# What chickens should I get?



## jerryboobs (Apr 30, 2013)

Hh


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## Olof (Jun 16, 2013)

That depends on what you want them for and what is important to you.


Backyard chicken and beekeeper.
1 Buff Orpington 
1 Austrolorp
1 Polish
1 Cream Legbar
1 Ameraucana black


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## jerryboobs (Apr 30, 2013)

Ok thnz


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## piglett (Jun 21, 2012)

Olof said:


> That depends on what you want them for and what is important to you.
> 
> Backyard chicken and beekeeper.
> 1 Buff Orpington
> ...


correct 
we love our orpingtons but they don't fit everyones needs


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## Olof (Jun 16, 2013)

Are you wanting show chickens? Pets? Chickens for eggs? Chickens for food? All of the above? Does egg color mater to you?


Backyard chicken and beekeeper.
1 Buff Orpington 
1 Austrolorp
1 Polish
1 Cream Legbar
1 Ameraucana black


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## jerryboobs (Apr 30, 2013)

I just want chickens that are docile and produce a fair amount of eggs 


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## realsis (Jan 13, 2013)

I just love my silkies they are sweet and although eggs are small they are good layers! Take a look at some of my girls. 

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## realsis (Jan 13, 2013)

These are my silkies. All buffs

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## hellofromtexas (Feb 16, 2014)

My cousin's silkies lay 5 eggs a month and the eggs are bantam size (small) so they make it hard to use in cooking

I would look at Buff orpington (3 a week per bird) or black australorp (4 a week per bird) for egg production and puppy dog personality. More australorp for eggs. The chickens come in different colors but those colors are harder to obtain and some are not show worthy (white, splash, blue, lavender and black, last 2 are orpington. Orpingtons have a very wide color variety.)

The 2 breeds are cousins. They are also a heritage breed. They will probably lay for 5-6 years with slight decline after the first 2 cycle.

Egg Color is brown for both and similar to size of what you find in the store









Egg colors and breeds that lay them

If you want a different egg color it will limit you on breed but I know the colors of eggs are Blue, Green, Multi color layer (lays different colors aka easter eggers), White, Brown, light brown, Cream, and Chocolate

The egg colors are very breed dependent and some are very expensive. White, and brown are the cheapest around 2-5 dollars. Multi and variations of brown (tinted - chocolate) is kinda the middle ground Around 5-17 dollars per day old chick. The cheapest sole blue egg layer and sole green egg layer I've heard of are 22-40 dollars per day old chick.

Prices are very breed dependent. The ones I gave are the pure bred chicks but crossed chicks can have those colors and be cheaper. I don't recommend the getting the expensive chicks to start out unless you are in love with it.

Mypetchicken.com Breed selector tool

*Questions*

What colors do you want your eggs to be and what size?

What size of chicken do you want?

What is your exact purpose? (Are they going to be soup after they are done laying or are they going to be a pet and be retired after their laying days?)


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## jerryboobs (Apr 30, 2013)

A pet and I had silkies in the past, so maybe I will


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## piglett (Jun 21, 2012)

jerryboobs said:


> A pet and I had silkies in the past, so maybe I will
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Chicken Forum


depends on your setup

will you let your chickens out into the yard ?

do stray dogs come by your place?

a small bird like a silkie is great we have a couple but we always keep them in a covered outside pen or their coop

the reason is halks & things with big teath

silkies are not really a match for these things

now our buff orpingtons are large & we have 3 huge roosters to look after the girls so they can be let out if we wish

good luck
piglett


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## jerryboobs (Apr 30, 2013)

Could u put some pictures up of ur buff orpingtons and are they nice birds docile and could u hold them



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## Farmwife (Mar 23, 2014)

*I love my girls*

I have Easter eggers and production reds. All started laying eggs between 3-4 months of age. EE's lay large sage green eggs and the reds lay large brown eggs. I have 10 girls total and get 7-9 eggs a day. The EE's are in either white and black or rust and black, the reds are just that--red. All are docile and even tempered.


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## hildar (Oct 3, 2013)

We have different breeds. As for the temperament of chickens we enjoyed our BO right up until when we realized it was a rooster and started biting us. The hens however I have been told are awesome. Delawares are a great chicken to have around, the hens are sweet and I so enjoy the fact that even the cat gets along with them. My legacy breed also are great. In fact the #1 hen that I have lays eggs all year round, she also has been known to lay eggs right next to the cat in the winter to keep herself warm and her eggs warm and protected. My second female, enjoys people carrying her around. GLW's however I have issues with the hens do not want to be touched at all. We brought them up from the eggs, and they just do not want anyone to touch them at all.

If you have a good sized yard but don't want chickens to tear the dickens out of the yard then try Bantams. I have 2 and love them both.


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