Help me decide on chickens

[scyllarus]

My Leghorn is the lead hen. She's gotten along fairly well with the others. Same for the Welsummer.

Dominiques would be a good breed as well. Not the friendliest, but mine are the friendliest birds on earth, especially if food is involved. I have a group of six (Leghorn, Welsummer, 2 Cream Legbar, 2 Dominique, and previously a Speckled Sussex). They all get along fairly well, with the occasional peck. The Leghorn and Welsummer are hard to pick up but seem to be just fine on my lap at times (especially Welsummer). I have another seperate group and the Welsummer and one of the Dominiques pick fence fights all the time. I think the way they act depends on how they're raised as chicks, and what other chooks they're mixed with. Some parts can be genetic as well (as far as I'm concerned).

If you want a rooster in the future make sure you hatch it, so that the mother hen can take care of it and give it a few spankings to keep it well behaved (yes, hens will do that).

Luckily for me, I am generous with treats (within reason, haha). My quail have accidentally been trained to attack hands because hands = treats....never mind that I'm just doing some cage maintenance and have no treats. Mostly, though, I'd love to be able to sit outside and cuddle a chicken. I'll look into Dominiques - though admittedly I'm realizing I'm not a huge fan of the barred look...

With my luck I'll have a rooster immediately since I'm probably going to purchase chicks, but fingers crossed that I get a chance to get some experience before that happens. I've seen multiple people recommend introducing roosters young so that they grow up within the flock hierarchy, which is probably what I'll end up doing (especially if I end up getting a rooster from one of the breeds I think have beautiful roosters - all of which are kind of unusual or rare breeds).

 

[scyllarus]

I'm coming back to this thread with my plans in disarray. Husband really wants big raptor chickens, like the game fowl type chickens. I showed him Indio Gigantes and I do believe the man is in love with them.

I know game fowl tend to be aggressive with other chickens - or at least the roosters (stags?) are. Are the hens aggressive? Could I reasonably keep game fowl with "normal" chickens? If I get a rooster (of any sort), should I expect hard-feathered chooks from a game fowl x "normal" cross? Or?

In all fairness, Husband is quite flexible and willing to get whatever birds would work best. I'd like to get him his mini dinosaur, if possible, but I'm not sold it'll fit into our plans...

 

[Snakebiteholloway]

Hello! My husband and I are moving in a few months (around October, probably) and we'll be on some property (iirc we have like...1/4 acre, I think). I need to check the details on the actual ordinances but a quick Google search of the city and county says I should be able to keep chickens - even roosters - as long as they're not a nuisance. We're in a suburban area in Georgia, so I don't expect to have a huge number of predators. The weather gets hot and humid in the summer (up to 100F a few days out of the year) and somewhat cold in the winter (typical temps around 30's, dips down to 20's here and there). We get thunderstorms often in the summer and we very rarely get snow.

We already keep Coturnix quail as our current producers (no room/not allowed chickens where we are now) and are thinking of putting them in a nice aviary and keeping them more as pets rather than producers. We'll probably end up keeping a small backyard flock of chickens, maybe 5-6? We're accustomed to culling birds but would rather keep them for eggs vs meat. Pet production, if you will.

So! Now that that's out of the way, here's what I'm looking for:
Friendly - I like to interact with my animals. I don't *need* to pick them up and hug them, but it's a bonus if I can snuggle a chicken.
Friendly with other chickens - I have enough trauma from quail scalping each other, thanks.
Not flighty - We don't really have predators. I'm more worried that they'll fly out of the yard and get hit by a car.
Heat-hardy - I'm happy to provide a fan and wading pool, but they need to be able to tolerate hot and humid summers.

