Deciding which breeds of chickens you want for your backyard chicken project is a pretty important decision. There are books and magazine articles on the subject and I found the hatchery catalogues to be  quite helpful (and fun to browse through) as you plan on which breeds would fit your needs.

Before making a decision on breeds for you, ask yourself a few questions. Are you raising chickens for eggs, meat, or pets? Do you want steady layers, calm birds, pretty birds, show birds, or just plain sweet birds. Do you have space for the larger breeds or would you prefer a flock of the small bantams? Do you live in a climate that has extremes that may threaten the health of your chickens? Some breeds are called “dual-purpose” breeds so if you put in a “straight run order”, meaning there will be both hens and roosters in the arrival, you will be able to butcher the roosters for meat and keep the hens for eggs. Hey folks, this is the real world!

Now I can only speak about raising chicks for egg layers because this is where my experience lies. When I was searching for the right breeds, I knew what I didn’t want. Growing up we had Leghorns for big beautiful white eggs. They were “flighty” birds and nervous and didn’t make cuddly pets. I knew I was only getting 4-6 hens, and that there was a real chance, that with a calm breed, I could make egg-laying pets. I’d had bantams before, and while they were great at cleaning up bugs in the garden and taking care of chicks, they were “broody” and not the best of layers.

Six Pullets at 12 Weeks

I finally settled on six beautiful, calm (most of the time), self-reliant breeds. They are considered ideal free-range chickens because they are good foragers. I chose an Orpington, Plymouth Rock, Rhode Island Red, silver-laced Wyandotte, golden-laced Wyandotte (all lay large brown eggs) and an Ameraucana (who lays designer olive-green eggs). All of them lay about 5 eggs a week except the Ameraucana. She only averages every other day; but hey, they’re green!

We don’t have a rooster because we have good relations with our neighbors and I want to keep it that way. Roosters are an asset because they are protective of their hens and keep order in the flock. But they do not effect egg-laying. You will still get beautiful, tasty eggs without a rooster in your flock.

Do your research before getting your chicks. Do not get more than your coop can handle (see my article on “A Problem Chicken” that was published in a local newspaper), and nurture them as they grow. A little planning in the beginning can prevent unhappy situations for both you and your hens.

Four-day-old chicks

There has been a movement in recent years to raise a few chickens in the backyards of both city and suburban dwellers. Producing your own eggs from a few hens, neatly tucked into your garden is a trend that I don’t think will go away. Why? It is fun and hens provide you with tasty fresh eggs that are downright addictive!

If you have been thinking about taking on this project, you might want to consider the following:

• Will they be a disturbance to neighbors?
• Is it legal in your community for you to have a small backyard flock?
• Will you have the time to keep their coop clean and tend them properly?
• Do you have the resources to build a sturdy and safe coop to protect hens from predators and dogs?
• Do you have the space required?
• How many hens will you be able to safely house?

A little research is in order before you go out and buy chicks.

We raised chicks from day-olds to hens this past year. They have provided us with hours of entertainment, fresh eggs each day, and fertilizer for our garden. It has been rewarding and fun.

For whatever reasons you have thought about getting chickens for your backyard project, start now in preparation. The chicks will be arriving at the feed stores soon and they are irresistible! Be prepared.

Poppy was an impulse acquisition and a real problem chick. I had researched and decided on five breeds for our backyard chicken project. I’d bought the buff Orpington, barred rock, and Easter  egger in Arroyo Grande and was told the golden-laced Wyandotte and Rhode Island Red (RIR) would arrive the following week.

Poppy as a “not so happy” pullet

I called a feed store in Paso to see if I could get the RIR  and golden-laced chicks there. “Yes, we have some golden-laced Wyandottes,” I was assured. I drove to pick up my fourth chick. I’d scrounge up the common RIR from another store.

Located next to the glass door entrance, the tiny fluffballs were being blasted with wind as customers entered. The chicks were flying frantically against the sides of their wire cage. Clearly, they were not the pretty little chipmunk-marked golden-laced that I’d wanted, but the silver-laced variety.

But how could I not remove one of these chicks from this hostile environment and bring it home to my cozy brooder? I paid for Poppy and drove home to introduce her to her three sisters.

Poppy was different from the start. She was high-strung. She dominated the other chicks running over their backs. Poppy gave meaning to the term “the pecking order.” Within three weeks, I had the five breeds I’d originally wanted (Poppy made six) and a larger brooder, but Poppy continued to bully. At three weeks she prevented Daisy from eating and drinking and Daisy’s health was deteriorating.

I consulted books and articles. I asked for advice on backyardchicken.com’s forum. I e-mailed friends to see if someone would take her off my hands. “Cull her,” was the common chicken expert advice. And you know what that means!

At my wits’ end, I called  Diana Duncan at our local Homeless Animal Rescue Team (HART) shelter.

“I can’t take it any more!” I told her. “She’s a Cruella DeVille!”

She sympathized, then put me in touch with Linda and Bud Hotchkiss, who know birds of all kinds. Bud patiently listened to my story, assuring me that when Poppy was old enough to “free range,” he would take her, whether or not she was a hen or rooster.

