Our chicken have been ordered! I’m SO excited. They’ll be here the first week of March and we will keep them inside until late spring. As soon as it is 50 or warmer at night or earlier with a heat lamp. We still have to build our coop so there is a lot of work to be done but at least we have some time for them to be inside first (and more time to snuggle and bond with them!)
We’ll keep them in a box like this in the basement
We’ve decided to start with 10 chickens. It was tough to pick what breeds but with asking around and some research we decided on 3 Rhode Island Reds, 5 Araucanas and 2 White Leghorns. We went with breeds who are hardy backyard hens, good layers and have an even temperaments AKA good starter chickens!
Rhode Island Red
“This is one of the most famous and all time popular breeds of truly American
chickens. Developed in the early part of this century in the state of the same name, they have maintained their reputation as a dual purpose fowl through the years. Outstanding for production qualities, they have led the contests for brown egg layers time after time. No other heavy breed lays more or better eggs than the Rhode Island Reds. Baby chicks are a rusty red color and the mature birds are a variety of mahogany red.”
Araucanas
“This unusual breed gets in name from the Indian tribe of Chilie where they were first discovered. Our chicks have some Araucana and some Ameraucana blood mixed and consequently are not for show but are beautiful chickens known for their ability to lay colored eggs of shades varying from turquoise to deep olive to shades of brown. Each bird will typically lay a different shade of colored egg that will amaze your friends and make a wonderful “show and
tell” type project for school. Adults are of medium size with pea combs and our breeding stock are selected for their ability to produce colored eggs. They exhibit a wonderful combination of colors and color patterns and 10 or 20 of these birds will make an absolutely beautiful laying flock that is extremely hardy and will be the talk of the town. Baby chicks come in all colors, plain and fancy, just like the adults. This is a unique breed and great fun to have when the colored eggs start coming. Our chicks are recommended for egg laying color and ability, not for exhibition.”
Leghorns
“Over 45 years of scientific breeding research have gone into the development of this layer through a blending of 
special strains of White Leghorns. These pullets weigh about 4 lbs. at maturity, start laying at 4 1/2 to 5 months, and will continue laying 10 to 12 weeks longer than most good layers. Livability and resistance to disease are very high, and the feed to egg conversion ratio is excellent, holding down the cost of egg production. When our local farmers ask us to recommend the pullet that will lay the most eggs of top grade and size, of uniform shape, good shell, and highest interior quality, and do it on the least feed and in smallest amount of space, we suggest the Pearl.”
All descriptions and our future chickens will be from McMurray Hatchery. All in all the chickens will be around $50 dollars, this isn’t including the starter feed and supplies and definitely doesn’t include the cost of the coop. Expect more posts soon!
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