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My neighbor and I have been running small incubators to hatch out chickens however all the fertile eggs we've been getting have been from primarily mixed breed chickens. We are working on getting some pure bred chickens to lay hatching eggs, however, what breed should we get?
What's the most popular breed of chicken? If you were going to buy a half dozen chicks to keep in your back yard, what breed would you want and why?
"I like yard sales," he said. "All true survivalists like yard sales."
Kurt Wilson
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If you're buying for egg laying ability, the pure white Leghorn is the one, an egg a day. If eggs are straight run, you'll get half roosters which are also very tasty at their first crow.
These are the same birds as commercials grow becaue of their laying traits and durability. The eggs are white, but you'll find em as good as brown with a free range lifestyle.
Gordon J Tilley
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But can white leghorns survive as free range chickens? I tried to bring some in and they didn't survive more than 48 hours as chicks. My neighbor has had some before in a flock of mixed breeds of chickens but she said they were the first ones to get eaten by stray dogs or just disappear. Mongoose might eat them maybe since the white leghorns are a smaller breed.
At the moment, I have pure bred adult Rhode Island red hens, pure bred adult Americana hens, an adult Cuckoo Marans hen and a variety of mixed hens. The mixed hens are going to be sold on Craig's List pretty soon so just the pure breds will be left.
My neighbor has mature pure bred Buff Orphington hens but neither one of us has a pure bred rooster. Well, a standard sized rooster anyway, I've got these really cute Black Tailed Japanese Bantom hens and roosters but they don't really count as far as breeding backyard chickens go. They are basically pet chickens who will lay really cute (but edible) eggs.
We've brought in some chicks - Rhode Island Reds straight run, two Buff Orphington cockerels and some barred rock pullets. There were some White leghorns in the batch but they died off. There's also some "Frankenchickens" (Cornish X meat birds) but those will be eaten within three months. So, when the new cockerels grow up in about three to four months we will have the option of pure bred RIR's and pure bred Buff Orphingtons. Do you think these are two good breeds to propagate or should we look for a different variety to bring in while we can still import chicks?
"I like yard sales," he said. "All true survivalists like yard sales."
Kurt Wilson
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I am currently setting up to breed RIR's.. have three nice pretty roosters about a year old that are breeding like there was no tomorrow.
Had some staff problems and had to hire a new guy to tear down a mess and rebuild my henhouse. Expect that done in a week, then we will be to breeding.
I let the RIR's Americaunas and Plymouth Barred Rock breed with the white jungle fowl and got some nice pullets going on. Will be interesting to see how they lay.
The PBRs lay bigger brown eggs, but I somehow think the RIR's are the ticket and they are where I am putting my interest. I have been freerangings all three and the PBR's seem to be disappearing. The RIR'sare going strong. Americauna's are doing well and the blue eggs are a novelty but everyone likes the brown eggs better so far.
Good luck. By next spring we should be both pumping those eggs into the market!
Pam
I want to be the kind of woman that, when my feet
hit the floor each morning, the devil says
"Oh Crap, She's up!"
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The ones we had did pretty well by themselves, all hens(7) freebees from a Hilo chicken farm. Had to wait 4 hours in line to get em, but we did. They thrived in Fern Forest(of course all were going into their 2nd molt so no eggs), they looked like hell,but survived.
Awhile later we went to Kalapana for a few days to dry out, upon return there were beautiful huge eggs all over the place.
But that was 30 years ago, today's breeding might have changed them into cage hardy birds, not suited for free range.
Gordon J Tilley
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Aloha Pam,
Where did you get your RIR's from? At some point we may want to do a rooster swap to import new blood into our flocks. At the moment I have RIR chickens from three different places although two of them may have originally been from the same source.
"I like yard sales," he said. "All true survivalists like yard sales."
Kurt Wilson
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quote:
Could you imagine giving birth everyday of your life?
There is actually a limit to the number of eggs that chickens can produce. I don't know what that number range is, but as I understand, hens are born (or become sexually mature) with all of the eggs (sans shell and food supply) that they will lay in their lifetime in their ovaries. I think it's the same for humans.
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I like Rhode Island Reds and Bared Rocks. Both lay large brown eggs aren't too noisy and do not tend to get broody. Last time I got chicks I got six of each. I give them a bit of layer or scratch but they are mainly free range.
Someone once told me these two breeds lay every 25 hours, only during the daylight. When their laying time gets into the late afternoon they "take a day off" and start the next morning. I don't know if I believe this or not. I do tend to slightly less than one a day.
Jerry
Art and Orchids B&B
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I have five RIR, and get almost 5 eggs every day. Occasionally there are 4 egg days. But my neighbor who has RIR says this is a bit unusual for them all to lay an egg every day. I let mine freerange for 1/2 the day, but my neighobor's are strictly caged. Maybe this is the difference? I got mine as day old chicks from the feed store in Pahoa about a year ago. They are extremely friendly and personable. They actually come running when I call, "Here chick, chick, chick." Aloha, Angela
