Advice on Choosing Chickens for Your New Flock

Chickens are becoming more and more popular and rightfully so. Many areas in the US now allow homes to keep a few hens. However, deciding on the breed of chicken can be confusing because there are so many out there!

If you've never had chickens and you're considering rearing chickens for meat, I recommend you get a fair number of the same-breed so that it's harder to distinguish between them. After raising chickens for 3 years, we've decided that we are not able to rear them for meat. Most of them have nice personalities and are just fun to watch.

Bear in mind that they do have a pecking order, and can cannibalize another if they sense any weakness. However, in general, they are really neat livestock.

I'm going to assume that you've already set up the chicken coop etc and are considering the breeds to get.

You can get a bit of information about breeds on urbanfarmonline.com but the following list if one I've complied from personal experience.

Aruacaunas

Aruacaunas are the breed to go with if you're looking for those unusual blue-green eggs.

The shade of blue/green varies by the individual chicken. They lay fairly regularly, usually every other day and produce large eggs.

They are nice looking and are quite friendly. I highly recommend this breed.

White Leghorn

Leghorns are commercial laying chickens. They lay big white eggs regularly. They have a fairly nice disposition but do tend to be lower on the pecking order. This is a good breed to go with for egg production but they do tend to lay less in winter. If you have long winters the Rhode Island Reds are better layers for the winter.

Rhode Island Red

Rhode Island Reds are all-round good chickens to have. Even though they are plain-looking, they do have a nice disposition and lay nice large brown eggs regularly, even in winter.

Fun Chickens To Have

If you're looking for chickens that are less for egg production and more for fun and entertainment, these are the breeds I recommend:

Chinese Silky

Small with hair-like feathers, these chickens are really cute. They are friendly but tend to be broody. They will of course, produce small eggs but production is quite infrequent. The kids love this chicken!

Frizzled Cochin

These are the funniest chickens EVER! Since they are straight-run chickens, we've only had 2 rooster frizzles so I can't speak for the disposition and egg production of the frizzled Cochin hens. Small with a big poof of 'curly' soft feathers, they have a weaselly personality but are oh-so-funny. I HIGHLY recommend one or two of these in your flock!

How to Order Chickens

If you're looking to get 25 or more chicks, you can order them from Murray McMurray Hatchery in spring. They will ship day-old chicks to your post office. If you're looking to get fewer chicks, Murdoch's sells chicks in spring in store. Getting the breeds you want there is a hit-or-miss though.
You can also call your local feed stores. Many of them will special order them for you in spring. In the Denver area, Golden Mill offers that service. They will hold the chicks for you for a few days.