Poultry

oats

Depending on what your intention and purpose is for obtaining chickens will greatly determine what breed of chickens will be roaming your acreage.  See chart below that hopefully will help  you decide what breed of chickens will make you happy and/or profitable. The chart below ranks the top ten breeds in popularity. Each  breed in the chart below is in the gallery above, including one of my favorites, which is a Silky Bantam. 

 

For first-time chicken owners, the Barred Plymouth Rock is an excellent choice to start with as they are often recommended for their great egg production,  friendly temperaments, and ease of care. I also am a fan of the Speckled Sussex and the Ameraucana. The Ameraucana breed lays the blue/green color of eggs. Though the Leghorn breed is a good egg producer, they are a bit to flighty for my liking, 

 

So if and when you decide to take the plunge with chickens, regardless of breed, the following terminology applies to them all just so you will appear very knowledgeable to the prospective chicken seller !

 

Hen: This is the adult female chicken

2) Rooster:  This is the adult male chicken

3) Straigh Run: These are chicks sold without them being sexed, so the chick could be a male or could be a female; it is undetermined.

4) Bantam: Bantam chickens are a miniature version of some of the standard sized chickens. The hens will produce a smaller sized egg than the standard size chicken.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Breed

Average Annual Egg Production

Average Weight (lbs)

Primary Use

1.

Rhode Island Red

250–300 eggs

6.5 lbs

Dual Purpose

2.

Leghorn

280–320 eggs

4.5 lbs

Egg production

3.

Plymouth Rock

200–280 eggs

7.5 lbs

Dual-purpose

4.

Sussex

250–275 eggs

7.0 lbs

Dual Purpose

5.

Australorp

250–300 eggs

6.5 lbs

Egg Production

6.

Orpington

200–280 eggs

8.0 lbs

Dual-purpose

7.

Ameraucana

200–250 eggs

5.5 lbs

Egg production

8.

Wyandott

200–240 eggs

6.5 lbs

Dual-purpose

9.

ISA Brown

300–350 eggs

5.0 lbs

Egg production

10.

Marans

150–200 eggs

6.5 lbs

Dual-purpose

In the table above in the colum Primary Use ,  Dual Purpose means it is considered a good meat breed in addition to a good egg laying breed. Also, regardless of breed, the following items will be essential to get started with chickens. We will start with the coop. 

 

 

 

 

Good (click image for detail)

Better (click image for detail)

Best (click image for detail)

 
If you would prefer your chickens to have total free range and not be confined to a chicken run, then this hen house would work.  (click image for detail)
 
If you are a Do It Yourselfer, then here some great plans for small chicken coops. 
 (click image for detail)
 (click image for detail)

Poultry Extra's

Depending on if you decide to let your chickens be free range rovers and forage wherever they want for grass and bugs, will determine what else will be necessary to protect them.  I always preferred to let my chickens be free range chickens rather than confine them to a chicken run (a pen) but then again that also was another reason why my chickens had an average shelf life of only a couple of years due to all the dang varmits that roam around here and take them away until I learned to protect them better.   Click the Poultry Extra's below for helpful advice.