When picking a chicken you will want to look at their individual breeds. This is necessary as some of them live great together and others have an attitude that requires them to with their own kind. Even though there are over sixty chicken breeds to choose from, there are a few that are more popular than all the others.
Here are some of the breeds that may be of some interest
- Barnevelder: During the early part of the twentieth century, this chicken was the main egg laying bird. These breeds average around two hundred brown eggs annually.
- Rhode Island Reds: This chicken breed is the hero of most of the barnyards. They can amazingly lay around three hundred eggs annually! and so are lauded for this capability to yield one of the greatest numbers of eggs. These chicken are also excellent pets.
- Light Sussex: These chickens have a unique feature since they are the ones that are normally found at chicken state fairs and beauty pageants! In their egg producing capabilities, they are almost identical to the Rhode Island Reds. This chicken breed is also among the top level egg layers and they lay around two hundred and fifty eggs annually
- Buff Orpington: This is one of the chicken breeds that are famous for their fluffy feathers and extreme cuteness. They are a larger or ‘heavy’ breed and have a calm and friendly nature. But they can be moody and are not the best for producing eggs. Their looks compensate for their low egg production and that is the only reason people love keeping the Buff Orpington around. They are bright golden in color and this really accentuates in the sunlight.
Cost of Keeping Chickens
We should talk a little about the feed ratio — what’s it? It is the dimension of efficiency where the bird/animal converts feed into product e.g. eggs. This ratio is quite important if you’re operating a poultry or animal enterprise.
The usual formula for feed price calculation is that every layer fish will consume roughly 1.5lb feed each week.
We’re not in it for its monetary profit but the advantages our chicken provide us, material and emotional. Also many folks prefer to boost their chicken as humanely as possible and prefer not to buy into the industrial system currently in place.
Nevertheless, it’s likely to minimize your expenditure by buying specific strains of chicken.
Those hens that are class foragers will consume less feed at the chicken coop since they get much of the nutritional needs out of grasses, forbs and germs.
Raising Chicken Breeds For all Needs
Once you have decided to raise a small flock, you have the exciting decision as to which breed to raise. Your tastes will change as you raise them. Choosing from such beautiful chicken may confound you with the range of choices, or you may find your self-lured by a particular breed as soon as you see it. But there are breeds for all needs.
Breeds For All Needs
Production for meat and eggs has been bred to a high level. Modern chicken breeds and hybrids offer a wide range of characteristics. They are well documented and easily available from hatcheries and the local feed store.
Fryers and broilers are processed for the table as early as 4 weeks, Seldom older the 16 weeks, Longevity is not a factor in commercial all-in/all-out production. For a small flock owner, However, it’s a good indicator of overall vitality. Longevity is associated with low chick mortality, high productivity, and generally strong constitutions.
Breeds and Varieties
Breed are some set of Chicken with its Comb, body conformation, and feather quality. A variety represents of color, comb, muff, tuft, or feather within a breed. Breeds breed true–that is, their offspring are reliably similar to them to at least 50% of the time, Breeding true is a requirement to be recognized by the American Poultry Association and is included in the American standard of perfection.
Hybrids are not a particular breed. They are crosses between two or more separate breeds if you want to supply your own hybrids, you will need to keep breeding flocks of parent breeds. Small commercial operations that rely on hybrids may prefer to purchase chicken house from hatcheries as needed.
You will enjoy the most and have the most success with breeds that appeal to you. Chickens have wide appeal, and so many varied breeds are available that you should express your personality in the breeds you raise.
How Many Breeds?
You may want to start with a single breed. That gives you a chance to become an expert on them. Many experts, recommend starting with a single breed to gain experience. Few people actually follow that advice.
Having several breeds can boost your knowledge in chicken breeding. It can expose you to the differences between breeds as well as the difference between individuals. If you are keeping pure breeds, rely on the standard of perfection to learn their characteristics and discern which ones are desirable.
If you intend to breed your chicken, having multiple breeds will require more pens and more paperwork. Many breeders change the breeds they pursue over time, finding more satisfaction with over another.