Docile nice birds that your friends will love. To keep that topknot clean, band it up or keep their water in narrow containers so it doesn't fall in and get soiled. Dust the crest regularly for mites because they can't reach it to preen.
Pros: good egglayers even into old age, very hardy
Cons: none
These are in my opinion the hardiest of chickens. They can live and lay eggs in the cold, wet winters and they will do alot of foraging for food on their own. They make great compost mixers too.
OEGB are great birds for in the city or to take to shows. Also good for learning genetics as their are so many color varieties. They are very tame and good for kids.
Pros: Less likely to be caught by predator. Lay early
Cons: wild, hard to get in show condition
They mature quickly so you will have eggs sooner. They like to sleep places other than their coop tho, so fenced run with top is important if you don't want them roosting in the trees. Good thing is their survival instinct is still really good so they may make it when other chickens won't.
Bantam leghorns are much overlooked as backyard egg layers. Their small size means they eat a fraction of what a big hen does. and they lay prolifically. The ones i had did not have the flighty personality of large leghorns. They do fly well however, so a covered yard is a must.
Had some Cubalaya Bantams years ago. They are wonderful friendly birds. They were not prone to fighting. They do fly well. the hens are a beautiful reddish color. Only drawback was they seemed prone to Mareks, so i would suggest getting them vaccinated.
These are great birds. especially the bantams. they eat little and lay alot. fat little bodies make for the extra cockerels being no problem. They can be very tame and good for kids too. They come in many colors. They also lay well during the winter and make excellent broodie mamas.
Had some of these years ago. They were wild and flighty. They were okay layers, but not as good as i would have expected them to be. Hard to keep clean and the strain we had was prone to brassiness.
I used to raise and show Wheaten Malay. They are awesome dinosaur-like birds. Your friends will be surprised to see a chicken like this. Mine were out of German stock. The cock was 38" tall (over 3 feet) and weighed as much as some of our turkeys. We had to use a goose legband for him, his legs were massive and long. They have cool personalities, they are not afraid of anything. They eat alot. I had no problems with cockerels because i always would separate them from the girls at 4-6 weeks and put an old cock with them to stop fights from escalating. They can be kept this way until they are about 5 months, then they need their own pen. Once you separate them from their coopmates, do not try to reintroduce them. They need alot of space to range and excercise. they cannot fly. They will lay and breed well if given enough space to excercise. They take two years to mature to full size. It is cool to be sitting on a chair and have a chicken walk up to you and look you in the eye! They have pearl colored eyes and a heavy brow which makes an even more intense looking expression.
Not good for kids because they could accidentally hurt your child. When stressed they go into "fight mode" not "flight" so if they are scared, handle them respectfully.
Pros: nice size eggs and good sized bird for eating
Cons: large birds eat alot more than bantams
These are great all around chickens. Very hardy and the dark color makes it harder for predators to see them. Lay well. Nice size cockerels for eating.
This book is an important resource that every poultry fancier should have in their library. Useful for hunting down even the more obscure things that can go wrong with your birds. Probably more than 90% of the common questions that people ask on poultry forums are answered in this book.
small size bag keeps feed fresh- and vitamins fresh- for small flocks. Important since many vitamins don't have a very long shelf life. Feed up to 6 weeks.
