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Hi all-
I'm new here, new to gardening and raising chickens. We're moving into our house 5/27, and I'm picking up my peeps on 5/28!
Our city allows three hens without a permit, and I think that will give us enough eggs. I'm looking for chickens that are less skittish and pet like. Any suggestions? I'm leaning towards Orpingtons and Wyandottes. Thinking about throwing in a Polish if I can find one, just for fun. Thinking we'll tractor them until we can get some fencing up.
Hi Andi,
Welcome!
I've had Rhode Island Reds, a Blue Orpington, a Burma, an Aracauna that had a great personality but turned out to be a rooster, some Australorps, and several Leghorns. The Leghorns are very tame and pretty much can be led into their house if they get out. Leghorns have white eggs, but the flavor is the same. The Blue Orpington ws very tame and calm, and laid nice brown eggs, but now and then decided it was time to hatch eggs, would stop laying and sit on all of the eggs for several weeks. The Burma was pretty calm but didn't lay eggs as often. The Reds were usually very aggressive, bullied other chickens and one was a serial killer. They laid good eggs every day. The Australorps were very timid and ran aay from everything. at one point I had two australorps (black hens), 2 leghorns (white hens) and 2 reds. They hung out together, avoiding the chickens that were not their own color. My partner says chickens are racist.
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Good luck with your hens! They are great for recycling kitchen scraps and weeds, and home eggs are much much better than store bought.
Daniel, the new chicken coop is almost complete now I have a couple of questions for you. Do you have any problems with the dogs bothering the chickens? And,since you've had yours for several years now, which type is the tamest and the which one lays eggs most reliable?
Is there anything you think l should know that you would have done differently from the start?
Kathy,
My dogs were fine with the little cat, but one of them killed a pullet. I'm not sure he meant to, but he might have thought she was a squeeky toy. He loves his squeeky toys.
We've had about 10 breeds. Ning likes to try new things. The most aggressive were the Rhode Island Reds. The tamest and most productive were the Leghorns. Every Leghorn has been an egg laying machine. They also seem to be the shorted living. I think it's like they are corporate minions who work themselves to death. Orpingtons go broody a lot. We've had black and grey Orpingtons, and both did that.
If only a few hens, I would get all one type. My chickens have been kind of little racists. When I've had two or three of one type, and the others individual types, they always stuck together by color. This sounds strange but it has happened several times.
They really destroy a garden. I would not let them into the garden.
I just got 3 new ones, Rhode Island Reds. We have some varmints here, and I think they can defend themselves. I have a rooster and an old hen who isn't laying. I think they are both Barred Rock. The rooster is very aggressive - I have to take a rake into the hen yard to ward off the rooster. He had drawn blood a few times on Ning. But he is protecting those pullets like a watchdog.
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