What’s the deal with you chicken people??

[z3lda3]

Hi, first time chicken owner, I’ve got 4 red sex link pullets, and 4 chicks.
Is there a chicken breed underground that I’m unaware of? Like the Free Masons of chickens??
Before I decided to get chickens, I read EVERYTHING I could about them. And yall chicken ppl blow my mind with ALL the breeds and knowledge about them. Not just in this community. I went to the feed store just to buy another feeder. Ol man comes over “oh you got some me chickens huh. Well you need some bebop’s and floofloos, and maybe cross you some yummytums and plickados”. At one point I don’t think he was speaking English anymore. “What kind of chickens you got”? I was dumbfounded I said “mine are red”. I felt so.. ignorant. Seriously where/how do y'all learn about all these breeds? And why is it important? I feel like I’m missing something here. I want to be in the chicken know!

 

[tlcmurphy]

If it helps I used to have yellow chickens. Now that I’m older and wiser I have Buff Orpingtons
Welcome to BYC!

 

[ilovemybabychickies]

Hello! Welcome to chicken owning! I'm not going to lie, getting to know chickens and the breeds are very hard, I have owned chickens for almost 5 years and I STILL don't know everything!

P.s You are not ignorant! You are a first time chicken owner! if you have any questions, just ask! I will try to answer everything that you are curious about!

 

[z3lda3]

If it helps I used to have yellow chickens. Now that I’m older and wiser I have Buff Orpingtons
Welcome to BYC!

It does help! I’m just going to start making breeds up. Like oh what kind of chickens you got? “ I've got Xandidiidles” See how they like being stumped.

 

[RoyalChick]

Good post! And belated welcome to BYC.

I have had chickens for about 5 years now and I started out thinking I would learn all about breeds but I have given up.
My classification is very simple:
- Pretty chicken
- Very pretty chicken
- Cute baby chicken
I find that covers most of them!

Over time I have learned a few more specifics - like Polish chickens wear fluffy hats, and Easter Egger is a fancy title for a mutt.

I love my chickens and really don't care what breed they are.

 

[RoyalChick]

It does help! I’m just going to start making breeds up. Like oh what kind of chickens you got? “ I've got Xandidiidles” See how they like being stumped.

I would be careful with that strategy. There will be a host of follow-up questions that you might not be able to answer.
Are your Xandidiidles from heritage or hatchery lines? Do they show red leakage? Are they barred? Do you have any self-blue Xandidiidles, and could I buy some fertile eggs from you if you do?

 

[Amer]

Not any different from dog breeds, really. The way I learned was checking out Storey’s Guide to Poultry Breeds from the library. It’s a bit outdated but back when I read it it was fairly recent. Also some of the pictures aren’t good examples of their breeds but at the time I didn’t know any better.

 

[z3lda3]

Hello! Welcome to chicken owning! I'm not going to lie, getting to know chickens and the breeds are very hard, I have owned chickens for almost 5 years and I STILL don't know everything!

P.s You are not ignorant! You are a first time chicken owner! if you have any questions, just ask! I will try to answer everything that you are curious about!

Thank you! I know (from reading) WAY more about health and disease than chicken breeds. But nobody ever wants to talk that at random. Maybe next time someone goes off on their breeds I’ll just say, I don’t what you’re talking about, but let me show you some pictures of my chickens vents, now these vents are showroom new clean!

 

[z3lda3]

I would be careful with that strategy. There will be a host of follow-up questions that you might not be able to answer.
Are your Xandidiidles from heritage or hatchery lines? Do they show red leakage? Are they barred? Do you have any self-blue Xandidiidles, and could I buy some fertile eggs from you if you do?

And so the web of lies is weaved lol. But see?! That’s what I’m talking about, I read your entire reply and understood nothing-except Xadidiidles.

 

[NatJ]

Seriously where/how do y'all learn about all these breeds?

We learn from other people, from books, over the internet, many places-- over time, one tends to pick up bits of information, and after a while the total is quite impressive.

And why is it important? I feel like I’m missing something here. I want to be in the chicken know!

It is important to know enough to provide what your chickens need (mostly safe housing and appropriate food and water.)

Beyond that, it is mostly for fun. For any group of people that know a lot about a subject, they do seem to speak a different language, and they soak up more information very quickly when it is on their favorite subject. I've seen that with children and adults in many areas of interest. Examples include: Legos, computer gamers or programmers, Mathematicians, many kinds of scientists, English literature teachers, history buffs, fans of a particular series of books or movies or TV shows, woodworkers, knitters, quilters, gardeners, people into raising or showing any kind of animals, people making robots, tabletop gamers, etc.

It just seems to be something people do when they get very interested in a subject, and find other people who share that interest. You will tend to notice the ones who have the most to say, which means the ones at your own level just do not stand out as much.

Not any different from dog breeds, really. The way I learned was checking out Storey’s Guide to Poultry Breeds from the library. It’s a bit outdated but back when I read it it was fairly recent. Also some of the pictures aren’t good examples of their breeds but at the time I didn’t know any better.

I like to browse hatchery websites. They usually tell a little bit about each breed, often with different details on the websites of different hatcheries. I can't say whether the birds in the photos are good examples of the breeds, but they might be examples of what the hatchery actually sells I end up knowing more about the breeds that are attractive to me, and ignoring the breeds that don't appeal to me, so my knowledge of breeds is a bit patchy.