We've been raising chickens now for about three years. What started out as a venture to get laying hens, has evolved into a farm run by chickens. As it turns out, we all quite enjoy them.......even me who went into the chicken thing dragging my feet a bit.
I'm going to break this down into three types of chickens to make it easier to decide what breeds you want. The three types are: meat breeds, egg layers, and ornamental chickens.
I'll start with egg layers since that is how we began our venture. I'll be heavy on pictures so you can see the different types.
We started with your common layers, the ones you are more likely to see if you visit a farm. Some examples are: Barred Rocks( really these are considered a dual purpose breed,but are good layers and a commonly seen breed), Production Reds, Rhode Island Reds, White Leghorns. These are great layers of brown or white eggs and are just a few breeds that are really good egg layers.
I'm going to break this down into three types of chickens to make it easier to decide what breeds you want. The three types are: meat breeds, egg layers, and ornamental chickens.
I'll start with egg layers since that is how we began our venture. I'll be heavy on pictures so you can see the different types.
We started with your common layers, the ones you are more likely to see if you visit a farm. Some examples are: Barred Rocks( really these are considered a dual purpose breed,but are good layers and a commonly seen breed), Production Reds, Rhode Island Reds, White Leghorns. These are great layers of brown or white eggs and are just a few breeds that are really good egg layers.
There are tons of egg layers,but these are some of the top producing layers. I believe White Leghorns are the top egg layer, which is why most eggs in the grocery store are white. They are prolific layers. We only have one though because they aren't very friendly, kind of flighty, and I think white eggs are boring. Your egg layers generally are smaller bodied, as their energy is spent in producing eggs.
Another breed that we like a lot are Ameraucanas. They are good layers of blue or green eggs and seem to be a pretty hardy breed.
Another breed that we like a lot are Ameraucanas. They are good layers of blue or green eggs and seem to be a pretty hardy breed.
We also have Marans. These are bigger bodied, maybe more dual purpose, but most people have them because they lay beautiful chocolate colored eggs. They are also very pretty chickens.
We have many other breeds also, because it's about beauty and fun for us, not just eggs.
Ok on to meat chickens. Here again there are a lot of different breeds. Some people like to use dual purpose breeds, like Barred Rocks, Buff Orpingtons, or Australorps. Some people like the faster growing meat birds like Cornish. When we decided to go with meat birds, we wanted something that grew fast,but not as fast as the Cornish. We chose a breed called Freedom Rangers. There is a quick turn around so you are not spending as much to feed and raise them, but it's not so fast that you have chickens that grow weirdly or have many health issues. There is a higher rate of death as compared to a dual purpose bird, but you also have food in the freezer way before you would with a dual purpose.
Our meat birds are not kept with our laying hens. They have totally different personalities and really think of nothing but eating.
Our meat birds are not kept with our laying hens. They have totally different personalities and really think of nothing but eating.
Now on to the even more fun part, the ornamentals. These are not good layers, and aren't great for meat either. They are mostly just pretty. We have both standard size ornamentals and bantam size. The bantam sized chickens are great for kids and showing because they are light and easy to handle. I'll post some of both size. We will start out with standard size. Most of our standard sized ornamental breeds are in with our layers.
More fun breeds we love......Polish. We have several varieties. These have funny personalities
Our newest breed, Brylee's chicken, Reeses.
Another fun, but ugly, standard size breed we have is the Naked Neck.
Now for some bantam sized chickens. Some of them are pretty good layers, but they are small eggs. We keep them because they are good for showing and pretty fun to look at.
There are so many more breeds in all three of these groups. I've only showed you a few of ours. If you see a picture on here of a certain type that you think is beautiful, google it. Do your research and learn about them so you know what you are getting. No matter whether you are getting them for a purpose or just to enjoy, they will end up sucking you in. Some of them have very strong and fun personalities. I am going to post a few more pictures of some cool breeds we have or have had. I will label them so you know what they are. If you have any questions, send me a message and I will try to get you an answer.