Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

picklepick

Thanks for that info, that's great. No idea what breed but someone recommended Bantams because of the small space we have, so I think we'll go for a breed of those. So help with choosing a breed would be great if anyone can help.

Gigervamp

Pekin bantams are lovely, as are silkie bantams. We have an araucana bantam who lays blue eggs and she's a really friendly bird, likes to hop up onto my shoulder and have a chat!

The only thing I've found with my bantams is that they don't lay many eggs and the eggs are very small.

picklepick

Would it be advisable to get three birds of the same breed or can we get one of each and they'd get along together ok? So long as they're all bantam size for example.

Gigervamp

Our first 3 girls were all different and now that we've got a lot more, they still stick together. Try to get them all on the same day though if you get them from different breeders.

picklepick

Thanks for your reply. We will get them from the same breeder. I only ask that because I like the look of a few and I can never choose! haha I will of course, take the advice of the breeder though.

SpendlessKaren

I so want chickens and cannot wait next year so that I can get some. I am planning on getting some ex batts if possible and will be no doubt asking a million questions.
Roll on 2012 lol

Gigervamp

picklepick wrote: »

Thanks for your reply. We will get them from the same breeder. I only ask that because I like the look of a few and I can never choose! haha I will of course, take the advice of the breeder though.

Lol, it's tricky trying to choose. That's why we've got so many! We have:
1 black rock, 1 sussex star, 1 speckledy, 1 bluebelle, 1 barnebar, 2 cream legbars, 2 marans, 1 orpington, 1 silver laced wyandotte, 4 warrens, 2 pekin bantams, 1 araucana x pekin, 1 araucana x sussex, 1 araucana bantam hen and her 5 brothers, and 2 silver sebrites (husband and wife!).

picklepick

Haha it sounds like you've got your hands full!
Do they differ greatly personality wise? Do some breeds lay more eggs than others?
A high egg yield would be pretty high on DH's list of priorities but not so much on mine!

Gigervamp

Hybrids are your best bet for lots of eggs-warrens, blackrocks, light sussex, bluebelles etc.

We got our 1st 3 in February last year (the speckledy, black rock and sussex) and once they came into lay, they laid right through last winter and well into summer this year. They've been going through moult so have stopped laying for now.

We've had very few eggs from our bantams. Our sebrite came into lay a couple of weeks after we got her and laid about 7 eggs and hasn't laid any since. The araucana bantam laid a similar amount then stopped. Our pekins are only just coming into lay and we've had one egg from one of them. Hoping they all pick up once the days start getting longer!

Gigervamp

Oh, and as for personality, there are some more friendly than others. The legbars run around like pantomine dames if you so much as look at them, but a lot of the other girls friendly and often get underfoot!