hello yes chickens are cool and i love them

see, one of my two ees was like this, but the current one, ishtar, lays like two fuckin eggs a week, the freeloader. but nutmeg, the other one, did 5-6 eggs a week well past the time when all the other hens her age went 'lmao fuck this egg thing,' so ymmv! she laid right on up til she died at six. but, like, overall they're p good, ishtar is just terrible at things, bless her lil heart. (my feedstore changed hatchery suppliers from ideal to cackle in the interim between when i got nutmeg and when i got ishtar iirc? might've been it.)

 

Chickens are excellent and I bitterly resent living in the city and being unable to have some. I want sassy floofy birdfriends.

 

Yeah, my ees came from a local girl who just likes to hatch her chickens' eggs because she loves the chicks in spring lol. Moms are both ees dad is a registered americauna show bird. I picked out the 2 biggest and healthiest looking chicks from the brooder for $5. Rose ad Brenda both came from my local feed store though.

 

I love chickens and I hope someday I can just teach at a small college somewhere kinda rural where me and the partner can have some chickens. The name "buff orpington" is the best name, I've loved it since I first heard it, and easter egger eggs are so pretty!

Edit: Things I need to not do: watch videos of incredible chickens for many minutes instead of working on research.

 

I live smack in the middle of Spokane. City regulations were recently changed (2014) and we can keep 1 chicken per 1000 sq of lot size. Backyard chickens are really really popular these days and people are constantly pushing for cities to update their codes and regulations. I would look up your area to see what the current rules are, then hit of the forums on backyardchickens.com and see if anyone is in the know of code changes in the works. You can always right the city counsel yourself, especially if you get multiple people on board. the more pressure of demand a city faces, the more likely they'll get with it lol.

 

your chickens are??? so friendly??? I have admired chickens from afar on a number of occasions but they have never wanted to be my friends. :( tbh I had the impression that all chickens were pecky scratchy assholes who did not like people. but you can cuddle your chickens!!! and take them on walks!!! that is so fucking adorable!!! thank you for bringing this to my attention. :D

 

a lot of it's in how you raise them! like, mine were handled from day 1 so they acted like it, if the ones you've met weren't then they'll, well, act like it. while diff breeds def have diff temperaments and diff chickens w/in a breed have diff temperaments obvi really a lot of it comes down to nurture.

 

yeah, that makes sense! a lot of animals are like that, I think, because of the difference between taming and domestication and all. and it is very nice to know that if I obtain a baby chicken and love it very much it will be my fluffy chicken friend :3 sadly I do not live at home, so I cannot have a chicken friend, but a guy can dream.

 

I also handled my girls from chicks and the result is that they are chill when picked up, but they don't really care for it much. They will come when called, and usually flock to the corner of the run when they see me though, and hands will always be thoroughly inspected for treats (they just sort of slowly scooch-sidestep petting attempts). I hope the orp is a little more affectionate,but in general they aren't at all flighty or aggressive, and are very comfortable with people. they just prefer not to be touched.

 

Ahhh just popping in to say all these chickens are so precious!! I would be so tempted to get chickens (my neighbor has some and sometimes the chickies run into our yard and I watch them though!! They're so cute!!) but I don't have the time/spoons and will probably be moving in about a year to a place where I wouldn't be able to have them anymore. ;v;

But everyone's birbs are cuties and I'm jealous but also love seeing pictures of adorable birbs!

 

Hi i have many questions (most of them kinda dumb).

• Are chickens soft? I figure chicks are but ive never pet a bird before so i dunno if theyd be soft
• Are they very loud? Does it depend on things like breed or the bird itself?
• How many chickens would you consider Too Many for a beginner?
• Are there certain breeds that are easier for beginners?
• What are some basics i should research before getting chickens?
• How difficult are they to care for and keep up with?
• How do i find out what breeds are most available in my area ( or am i misunderstanding that certain breeds live in certain places)?

 

in order:

