I chose. With heritage dual purpose breeds it's always better to do so. So much has been lost in fluffy butt mass production. They aren't the same birds our grandparents sat around the table for when they were kids. Hatchery birds are too dilluted and may be mixed. To get a true meaty heritage I think it's a must to go the breeder stock route rather than hatchery. It's a little more costly up front for the chicks sometimes, but by slaughter age they are MUCH more worth the effort to get good starter stock. It's a one time cost on the front end, and more meat, and better product in the end. If SS is the goal, IMO this is the way to approach it I have heritage birds and hatchery birds. The heritage Delaware's are larger and meatier than the hatchery RIR AKA production reds. I only got those for a future sex link project. Well I could go on and on, but this is your thread and just my opinion Good luck deciding on some chickens, they are SOOOO much fun!

 

[miss_thenorth]

My BRs do not ever go broody. Ever, and i have been raising them for a coupla years, many many hatches. I have a silkie mutt who sits for me. or for them, I guess. Other than that, my BRs fit the bill. A 6 mo old cockeral, makes a nice 4 lb bird for the table. Of course the breas is not as big, but it is still a nice table bird.

 

[freemotion]

Get a few each of several breeds and then see what you like. I think the Buffs are gorgeous but mine have been a disappointment in every way you just described. Maybe another line from another hatchery would have those traits....I do like my Barred Rocks. My three that went broody well were a Dominique and two White Rocks. I wouldn't have gotten the whites but someone gave them to me. The remaining white will have a job here forever, she did such a marvelous job raising chicks.

My Americaunas have been the most reliable layers, not taking a break like everyone else whenever there is a slight reason to....too hot, too cold, too molty, too rainy, too windy, too lovely, too whatever! None have gone broody, though, so I put blue eggs under the White Rock and the Dominique. The Americauna roos took a while but they were enormous ultimately and good eatin'!

What I am expecting and am anxious to see is whether the broody-raised hens become good broodies. They are AWESOME foragers and don't eat much grain at all.

Meanwhile, I couldn't wait for them to grow up and hatch eggs, so I ordered 15 more Americauna pullets and hope to put their eggs under what I hope will be 4-5 broodies in the spring....if this doesn't work out well, I plan on buying a few bantams to just have a job as broodies until I can develop a flock that goes broody more reliably.

Harvey Ussery writes about developing a reliable broody by crossing....um....game hens with...um....hmmmm.....it is somewhere on this site: www.themodernhomestead.us

ETA: here is the article: http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Boxwood-Broodies.html

 

[miss_thenorth]

I read about Harvey Ussery before and started to think along those lines too. But now the way I see it, I kinda like having a broody banty. The way I'm thinking, is if all my BRs went broody, that would cut into my egg production. Since banties eat much less, i figure its good the keep her around for brooding, and keep the BRs producing. Plus she's so cute and friendly. I think I will get a few more banties for brooding, instead of wanting my standards going broody.

Does that make sense?

 

[me&thegals]

Here's how it has worked on our farm so far:

Broody: Black Australorps and Buff Orpingtons

Best, long-lived egg production: Leghorns (but NEVER broody) We have about 80 hens, and all the rest are brown egg layers (except the Easter Eggers), so it's hard to tell who's doing a great job

Most cold hardy, excellent foragers: All forage well, but I have never seen anything like the Light Brahmas we have this year. They have even chosen to SLEEP outside these cold nights. First out, last in. I love them!

Good luck

 

[big brown horse]

My ameraucana chickens were a complete dissapointment. I got rid or butchered every one except one. The only one left is a year old hen, and she just up and stopped laying at the beginning of the summer. Has not laid one egg since. (The other hen that I traded to DrakeMaiden did the same thing.) She is also flighty and mean to the other chickens, not to mention scrawny. On top of it she laid white eggs (not blue or even sky blue) and she came from a well respected breeder around here.

The ameraucana rooster was pretty but a bully to the hens. The man I traded him to said he is aggressive to people now too. The other ameraucana roosters that I did butcher were also scrawny.

My favorite is my old fashioned RIR, though never broody, smart and a sure fire egg layer. Plus she is built like a brick house too. (My buff is the broody one.)

Second favorite is my buff o.

Next batch of chicks are going to be rangers, I've heard really good things about them. Good egg layers and big birds for eating.

 

[Woodland Woman]

I've tried many different breeds and Red Stars are the best layers of brown eggs. White egg layers tend to be flighty. Most chickens are good foragers if you let them forage from a young age. Barred rocks are very good layers and would do well for meat. Check the weight from the hatcheries info to see white breeds appeal to you and would have enough meat. Remember that larger breeds tend to eat more feed than smaller and egg production and size may not be better. Americanas or Easter Eggers usually lay well but tend to be small. Personally, I like getting a variety of breeds that lay a variety of egg colors. Banty's are much more likely to go broody than standards. Especially Silkies. If you order from a hatchery and they all grow up together you will have less problems.

Here is a chart with lots of good information on chicken breeds and egg laying.

http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html