[Jjbeanz]

I have bought an incubator to hatch some chickens. What breed would you recommend? We are after ones that have a nice nature and lay decent Eggs. I've researched a little and so far I am thinking ISA browns and the cute silkys as they look great for kids and I had one as a kid. Also I need to buy the fertilised eggs and was thinking of buying them online, has anyone done that before?Thanks

[noi'mnot]

Isa Browns are ok for the first year, but they're bred to lay like crazy for their first year and then drop off with their laying later on. They're not great long-term layers.

Silkies are ok, but quite fragile so not particularly hardy, if that's a characteristic that you're looking for. They are super cute, and pretty good layers for a bantam sized hen.

Australorps are probably the best layers that I know of, and they're really tough and hardy chooks. Quite good all-round.

My preference is for Araucanas, which are tough as guts and lay blue/green eggs! Good layers, but not as good as Australorps. They're full of personality, too.

A lot of people get Pekin bantams as backyard hens, which aren't bad layers and they're also pretty tough. Very very cute.

Have a look at some other breeds too - Wyandottes (beautiful and layers), Sussex (good layers), Rhode Island Red, Leghorns.

I'm not sure about the rules on posting links to other forums, but I've received heaps of help from www.backyardpoultry.com which has a forum attached, as well as a noticeboard where you can advertise for eggs/chooks and find advertisements from sellers.

Good luck!

[twinboys]

I really want to own chooks one day and I went researched them and Araucanas were the ones that ticked all the boxes for me.

Good steady layers
Not bad as a meat chook (Don't know if I could eat one....But just in case of hardship )
Good natured - not too flighty or too dominant
Beautiful eggs

[miinii]

Hi OP,

I currently have 7 eggs in my incubator on day 14

I have found that Pekin Bantam chickens are the absolute best for kids.

Here is a pic of some but you can get plenty of different colours.

We have 4 of these and 3 Isa Brown eggs in our incubator.

Also my Pekin bantam (Tinkerbell) hen has just gone broody so i went and got her 6 silky eggs to put under her.

Pekin Bantams arnt really great for eggs. Our lays 1 a day but they are teeny tiny eggs.

So basically if your not too concerned about the size of the eggs then Pekin Bantams are GREAT for kids. They are extremely tame (Ours jumps into our kids laps if they sit on the floor, she also follows them around the backyard ) THey also make GREAT mothers so if in the future you want to see a mummy hen with babies they would be my choice.

If you after eggs then i would go the Isa brown but they really are not as friendly.

Your other option would be to get a few of each Mix it up a little

Can i ask what type of incubator you got?

This post has been edited by miinii: 23/11/2012, 03:48 PM

[miinii]

I also wanted to ask where you live OP? I would suggest trying to find somewhere that sells them close to you so you can pick them up

[paris-stella]

I think you will find that isa brown chickens do not exist anymore. They were an Inghams Chicken breed and as Inghams dont exist, nor does the breed, so you might not be able to find those eggs.

You want a chicken that will probably lay 4-5 eggs per week, and they will lay longer over their life, rather than a chicken that has been bred purely for egg production, and then after 2 years they will stop laying.

Our pekin went clucky, so we got her day old chicks which were Orpingtons - they are quite a large chicken and they are good with kids and good for egg production. Our Pekin didnt want anything to do with them, so we are raising them ourselves.

At the moment in our brooder with have two Buff Orpingtons and 3 pekins. We have 2 four month old layers - cant remember the name of their breed and 1 pekin. The Pekin she might be small, but she is certainly the boss of the other chickens that are more than double her size.

I wanted silkies and was talked out of them by the person I get my chickens off. They are delicate and they tend to be picked on by bigger chickens.

[TheGreenSheep]

We have had many different breeds so far including Isas, Australorps, buff orpington x RIR, welsummers, marans, etc. so far the hardiest and most resilient, consistent layers, average eating is the Isas. The large breeds we found ate a lot, went broody heaps, and laid the least. The largest eggs are from our Isas and welsummers. The isas don't eat huge amounts. And I've found them easy to tame for pats and the kids to pick up. The Australorps were also quite placid too.

It's all a lot of fun and really fascinating to get to know them and the breeds.

[bronhilda]

We have Pekin Bantams. Great chooks for a suburban backyard. Friendly, small, don't do too much damage to the garden.

Eggs are tiny - 30 to 40 grams an egg. I double eggs quantities in recipes, but the quality of the eggs is fantastic. So much flavour.

Ours have also been constantly broody. We have four, and since September, at least 1 and usually 2 are broody at one time. When not broody, the girls lay 4-5 eggs a week each.

We hatched two of the hens ourselves using an incubator. We purchased our eggs from a company that hires out backyard chickens. We had trialled chickens with this service before settling on going ahead with it.

[ambwrose]

I like Rhode Island reds. I have had a few different breeds in the past and they are the breed I like best.
I have 3 hens and a rooster, the hens lay most days, so I'd get 5 eggs in 2 days. They are quiet and friendly and don't need much more feeding than our household scraps and a pick every day.

Margaret

[~Sorceress~]

We use the laying stock that the local rural supplies store gets in - I think they're "hi-sex"? At any rate, they're great little layers and very tolerant of handling by children . I've tried exotic breeds before and they were never really worth the extra money and care required for our family .