“We don’t eat our roosters,” he told me. The end was in sight! I set up a second brooder and Poppy was put in solitary confinement until old enough to be rehomed.

In the month that Poppy was isolated, I handled her daily. When the others were moved to their permanent henhouse, I let her loose outside the pen where she followed me around the yard as I gardened. I began reintroducing her to the other pullets, starting with an hour a day, increasing until she eventually could be permanently housed with her flock again.

Poppy Grows Up

Why would I bother to keep this temperamental hen? All of us, who have raised or worked with kids and pets, know that there is something special about the “difficult one”. They challenge us to be our patient and creative selves and sometimes reward us with sweet success.

Poppy has grown into a strikingly beautiful hen. She is still the crankiest of the lot. She no longer chases the others (except on rare occasions), but will peck them when they invade her territory, occasionally blindsiding them while they eat or are otherwise engage in innocent activity.

To us, her behavior appears to be cruel, but odds are, it is simply evidence of the “pecking order.” If we remove Poppy, another hen will take charge. Our hope is that Poppy, as a way of redeeming herself, will be our best egg layer.

This article was first printed in “The Cambrian”.

“Daisy” is a fluffy Buff Orpington. A big, beautiful blond. Sweet, tame, the first to greet us, the first to be on our laps when we sit nearby. She is somewhat “motherly” to the other hens, although she’ll never hatch eggs and be a mother because we have no rooster. She was the first to lay an egg and has laid an egg every day for the first three months of her adulthood. If I had to pick one breed of chicken for a backyard hen project, I’d pick Buff Orpingtons. Daisy died at the age of 5 1/2 years. She remained sweet, friendly, and calm her whole life. We miss her.

“Sweetpea” is just as her name implies. A cuddler by nature, she’s the only hen who will sit still for any length of time, sometimes closing her eyes and enjoying the lap of a human as her coop-mates hop off and on human knees. Her breed, Barred (or Plymouth) Rock, are known to be good layers of light-brown eggs, steady and quiet hens. If you look carefully at Sweetpeas’s comb, you can see a chunk missing in the back. One of the other hens became annoyed with Sweetpea, pecked her, and tore off a piece of her comb. We encourage Sweetpea to stand up to the Wyandottes but it is not in her nature. At age six now, she is still friendly and gets along well with her two younger companions, Penny and Ginger.

“Poppy” is strickingly beautiful. A Silver-laced Wyandotte with black and white feathers, she is also the most temperamental of our six hens (see story “A Problem Chicken”). Poppy likes to have her back scratched by humans since there is no rooster around to do it for her. She is still high-strung and has a tendency to chase the chickens that are lower on the “pecking order”. Poppy lays beautiful light-brown eggs. She passed away at the age of five.

“Rosie” is our little Rhode Island Red. No flock is complete without this standard breed. She lays eggs that are medium brown in color. Rosie is our little “chow hound”. When we are in the garden, she watches our every move, hoping we’ll find a tidbit such as a snail or a potato bug for her to devour. She grabs food away from the other hens and if we carry in a bowl of treats to the hens, she will jump into the air to reach for it. She reminds us of our “late” Chocolate Labrador Retriever who would do anything for food. Rosie is now “late” herself. She died in early January 2011 (see “Rosie Passed Away”). I can’t bear to take her picture off this site because she was so much a part of our flock. We miss her. I would like to get another Rhode Island Red. They are consistent layers and good pets.

The name “Petunia” sounds so sweet and Petunia looks sweet. But Petunia is not! She is the most timid of all the hens and is quick to run if we reach to pick her up. The pretty Golden-laced Wyandotte is quick to snap at other hens and can be downright cruel to Rosie and Sweetpea, pecking their heads if they come too close. Petunia could best be described as “edgy”, but she is a part of the flock and remarkably beautiful. Petunia was one of those chickens that caused such chaos in the coop that we made the difficult decision to re-home her. See the story of Petunia’s new home here.

“Tulip” was one of the first three chicks we bought. She was (and still is) an observer. She watches the other hens, the humans, and is ever alert to danger. Her Ameraucana breed is known for laying blue or green eggs. Tulip’s are a light olive-green, very subtle and “tasteful” in color. Tulip usual lets the other hens eat first. She is in no hurry to grab a snack. She is the first, however, to dip her beak into the yogurt bowl. Tulip loves yogurt and cottage cheese. Tulip passed away on April 26, 2012, after suffering from a common disease of hens called egg yolk peritonitis. She was very pretty and very dear.

Penelope “Penny” and Ginger

“Penelope”, who we call “Penny”, and “Ginger”, came to us at about five months of age. Our neighbor, Jacob, raised them as a school project. Jacob did not know that they were laying eggs because they were “free ranging” in his yard and were good at hiding them. We were down to two old hens so I was glad to have these wonderful young layers. It was hard for Daisy and Sweetpea to accept these two young “upstarts”. The young hens had to sleep on a lower roost and wait until the two older hens had finished eating at the “treat bowl” before they could approach. It took about three weeks before things settled in.

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