My buff Sussex is so friendly and inquisitive.. she literally has no concept of personal space and will walk right into your legs onto your feet demanding treats.. today, she ran/flew so quickly from the other end of the garden when she saw me come out that she needed to put on her "emergency brakes" and still crash landed into the plastic garden chairs.. so hilarious..
I really really really really want an easter Egger!!! I don’t even care if it ends up only laying brown eggs! I just got to say they are the most CUTEST LITTLE CHICKEN EVER!!
OH MY GOSH!! I’m a 1st timer w/chickens, I picked 4 last May. (3 Black Australorp & 1 Easter Egger). Then in August I added 2 more, (Barred Rock)! After watching this I feel proud of my decisions, lol. My Easter Egger named Noodle is squirrley, but very sweet. I know that we’re not suppose to pick favorites,.. but my 3 Black Australorp, (Cookie, Gertie, Biscuit), are everything ❤️ perfect there could be about hens! Now, um, my Barred Rock (Nelly, Lola) are rotten! They peck A LOT, me and the other chickens, but at the same time are friendly, outgoing, in your face kind of hens, lol. 🤷🏻♀️
Those are the very breeds that my youngest chose as the best ones for us. He added the Wyandotte too. I want them all but I don't think my neighbors would have the same appreciation for them as I do lol
Hi, i thought this was a great video! I have eight rode island reds and they are very friendly and hardy in the hot and cold! Thanks for all this great imfo!
Love your descriptions ,very educational always something to learn about chickens My favourite are the pekin bantams!They are the sweetest things ever!
I've had lavender color eggs from an Easter egger, they are my favorite. I also love Silkies but they are higher maintenance. My friend that took some of my chickens told me last night that my silkie rooster protected the flock from a predator the other day but sadly lost his own life. And I can't forget my other favorite the Polish. But I agree with you on the breeds for a first flock.
You're telling me, I was watching my flock one afternoon and spotted a hawk coming in, before I got outside all my chickens scattered back to the coop including the big bad rooster. But my Polish hen went after that hawk and won! She fought that Hawk enough to make it decide that it wasn't worth it lol
Im so glad to see that Buff Orphies on your list! That's the breed of chicks we bought and they came home with us 12 days ago on 7/20. I love them dearly.
I had my heart set on buff orpingtons but learned they're not the best in the heat. Texas gets HOT ! I would never bring a living creature here to suffer so I'm going with a breed that does well here instead. Every now and then I just have to look at some though. They're so cute !
I have a Rhode Island Red and a Sussex. The red (Grohl) is the sweetest funniest bird. The Sussex (Bowie) is a P-I-G, HOG. She will bully for treats (apples) and jump to bite your hand for the apple. But I so love my girls. What a joy. Love your vids.
My favorite chicken ever was a blue australorp. She had a wonderful sweet disposition. Layed a lot of eggs. Was a wonderful momma and hatched out 2 babies. She was unfortunately taken by a hawk so I ordered some black australorp for this year. Hoping they're just as nice. I love my buff orpingtons but they're so curious and always got into my gardens before I covered the top of their run. My barred rock definitely is one of my sassy ones lol.
I first got Australorps and Buff Orpintons. My sister got light Brahmas. My son picked out gold sex lincs. Last year I got olive eggers. Plus we got 20 Americauns . Pretty egg shell colors. One of our Americaunas lays dark brown eggs. This year I am going to get some copper marans. Such fun. I love my chickens.
We are getting our Barred Rock this coming may. When they get here, they will be just a few days old, I think like 2-3 days old. I like a little sass, LOL.
Any ideas for chickens in a hot a Hell environment? My Dad has been thinking about some chicken and with the heat index it can be a miserable summer here!
Generally, the lighter breeds will do better in a hot environment. Easter eggers would likely be good. Leghorns, Fayoumis, Andalusian are great. Just know they will be a tad more flighty than heavier breeds. Depending on where you are and how hot it gets, he might be able to get away with the breeds I mentioned in the video. But no matter what he will want to take precautions to keep them cool!
I feel like I'm the only one who has mean Black Alstrops. I have 2 and the do well in the run for most part but at night are so aggressive and mean. One pecked one of my Americana's on the head so hard repeatedly that she died. My other Americana was being held down by the BA and I had to pull her off week later when getting on roosting bars at night I heard her scream and fall to the floor. She was dead. One was 8mo. Old the other 1yr. On her birthday 😢. I've built my run and coop safe but never thought anything like that would happen. I have a 10 x 16 coop with lots of roosting bars. The BA want none of the others near them. They don't peck me or aggressive to people just at night. I have 2 Smokey Pearl's and 2 ISA Browns. Both breeds are so sweet and I just love those. I want to get some more chicks but can't go through the emotional part of them being hurt. I took another person's advice and put up a little curtain to divide the roosting bars and they all want the ones that had protected area. So a few more...they have more twice the Sq. ft. Needed in run and get fermented food plus keep pellets and fresh vegetables daily....I love all your videos and have learned so much from you. Thank you
Miss president do you happen to know what time of year ducks start to lay eggs as our little one has been laying down slot and plucking her feathers for nests. If not don't worry, keep up the good videos
Your videos are the highlight of my day at the moment. With the buff orpington which is at the top off my list, how hot is too hot? We get to about 38 to 40 degrees Celsius here with medium humidity except on about 7 days when its really hot with zero air movement. Do you have a video that shows which temps suit which chooks in detail. I'm trying to work out which would be best in our temps that is also more likely to be ok with being kept in their fenced off area and snuggly. Where I am putting our chooks is in an area where they are mostly in the shade so they don't cook in summer.
