My current home doesn't have a verandah or even a porch but I dream of owning a little farmette again, with a verandah overlooking chickens, goats and gardens. Absolute heaven!

Chicken Cross-Breeds

We're trying to figure out what kind of chickens we want in the future.
-fairly quiet roosters
-very cold hardy (to below freezing)
-tolerant of heat into 100's
-medium sized eggs
-broody hens (sometimes)
-fairly prolific layers
-not for meat
-green or blue eggs, if possible
-friendly, calm
-easy to take care of since I'm dealing with an autistic child (who can't tolerate loud noises)

We have:
Black Australorp (4 pullets-almost-hens, 1 rooster)
Buff Orpington (2 hens)
Araucana/Easter Egger (1 rooster, 1 hen, 5 pullets-almost-hens)
Delaware (1 hen)
White Plymouth Rock (2 hens)

The egger rooster is very loud and crows all of the time (morning, noon, night and all hours in between). The blackie roo chimes in when he feels like it but prefers to sleep at night... thank goodness!

Want to pare down our chickens to 3-5 hens and 1 quiet rooster. AND we're thinking about moving the chicken coop into the garage to let out the chickens into the back yard every day.

Could I cross a silky with an araucana (egger) to get a broody but sweet little hen that lays green or blue eggs? Anyone tried that?

3 comments:

Star said...

We have a breed called "Chantelcere," it was bred by a monk in Quebec, and designed to withstand our Canadian winters.

Our pulletts started laying about two weeks ago, and from the four hens, we've been getting about an egg every other day, which for their age & time of year, is pretty darn good!!

They're supposed to lay throughout the winter, although slightly less than in the summer. Gnerally, they produce about 200 eggs annually.

The roosters aren't too loud, and we're told that the hens go broody all the time.

The eggs aren't the colour you're looking for though...they're kind of a light brown.

Vee said...

Leslie: I'd never heard of them! I'll have to research so thanks so much! Maybe a few of them and a couple eggers (my autistic kid likes the green eggs). Vikki

Anonymous said...

You know I was just talking to my sis about this -she was worried about my chickens getting cold (we live in Michigan) and I told her we have Rhode Island Red and Isa Brown's and they have more feathers. She had no idea that chickens were different.

I think different colored eggs would be so neat. Your child will love them.
vickie