-yes! most chickens are very soft. not fuzzy like chicks for the most part but their underfloof is quite poofy and their top feathers are nice and smooth. if you get silkies, which don't have barbules, they'll be chick-soft all their lives. some other breeds you can also get are 'silkied' if that's super important to you, like certain strains of serama and the occasional cochin.
-it'll depend on the bird and the breed to an extent, but hens are generally relatively quiet! like, if you have 25 hens, you're gonna definitely hear them 8)
like, you'll get chickens that make sounds when they lay and when they're excited and shit, but unless you've got them squished right up against your (or a neighbor's) house you're unlikely to have much to complain about. they're not going to be loud loud unless something's seriously wrong.
-iiiii wouldn't go above twenty five if i were you? and going under three chickens is generally a bad idea because you need enough to have a flock. six to ten's probably going to be easiest to handle. you can always add on!
-yeah, breeds that have less floof/aren't bearded or booted or crested are gonna be a bit easier, as are more docile breeds. i'd suggest orpingtons or easter eggers or, if you want something slightly more exotic, silkies or cochins. they're pretty docile birbs. (though the last two will not be super good layers, as a warning) if you want, like, a more exhaustive list i can definitely whip something up, but it's easier to find out what's in your area and go from there, tbh. you're not gonna find, like, an ayam cemani or phoenix just anywhere, but you are likely to find orpingtons or brahmas or what have you.
-look up nutrition, chick raising, square feet of space per chicken, rate of maturity in general and for your breed or breeds, coop designs if you're building your own, etc. a book i can recommend that'll have what you need in it is storey's guide to raising chickens, and checking out the backyardchickens forum's also a good idea.
-chickens are...honestly pretty easy, as far as care goes? clean the coop once a week-ish, (exact timing depends on coop size: chicken ratio, ahaha. you figure it out p quick) put food in the feeder whenever it starts looking empty, make sure they always have water, give them stuff to play w/ like fruits or veggies that are hanging from something to attack, slightly wilty or overripe produce, leftovers/cooking failures/fishing worms/mealworms, watermelons rinds, suet blocks, etc. chicks are a bit more labor intensive in that they need heat lamps and you need to check on them a lot, (not that hard, as they're prolly living in ur house as tiny tinys) and if you want to cultivate/maintain a bond w/ ur chickens you'll need to spend some time w/ them, esp as babies, but they're easier than, say, rabbits.
-certain breeds will be more available in certain areas, yeah. check out facebook, people advertise their chickens there, or if you'd like an irl mentor who can help you pick some really quality, healthy birds, go to a poultry show and ask around. show people are generally very happy to help newbies! you can also find show people on facebook, snoop on their birds and how they seem to interact w/ ppl and their credentials, and then contact them that way. they will, again, be fucking delighted to be contacted by someone just getting into chickens.

 

• Chicks are v soft. When they grow up, their rump feathers are soft, and the rest of them is smooth, but there are stiff shafts that give the feather it's structure and support, so it's not fluffy.
• I think that really depends! Rose is a talker. She has a lot to say when ever she sees me and I get the feeling most of it is Complaining to the Management.
• Chickens are social, so if you want to start small, three hens or pullets should do you well. if you get them as chicks you'll need to get more because they need larger numbers to better regulate their body heat as a group.
• Some breeds are considered friendlier than others (like brahmas and orpingtons) while others are considered hardier for certain climates. I don't think there's a specific "easy" breed though
• You should decide what you want out of your flock and then research breeds that are known for the traits you want and good tolerance for the weather of area you live. Chickens come in all shapes and sizes and breeds were developed with different purposes in mind (meat, egg laying, dual purpose, ornamental).
• I don't find my flock difficult to keep up with now, but they do require a bit of extra care, handling, and supervision when they're younger.
• You can order chicks online if you're looking for a specific breed, but keep in mind that you will need to place a minimum order for day old chicks if you want them mailed to you. It's also more expensive that way because of shipping. Other way you can do it is check with your local feed store what breeds they carry and when. Or you can do what I did when I wanted my easter eggers and look for local adds in the paper or on Craigslist. There's always someone with too many chickens lol!

 

oh my god i need olive eggers at some point holy shit. the eggs are so purty. <3

 

whoa, fancy eggs

 

they're from marans x easter egger or ameraucana crosses! super cute birds too.

 

this is probably a dumb question but like. are there hens that don't lay eggs? or lay very few eggs? this is all very hypothetical as I won't have space for chickens any time soon, but I do not eat eggs (or things that taste like eggs—omelettes, quiches, mayonnaise, etc.) and I would be absolutely drowning in them if I had, say, three or four hens who all laid every day.

 

this is such a good thread.. i also did not know that chickens could be so friendly!

 

it's not a dumb question! i'd suggest looking into bantams, and/or chicken breeds that often go broody- bantams are like mini chickens, and lay mini eggs that are like half the size of normal eggs, and broody chickens spend a fair amount of time, well, brooding. and that obviously won't get them anywhere if you don't provide them w/ either fertilized eggs or a roo to do the fertilizing 8P

good breeds for that would be things like bantam cochins, bantam brahmas, bantam orpingtons, or silkies

Spoiler: birb pix

bantam cochin

bantam brahma

bantam orpington
silkie

an important thing, tho- u can always find people ready to jump on your dick (only metaphorically. i...i think? i hope only metaphorically) for fresh eggs. even if you end up w/ too many, foisting them off on your neighbors is always an option!

 

Ornamental breeds are not very good layers usually. they're there for looks and that's about it. chickens that go broody don't lay eggs, but it's actually kind of bad for a hen that goes broody to be allowed to continue that way if they aren't setting eggs. they restrict their eating which will impact their nutrition, and if they don't hatch out chicks, the signal that tells them it's time to get off the nest can fail and they stay broody for weeks longer. bad for chicken health!

Here's a probably not exhaustive but close enough list of show breed types. even with bad layers, you can still expect 1-2 eggs a week per bird.