Things that matter less:
Eggs - We don't really eat that many eggs, maybe a dozen a week? So 3 eggs a week per hen is more than fine. All colors are welcome, too, but I wouldn't mind if I could get a couple of different colors.
Broodiness - I don't mind if they go broody, we're likely to want to raise a few chicks at some point anyway.
Quiet roosters - I know this is probably not a thing, but breeds with quieter roosters would be welcome. I don't think we'll start with a rooster, but we might end up with one.
Size - Smaller is probably better? We have small dogs (who have been around chickens without issue) and I would be distraught if one got hurt. On the other hand, bantams are apparently better at flight, so maybe not.
Foraging - Frankly, there's not that much to forage for the hens. The backyard is just standard grass with a few trees at the edge of the property.
Aesthetics - I think most chickens are beautiful! But I noticed I really like bearded/muffed chickens, certain colors (blue/black/splash, mottled/spangled, laced, mille fleur). I'm fine with silkie or frizzle feathers. I'm not as fond of naked necks or short legs.

Things I want to avoid:
Vaulted skull - I'm fine with crests, but not with vaulted skulls if I can help it.
Feathered feet - It's hot, it's muddy after thunderstorms. I would consider a breed with feathered feet but it's not preferred.
Exotic breeds - It's not so much I don't want them as it's likely going to be a pain to find one.

Scratch the rooster, haha, never met a quiet one! They are all nuisances! Never met one that survived adolescence without getting mean either! I've heard of that, but 17 rooster gumbos later, never seen it. Roos are the only of our birds we ever eat. And i give those away when possible but we waste nothing here on this farm, so...
I'm fond of Americaunas and Marans, hens are quiet, good layers even during molt and winter and lovely with varied feathers and colored eggs. Easily tamed because less timid. Marans often have feathered feet, but there are clean legged varieties.

Have fun! What an adventure! There's really no wrong answer here, right?!

 

[WaterfowlsPoultry]

If you do end up getting a rooster, I would recommend a Barred Rock Plymouth, I have worked with some and they are incredibly docile, They protect their flock and you can get a good bond with them if you try hard enough.

 

[scyllarus]

I keep hearing good things about barred rock roosters, but I just can't get over the fact I'm not super excited about barred birds.

Idk. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do at this time - I want to do bantams, I want snuggly chickens like silkies, I want to have big fluffer chickens like orpingtons, husband wants giant raptor jungle fowl....I don't think I can have all of those things at once, haha.

 

[fuzzi]

Hello! My husband and I are moving in a few months (around October, probably) and we'll be on some property (iirc we have like...1/4 acre, I think). I need to check the details on the actual ordinances but a quick Google search of the city and county says I should be able to keep chickens - even roosters - as long as they're not a nuisance. We're in a suburban area in Georgia, so I don't expect to have a huge number of predators. The weather gets hot and humid in the summer (up to 100F a few days out of the year) and somewhat cold in the winter (typical temps around 30's, dips down to 20's here and there). We get thunderstorms often in the summer and we very rarely get snow.

We already keep Coturnix quail as our current producers (no room/not allowed chickens where we are now) and are thinking of putting them in a nice aviary and keeping them more as pets rather than producers. We'll probably end up keeping a small backyard flock of chickens, maybe 5-6? We're accustomed to culling birds but would rather keep them for eggs vs meat. Pet production, if you will.

So! Now that that's out of the way, here's what I'm looking for:
Friendly - I like to interact with my animals. I don't *need* to pick them up and hug them, but it's a bonus if I can snuggle a chicken.
Friendly with other chickens - I have enough trauma from quail scalping each other, thanks.
Not flighty - We don't really have predators. I'm more worried that they'll fly out of the yard and get hit by a car.
Heat-hardy - I'm happy to provide a fan and wading pool, but they need to be able to tolerate hot and humid summers.

