# Self Sufficiency/Living off the Land or Off the Grid > Livestock and Animal Husbandry >  What breed of Chicken Is Your Favorite?

## Amy Goodwin

Hello everyone,
Thinking about getting some chickens.  What is your favorite breed?  Would like to start out with small amount for some layers.  Thanks in advance

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## crashdive123

Perdue.

OK....you probably guessed....I don't raise em, but they sure do eat good.

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## pete lynch

Oven-stuffin' Roasters.  :Chef:

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## crashdive123

Amy, we do have a few members that raise chickens.  I'm sure they will be around to give you a serious answer.  In the meantime, here is a thread you might find helpful.  

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...?29026-Chicks-!!!

and another

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...cken-questions

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## hunter63

This may have been brought in the thread that Crash posted....
DD and X-SIL went in a self sufficiency direction while back.

Bigger garden, and decided they needed chickens.
Got 12 chicks from a hardware store......not much ($)
We gave them a starter coup.....waaay too small...($$$$ for me)
They built a bigger building and fenced in a large area.....($$$$)
Feed.... Purina Chicken Chow...($$$$)
More chicks ($)..after the coyotes got most of the first batch..had roosters in with the hens, more chicks($)

Eggs...more than anyone cared to eat...hard to give away.

So all in all...
Having your own source of eggs and meat...doing for yourself.
Grandson learning where his food comes from... raising chickens and taking care of them ......
Snowball the Great Pyrenees pup grew to big protective dog....no more coyotes.

PRICELESS.

They don't have tem any more....but the GS know where eggs and fried chicken come from.

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## minitruck83

For layers, White leghorns, large white eggs, kind of a skinny bird, not the best breed if you want pets. Kind of flighty in inclosed spaces.
I liked Domineckers when I had chickens, large brown eggs, (not as many as the leghorns though) good meat chicken. The roosters are very protective, had one that would regularly attack cats. (my roundhead/hatch crosses wouldn't try that).  :Ohmy:

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## minitruck83

Double post

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## kyratshooter

I raised them for a while, grew up around free range chickens and have neighbors all around me raising birds now.

I a of the opinion that it is not as important what breed you are raising, from among the popular breeds, as much as it is about how many chickens you have and your predator defenses.

It takes at least 12 layers to keep you in eggs for a family.  At any one time half your hens will be either broody, molting or the weather will be too hot or too cold for the "egg every other day" production you need to keep up with family needs.

Under perfect conditions, when all hens are laying and you have a dozen eggs a day coming in, it will seem you are flooded with eggs, but that only happens for 2-3 weeks a year.  Then suddenly the original birds you started with hit age 3 and decide one egg a week is plenty to lay.  If you did not plan for a dozen to reach laying age by that time you are just feeding the flock and getting nothing until your chicks mature.  Chicks do not lay until 6 months old.

Then there are the predators.  All it takes is one weasel inside the hen house and your whole flock is gone.  The neighbor's German shepherd may kill every bird you own in one fun filled afternoon while you are at work( saw a flock of 25 killed).  I have seen coyotes take a chicken at full run across the lawn and never break stride and I have had raccoons open a double locked pen, slip in and take just one chicken.

*And they always seem to snag your best layers*, not the old and tough or young and stupid.

You have to have a large flock to get constant laying and breeding for flock continuation.  Add to this the need to constantly replace birds lost to age or predators and you will discover that flock management is more important than breed.

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## Mischief

Any with wings that are from the Anchor in Buffalo N. Y.

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## Wise Old Owl

Uh I wing it... The chicken that's naked and not so afraid to be eaten....

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## Lamewolf

I liked FRIED chiken !

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## finallyME

My favorite is the Rhode Island Red.  Good layers, decent for meat, and they are about in the middle with aggressiveness.

My second favorite is the leghorns.  Amazing layers, not much meat.

The Americanas or Aurecanas (spelling wrong), lay pretty colored eggs.  My wife likes that.  But, the eggs taste the same, and they don't lay as much as Rhodies.  They are very docile, and are usually at the bottom of the pecking order in a mixed flock.

Wyandotts are pretty and aggressive.  They will be near the top of the pecking order.  But, they also don't lay as much as the Rhodies.

Sex links are OK.  Very nice and lay okay.  

I like to get a mix just because they look nice.  But I always get Rhodies.  If I was serious about egg production, then I would only get white leghorns and Rhodies.

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## finallyME

> I raised them for a while, grew up around free range chickens and have neighbors all around me raising birds now.
> 
> I a of the opinion that it is not as important what breed you are raising, from among the popular breeds, as much as it is about how many chickens you have and your predator defenses.
> 
> It takes at least 12 layers to keep you in eggs for a family.  At any one time half your hens will be either broody, molting or the weather will be too hot or too cold for the "egg every other day" production you need to keep up with family needs.
> 
> Under perfect conditions, when all hens are laying and you have a dozen eggs a day coming in, it will seem you are flooded with eggs, but that only happens for 2-3 weeks a year.  Then suddenly the original birds you started with hit age 3 and decide one egg a week is plenty to lay.  If you did not plan for a dozen to reach laying age by that time you are just feeding the flock and getting nothing until your chicks mature.  Chicks do not lay until 6 months old.
> 
> Then there are the predators.  All it takes is one weasel inside the hen house and your whole flock is gone.  The neighbor's German shepherd may kill every bird you own in one fun filled afternoon while you are at work( saw a flock of 25 killed).  I have seen coyotes take a chicken at full run across the lawn and never break stride and I have had raccoons open a double locked pen, slip in and take just one chicken.
> ...


