Showing posts with label chicken breeds. Show all posts

Friday, February 10, 2012

New Hampshire Reds are a vigorous, early-maturing breed known for their meat more than their eggs, although they are a true dual-purpose bird, good for both meat production and egg-laying. They originally derived from Rhode Island Reds. Their personalities can vary by bird, from focused on the pecking order and a bit aggressive toward other birds, to mellow and docile.

Orpington

The most common Orpington variety is Buff. Buff Orpingtons are known for their big, fluffy-feathered bodies and gentle hearts. These are the Big Birds of the dual-purpose chicken world. Sweet, docile, and easy to confine in a fenced area, they are a favorite of families with young children. They'll tolerate a lot of picking up and handling. This means that they may also be more vulnerable to predators, though. They were originally developed for meat, but also lay eggs well, and lay right through the winter months. Great for cold climates. One of my favorite breeds overall.

Plymouth Rock

The most common Plymouth Rock variety is the Barred Rock. With their black and white stripes, Barred Rocks are a good-looking breed and stand out in the flock. Plymouth Rocks are solid, sturdy dual-purpose birds and very popular for the small farm and homestead. They were at one time the most popular breed in America.

Rhode Island Red

Rhode Island Reds are prolific egg-layers, and at one time a standard for small poultry farms. Although they're good for meat, too, they are known for their high egg production. They are active, but also calm and docile, although roosters can tend toward the aggressive side in this breed.

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Tuesday, December 13, 2011

all chicken breeds with pictures

The first thing anyone says when they see my hens is "What beautiful chickens"! They are shocked at the variety of colors and patterns.

Chickens come in just about any size, color, or temprament you can imagine. Much in the same way as with dog breeds you have the sturdy work chickens (for egg laying), the downright silly looking little things (for fun), and those raised for meat (well...I guess there isn't a meat class with dogs).

The eggs you can get are nearly as different as the birds themselves: there are chickens that lay white, brown (several different shades), and even green eggs!

If you wish to raise chickens you will want to be sure you choose a breed that is suitable for your needs. Just as a Great Dane in a studio apartment or Pomeranian for a police dog would be inpractical, a bantam chicken for laying eggs is ridiculous.

Let me introduce you to some breeds and direct you to more chicken related lenses!

Chickens for Laying Eggs

We live in New England. Winters are pretty cold here, occasionally it gets really cold (10-20 below). You can always heat a chicken coop, but not only does that cost money, it can be dangerous. The best solution is to choose chickens bred to withstand the cold.

We raise our hens for eggs, so we chose breeds that lay particularly well. Meet all of the breeds we have:

Golden Laced Wyandotte

Meet Teriyaki,Teri for short:

Teri is a golden laced wyandotte. There are several colos of wyandottes, they also come standard and bantam (little mini chickens). All of our chickens are standard size. Standards are better and bigger egg layers. Wyandotte's are known to lay about 4 large brown eggs per week. I can't tell you exactly how many Teri lays because she doesn't tell me.

Here is her baby photo.

Silver Laced Wyandotte

We have two silver laced, Dianne and Florentine (Flo for short). Silver laced Wyandotte's have the same characteristics as the golden laced. The photo shows Dianne on the left, then Terri stuck her head in the photo. Flo was hiding.

You can buy wyandottes at My Pet Chicken.

Australorp

Four of our hens are Australorps (Nugget, Noodle, Popcorn and Patty). You can't beat them for egg laying, 5 large brown eggs a week. They all have really distinct personalities too.

You can buy australorps at My Pet Chicken.

Red Star

In addition to being excellent layers (5 large brown a week), Stars are "sex-link" chickens, meaning that males and females are different colors at birth. This makes sexing the chicks much easier, nearly insuring that you don't accidentaly get a rooster. There are red and black stars. Our stars are Cacciatore (Cacci) and Quesadilla (Casey), pictured are Cacci...and Casey's tail.

Buy your stars at My Pet Chicken

Sleepy baby chick

Plymouth Rock (Barred)

These chickens are quite popular. They lay about 4 large brown eggs per week. Plymouth Rock includes several varieties, ours are barred. They are Marsala (Marcy) and Parmesean. They seem a bit shyer than the rest.

You can buy your Plymouth Rocks at My Pet Chicken

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Friday, December 2, 2011

images of kalinga brown chicken birds

images of kalinga brown chicken birds

The main breeds of backyard poultry are Kalinga Brown, Mumbai Desi, Rhode Island Red and CARI Nirbheek. The methods of rearing chicken in the backyard differ greatly from place to place. Though the housing conditions are almost adequate, proper attention to feeding is practically not given. Also the production potential of the desi flocks in such units may be greatly improved by introducing exotic breed.
Therefore particular attention may be given to those important aspects namely,

Introduction of exotic males in the backyard units.
Rearing of cross-bred birds’ viz. Gramalakshmi, Gramapriya, etc.
To give better ventilation in the night shelter.
Timely preventive vaccinations and deworming.
To provide some amount of balanced feed rather than leaving the birds entirely for scavenging.

A suitable all-purpose premix is suggested below exclusively for the use of backyard poultry. Fairly good egg production can be achieved by providing 50 per cent of daily requirement of feed in the form of balanced feed/commercial feed.

Concentrate mixture for backyard poultry

Ingredients	Premix I (%)	Premix II (%)
Groundnut cake (expeller)	52	60
Gingelly oil cake	20	-
Unsalted dried fish	20	32
Broken rice/wheat/dried tapioca	4	4
Mineral mixture for poultry	4	4
Total	100	100

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Wednesday, November 9, 2011

chicken breeds list pictures

chicken breeds list pictures

Surprising Chickens

Mike the Headless Chicken: There once was a chicken named Mike, he seemed a normal chicken. He liked to scratch and roost, and do chicken-y things. Mike was a bit different from other...
Chicken Rumors, Myths, and Facts: I constantly see misinformation out there about chickens. Again and again, I see people repeating the same things about our feathered friends, and truly, some...
The Chicken Quiz: What do you know about chickens? Think you know all about them? Take this quiz and see if you can answer all the questions about chickens correctly, then share...; Many people who never would have thought about getting chickens before are starting to consider the idea of having a small backyard flock. It's a good decis.
My Pet Chicken: Sweet Tweets: Though not considered the usual pet, chickens make great family members. They're friendly, easy to care for, and fun to have around. They also have surprisi... Popular Breeds of Chickens
Silkies: The Furry Chickens: Silkies are a very unusual bred of chicken that have feathers that resemble fur. They almost look like they are some sort of rabbit or other animal. This is...
Cochins: The Round, Fluffy Chickens: Cochins are a wonderful chicken breed. They have endearing personalities, cute appearances, and hardy dispositions, and are really great chickens to have in. Chicken Fun
Chickie Pics: Though the average person knows practically nothing about chickens, they really are fascinating fowl. This lens spotlights some of these interesting poultry...
Chicken Jokes: We've all heard the jokes about chickens, and most of us have seen rubber chickens, even those guys in chicken costumes, it seems that for some reason chickens... Read More