Once it gets into the 40s, that's pretty hot for a Buff chicken. There are some things you can do to help but if it's consistently super hot I would consider going for lighter breeds. This video might help regardless of breed: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-MtxiUM33Fjw.html
And this is a retail site but I like how they have the chickens broken down by heat/cold tolerance, at least for the breeds they offer: www.mypetchicken.com/catalog/Especially-Heat-Hardy-c69.aspx
I had a really sweet buff orpington, her name was Snickers. Unfortunately, one morning I found her very sick and she died that day. She was sweet, but would sometimes get very loud. Ha ha, silly girl.
I personally don't like the production breeds except for barred rocks and Rhode Island. I study avian health especially poultry, most hatchery-bred lines of production breeds usually have more issues than others. This sucks because I have one older buff Orpington who needs to be euthanized in a few months. After all, she has ascites which is the biggest infection in production breeds. These breeds usually live only 2-4 years develop infections and cancer around 2 years of age. I had a golden laced hen who unfortunately developed multiple infections at only 3 years old from being a heavy production breed. I had another hen who got so I'll from ascites that she could no longer walk. She was a leghorn, super docile, and sweet I was sad about that. My other leghorn was just killed by a coon recently. But I had planned to euthanize her a week after she died because she was suffering the same. 😔 From my experience studying breeds and having a big variety of breeds myself! I recommend Brahma, Easter Egger, and Marans. My Brahma is the quietest and most docile bird of my flock! Even my rooster who is a hybrid between naturally aggressive (wyandotte breed) and Brahma is so easily docile. They have been my least vocal birds besides crowing. Easter eggers are just awesome to have, I have 4 of them, one is a Blue Laved Red Wyandotte x Ameraucana, her name is Chloe, my others are Possibly Welsummer x Ameraucana crosses, named Martha and Georgia. My last Easter Egger is an Oddball, thus her "name" is a Brown Leghorn Ameraucana. I thought she was a Welsummer growing up but she developed white Earlobes. But her facial features and standard are too different to be Leghorn. When she began laying pink I knew exactly what was going on! Easter Eggers have so much genetic variation that they are such a good bird to have around. Mind lay all through winter and are super awesome. The Marans are just fun because of their egg habits. Their egg colors are so awesome. Some like the Black Copper Marans lay a dark egg, while the Cuckoos or some other variations lay a lighter brown but a heavily speckled egg. A breed I don't own but also recommend is Cochin. Also very docile by nature. Breeds have traits, some are bred to be more docile, some wilder. But there are definitely those individuals. Like my first Leghorn was so sweet. But my second wasn't as sweet. The breed by nature is flighty so that they can forage well and take care of themself. Or as Wyandotte are bred and more aggressive by nature. But I have that one individual Silver Laced who is much more docile. Not sweet, but much better than the Golden Girls I had! I miss having my golden Girls as they were pretty but I will never forget that they once almost killed a few of my hen's and bullied them all the time! As well as without them I never would have wanted roosters to set those two in their place. Golden laced though especially more "heritage" bred and colored ones are such great birds and make excellent foragers! If someone was looking for a more heritage breed that takes care of itself id recommend an uncommon variety of Wyandotte. They will come from the healthiest older bloodlines. Those birds top it all, they can take full care of themselves. So much so they wouldn't have any issues with predators except Arial ones.
This fits my situation exactly. 🙂 Question: I'm pretty sure I'm limited to 3 hens in my town. When I buy my chicks, would it be best to buy all the same breed? And if I'm able to add chickens later, how well would the chickens get along being same breed vs different breed, a mixed flock? Thanks! Love your videos.
You can get different breeds if you would like! They will get along well, especially if they are raised together from babies. I have some videos about integrating chickens when you are ready to add new ones.
i am having trouble finding a breed. i live in canada so we get verry cold winters and verry hot summers. I have a small family with 2 kids under 12 and i live in a area with alot of housesso i cant have a nosey hen. we are looking for pet chickens more than layers. do you have any ideas? xoxo
No chicken is guaranteed to be quiet. Most hens sing the "egg song" regardless of breed. But all the breeds I mention in this video would be pretty good for you!
runny dark poop on one of my chicks cont. and I noticed they are not eating their Stratch & peck feed like before They are being extremely picky. will this pass I do miniumal treats before bed. the feed is stored in galvanized cans tightly I have been giving electrolytes. they are active, Oh they are no longer eating the S & P mealworms Help
If she’s acting normal I wouldn’t worry at this point. How much are you feeding? Are you offering free choice? I might either ferment or make a gruel with a little water daily, and just give them enough to last until early afternoon. Start with 1/4th cup each and see how they do. ❤️
Haha well the Barred Rock, Australorp, and Buff Orpington are all dual purpose, meaning they can be used for meat as well. But, it won’t be like what you get at the store. You will need Cornish Crosses for that. Chickens can live up to ten years and sometimes even beyond! Hatchery layers usually live less than that, an average of about six years is my best guess.