This is spot on.  I always plan to get rid of the layers at age 2.  There are different ways to do this, but it can be hard if you stick to one breed.  So, when I buy a bunch of chicks, 6 months later they are laying, and then about 2 years after I bought them, I buy a new set.  I keep the old set for 6 more months and then when the younger ones are ready, I cull the old ones.  I don't eat 2 year old layers.  They get skinned out and then bagged and frozen.  Then, later the dogs gets a frozen ball of chicken, with bones.

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## finallyME

> My favorite is the Rhode Island Red.  Good layers, decent for meat, and they are about in the middle with aggressiveness.
> 
> My second favorite is the leghorns.  Amazing layers, not much meat.
> 
> The Americanas or Aurecanas (spelling wrong), lay pretty colored eggs.  My wife likes that.  But, the eggs taste the same, and they don't lay as much as Rhodies.  They are very docile, and are usually at the bottom of the pecking order in a mixed flock.
> 
> Wyandotts are pretty and aggressive.  They will be near the top of the pecking order.  But, they also don't lay as much as the Rhodies.
> 
> Sex links are OK.  Very nice and lay okay.  
> ...


When I buy them, I just go to the local farm store, and see what they have.  They only sell in the spring, and only have limited breeds. But, the breeds they do have are generally all good ones.  I wouldn't look beyond the popular ones until you have experience with them for a few years.  And it is a whole lot easier to buy at a store than mail order.  Plus, the store will sell supplies.  The store generally doesn't make money on the chicks themselves, but on the supplies.

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## hunter63

Was looking for a receiver trailer hitch adaaptor for the 3 point hitch on the tractor..... at Tractor Supply today.
(None in store.... and that ladies didn't have a clue what I was talking about....)

Anyway the had several breeds of chicks for sale....baby ducks as well.....displayed in galv watering tanks....
Several ladies were hanging out in that area....""They are sooooo cute"".

I ask them of they were musky bait?.....if you hook them shallow in the breast.... they will struggle for a while.....JOKE--- JOKE---JOKE

They asked me to leave the store.........LOL

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## Fixit

I like Buff Orphentons  . Spelling wrong. Good layers they set well and the surplus rooster eat well .

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## crashdive123

Who cares how the chickens spell, as long as they lay good tasting eggs?

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## Rick

Yeah, lay eggs for a spell anyway.

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## crashdive123

I see what you did there.

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## fjrmurph

way way back when I was growing up on the farm my Dad would get 100 to 150 White Leghorns every spring. the were good eating , used to come up to 8 to 10 lbs dressed . I never did look forward to those fall days when we would spend hours and hours scalding , plucking and cleaning them . Was alright though when they were on the table golden brown and full of dressing !!!!

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## hunter63

> way way back when I was growing up on the farm my Dad would get 100 to 150 White Leghorns every spring. the were good eating , used to come up to 8 to 10 lbs dressed . I never did look forward to those fall days when we would spend hours and hours scalding , plucking and cleaning them . Was alright though when they were on the table golden brown and full of dressing !!!!


I hear that....
DW and MIL ...and a few friends... found a deal on OLD laying chickens...25 cents each on the hoof.
Catch, kill, scald, pluck and clean 100 chickens.....They we so tough the dig wouldn't eat them......LOL

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## Graf

Gotta say my favorite breed of chicken is extra crispy

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## finallyME

> way way back when I was growing up on the farm my Dad would get 100 to 150 White Leghorns every spring. the were good eating , used to come up to 8 to 10 lbs dressed . I never did look forward to those fall days when we would spend hours and hours scalding , plucking and cleaning them . Was alright though when they were on the table golden brown and full of dressing !!!!



Are you sure they were white leghorns?  Truthfully, I haven't seen a WL rooster, only a hen.  But, the hens are much skinnier than other heritage breeds.  The main meat bird is a Cornish cross.  It is a mix between a Cornish hen and something else.  They get BIG.

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## Rick

Ostrich???

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## fjrmurph

> Are you sure they were white leghorns?  Truthfully, I haven't seen a WL rooster, only a hen.  But, the hens are much skinnier than other heritage breeds.  The main meat bird is a Cornish cross.  It is a mix between a Cornish hen and something else.  They get BIG.


 You have me thinking now , I'm sure they were white leghorns . I will find out , I could be wrong I was wrong once before !!!

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## crashdive123

> You have me thinking now , I'm sure they were white leghorns . I will find out , I could be wrong I was wrong once before !!!


I was too, but only because I thought I was wrong.

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## finallyME

Well, I am pretty much always right, except for those times I am wrong.