Things that matter less:
Eggs - We don't really eat that many eggs, maybe a dozen a week? So 3 eggs a week per hen is more than fine. All colors are welcome, too, but I wouldn't mind if I could get a couple of different colors.
Broodiness - I don't mind if they go broody, we're likely to want to raise a few chicks at some point anyway.
Quiet roosters - I know this is probably not a thing, but breeds with quieter roosters would be welcome. I don't think we'll start with a rooster, but we might end up with one.
Size - Smaller is probably better? We have small dogs (who have been around chickens without issue) and I would be distraught if one got hurt. On the other hand, bantams are apparently better at flight, so maybe not.
Foraging - Frankly, there's not that much to forage for the hens. The backyard is just standard grass with a few trees at the edge of the property.
Aesthetics - I think most chickens are beautiful! But I noticed I really like bearded/muffed chickens, certain colors (blue/black/splash, mottled/spangled, laced, mille fleur). I'm fine with silkie or frizzle feathers. I'm not as fond of naked necks or short legs.

Things I want to avoid:
Vaulted skull - I'm fine with crests, but not with vaulted skulls if I can help it.
Feathered feet - It's hot, it's muddy after thunderstorms. I would consider a breed with feathered feet but it's not preferred.
Exotic breeds - It's not so much I don't want them as it's likely going to be a pain to find one.

I live north of you but the climate is similar here in eastern NC.

I wanted bantams, friendly and quiet, not necessarily big egg producers, with heat tolerance, and clean legs. I also wanted them to be content when contained.

My first chicks were Speckled Sussex, but my straight run was a 7:3 ratio of boys to girls. So I ordered sexed chicks online. I couldn't get Sussex again. Dominique bantams were the first to become available so I ordered them.

Both breeds are relatively quiet, calm, and friendly birds. My first rooster was a sweetheart, took care of his girls, friendly but not cuddly. I've had no health issues, am very pleased with and do recommend them.

 

[tlcmurphy]

I've seen a lot of experiences with aggressive (and nonaggressive) Leghorns, and for some reason my assumption is that the Legbars and Welsummers are a little more aggressive than the other breeds listed. I'm already avoiding feathered feet because of the mess, so these are more reasons to not deal with them.

edit: Looked it up and I think my concern is that Legbars and Welsummers are a bit flightier and more aggressive in general. I know that it depends on the individual, how we handle them, etc as well, but I want to set myself up for success.

I don't think I'll be keeping a rooster at first since a lot of people have mentioned these seem to be for more advanced keepers. However, I really love the way Russian Orloff and Jersey Giant roosters look, so I'm not deeply against getting a rooster once I feel more comfortable with keeping chickens (and clear it with neighbors, etc) - but I assumed it would be worse to keep a rooster with only a few hens? More issues with overbreeding, for example.

Consider a Welsummer, mine was less aggressive than a fly, 5th in our pecking order (and we only have 2Buff Orpingtons in addition the her). The Welsummer did much better in the GA heat, I had to put a box fan outside the run for the Borbs.

Where in GA are you moving? I’m in Atlanta.

 

[tlcmurphy]

I'm coming back to this thread with my plans in disarray. Husband really wants big raptor chickens, like the game fowl type chickens. I showed him Indio Gigantes and I do believe the man is in love with them.

I know game fowl tend to be aggressive with other chickens - or at least the roosters (stags?) are. Are the hens aggressive? Could I reasonably keep game fowl with "normal" chickens? If I get a rooster (of any sort), should I expect hard-feathered chooks from a game fowl x "normal" cross? Or?

In all fairness, Husband is quite flexible and willing to get whatever birds would work best. I'd like to get him his mini dinosaur, if possible, but I'm not sold it'll fit into our plans...

I’ve seen those, I’m not sure they’ll fit into your CAR

 

[scyllarus]

Consider a Welsummer, mine was less aggressive than a fly, 5th in our pecking order (and we only have 2Buff Orpingtons in addition the her). The Welsummer did much better in the GA heat, I had to put a box fan outside the run for the Borbs.

Where in GA are you moving? I’m in Atlanta.

Augusta! I grew up there, so I'm pretty familiar with the weather in the area. I'm willing to put a fan on the birds - we already do so for our quail since we're in Florida and it's too dang hot.

 

[Shadrach]

I can't seem to find any information on how you intend to keep these hypothetical chickens. How you intend to keep them is arguably the most important factor in making a breed choice.