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## kyratshooter

Does assuming you are wrong incorrectly count as being wrong?

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## Rick

No, no. Assuming your are wrong is only a theory in Wrongness until such time as it is proven as a fact. I don't dwell on assumptions. They might turn out to be true and that would spoil my perfect record. If anyone else pronounces me wrong it automatically goes into the theory column until such time as I have some extra time to explore the situation. I naturally must assume they are wrong, which counts as a truth and not just a theory.

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## hunter63

Yeah, YEAH....THAT"S IT......
Who could argue that?

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## crashdive123

Well, they'd be wrong if they tried.

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## Rick

'Zactly.......

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## fjrmurph

> Are you sure they were white leghorns?  Truthfully, I haven't seen a WL rooster, only a hen.  But, the hens are much skinnier than other heritage breeds.  The main meat bird is a Cornish cross.  It is a mix between a Cornish hen and something else.  They get BIG.


My mistake i checked and apparently it was "whiterock" chickens we had.

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## shiftyer1

I'm in central texas....if you have plans on free range chickens....be prepared for LOSS!  If you want to hatch eggs banty hens are always broody.  I've found that most dogs love omelets if you have extra eggs.  You can also scramble them and give them to the chickens.....although some overthink that. lol  If you buy a meat breed...they get fat quick and need to be butchered fairly quickly.  

My best luck between eggs and meat chickens have been plain old yard birds.

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## hunter63

I don't know....about chickens.....but if you were talking geese .... bigazz mean nasty farmer white geese.....
Had a Pair will stop an F-250 and not let you pass...till they are ready.
Don't get out......
Just saying.

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## Camp10

My coop has a mix of easter eggers,  jersey giants, cochins, silkies, and some brown leghorns. The eggers are my favorite.  Productive, friendly, hardy and they all have their own look and attitude so you can tell them apart.

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## Oldnitehiker

It's been many years, and we may do it again after we get farther along with the 80 to 90% alteration on the house.

For layers: We did well with Barred Rocks. They probably didn't have the best feed conversion ratio, but they were pretty much trouble free.

For meat: We lived in New Jersey at the time. Not far from us were hatcheries that specialized in hatching chicks for the pharmaceutical industry. We bought extras from one of them. For $10 we'd get 40 to 50 Hubbard-Hubbard Cross chicks. They grew amazingly fast and were very tasty. No store bought bird ever matched a six or so pound roaster from the flock. One winter we moved a few into the hen house. The three hens earned their keep. The two roosters died before Spring - one of them weighing close to twenty pounds.

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## hunter63

Hunter63 Saying Hey and Welcome.....From Wisconsin.
There is an intro section to say hello at:

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...-Introductions

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## Manwithnoname

I'm with a coupla other guys, fried is my favorite!!  

Honestly, I'm no chicken whisperer but when I lived on the farm most where reds and Banty hens. I heard someone se here say it, the Bantys are hell on hatching eggs to the point it's a fight trying to steal their eggs. From a vanity viewpoint, had a barred rock rooster out there. He was my fav to look at.

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## Alan R McDaniel Jr

About  four years ago #3 son had a baby chick come up to his house.  No one he knew around there had chickens so he kept it.  He named it Rocky.  Rocky turned out to be Rockette but the name stuck.  When he moved down here less than a year later, I got custody of Rocky and she has been living out behind the storehouse since then.  She gives up an egg every two days or so sometimes every day.  She's four years old and really does not know she's a chicken.  She won't eat kitchen scraps or watermelon rinds, or watermelon.  Occasionally she crows.  She's a pretty good representative sample of a Buff Orpington.  

Once a month I rake her domain and put it on the garden and till it in.  One chicken produces more fertilizer than anything else.  She's not the least bit scared of humans and all the grandkids learned not to stick their fingers through the fence.  She really does like the kids.  When she hears them in the back yard she comes running over to the fence cackling.  They go get crackers and apple cores from Mimi to feed Rocky.  

It's all these little, seemingly unimportant things that are going to be the best memories.  

Alan

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## hunter63

> About  four years ago #3 son had a baby chick come up to his house.  No one he knew around there had chickens so he kept it.  He named it Rocky.  Rocky turned out to be Rockette but the name stuck.  When he moved down here less than a year later, I got custody of Rocky and she has been living out behind the storehouse since then.  She gives up an egg every two days or so sometimes every day.  She's four years old and really does not know she's a chicken.  She won't eat kitchen scraps or watermelon rinds, or watermelon.  Occasionally she crows.  She's a pretty good representative sample of a Buff Orpington.  
> 
> Once a month I rake her domain and put it on the garden and till it in.  One chicken produces more fertilizer than anything else.  She's not the least bit scared of humans and all the grandkids learned not to stick their fingers through the fence.  She really does like the kids.  When she hears them in the back yard she comes running over to the fence cackling.  They go get crackers and apple cores from Mimi to feed Rocky.  
> 
> It's all these little, seemingly unimportant things that are going to be the best memories.  
> 
> Alan


Ain't that the truth........LOL
Good post.

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