February 13, 2025 • 27 mins
Discover the perfect chicken breed for your first backyard flock with expert advice from Eric Stromberg of Stromberg's Chickens. Learn about friendly breeds, top egg layers, and predator-savvy tips to help new chicken keepers navigate the world of poultry.
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(00:00):
A few reasons to keeproosters on the farm.
(00:02):
Some people like the actual noise thatthey crow and they make a lot of people
will keep a rooster as kind of thatfirst line of defense for the hens.
If you look at a flock of chickens,All the hens are kind of down
pecking at the ground, right?
But the rooster, he's up lookingaround, making sure they're safe.
And if he does hear something, he'll befirst to sound the alarm and last into the
(00:24):
coop, which that's a very valuable thing.
He protects the girls, sounds the alarm.
What I found, if that's the reasonwhy you're keeping a rooster, a lot
of people don't like roosters thatare real tall and can jump up on them.
So I get a heavy breedthat can't jump high.
That's one of my tricks.
See if your listeners agree.
(00:46):
Welcome to the Mother EarthNews and Friends podcast.
At Mother Earth News, for 50 yearsand counting, we've been dedicated
to conserving the planet's naturalresources while helping you conserve
your financial resources in this podcast.
We host conversations with expertsin the fields of sustainability,
homesteading, natural health, and moreto share all about how you can live
(01:08):
well wherever you are in a way thatvalues both people and our Mother Earth.
We'd like to thank our sponsorfor this episode, Brinsea.
That's B R I N S E A, chickincubation specialists.
They've been focusing on egg incubatordesign continuously since 1976,
(01:30):
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They offer unparalleled practicality,reliability, superior hatch
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Innovation you can trust.
Good day, everyone.
I am Kenny Coogan and joining meon this episode of Mother Earth
News and Friends is Eric Stromberg.
(01:52):
Eric is the director of thepoultry division at Stromberg's.
Today we are talking about easychicken breeds for new chicken owners.
Welcome Eric.
Hello, Kenny.
It's nice to be here.
I'm excited to have you.
I'm sure the listeners are as well.
Growing up, I loved getting myStromberg's Catalog in the winter and
(02:15):
dreaming about the chicks and ducklingsI would be purchasing in the spring.
And I loved studying theirsizes, colors, and purpose.
Today we're going to be talking abouteasy chicken breeds for newbies,
but I was thinking what would be acharacteristic of a chicken that would
make a breed more difficult to raise?
(02:36):
Like what would be anot easy chicken breed.
So this is a difficult question, Kenny.
I don't have any breeds that Iwould just say like, 'Alright, this
one's a tough one to raise', right?
But I would start to characterizedifferent breeds that have characteristics
that make them hard to raise, right?
So, one of the characteristics thatI would say that especially new
(03:00):
chicken owners should watch out forour birds that are considered flighty.
And so a lot of times when you'regoing through a catalog or a website,
you might see this term flighty.
And as a new chicken owner, you'rethinking ' what does that mean'?
They're birds, they're all flighty.
They all have wings.
Well, that's not what they're tryingto express when they say that.
So if you think of a flighty birdversus a non flighty bird, so all
(03:23):
chickens are domesticated, right?
But some chickens are a littlebit more wild than others.
And so what I always think of isthat two different breeds that you
could kind of characterize thisway would be a Buff Orpington.
I would consider non flighty, a whiteleghorn I would consider very flighty.
No matter how much you kind of approachand, let's say handle a white leghorn
(03:49):
or feed it treats, all that kind ofstuff, it seems like no matter what,
they're always going to be more wild.
They're going to try to getaway from you in the pen.
They don't really want to comenear you and things like that.
So when you see flighty on a website orin a catalog, new chicken owners beware.
It's not necessarily thatthey're bad chickens.
(04:10):
It's just they're moreindependent, we'll say.
So, just understand that not only willthey be independent and not necessarily
want to be near you, but they alsolike to, we'll say, fly the coop.
If you have a pen that's got an open top,a lot of times they'll like to jump out.
And kind of forage on their ownand do their own thing and then
come back at night, which isn'tnecessarily a bad thing, but it can
(04:33):
be difficult for a new chicken owner.
Big combs and waddles in coldtemperatures can cause frostbite.
Feather legged birds, legs can get, theydrag in the mud and they can get dirty
now, while that's not a problem for me,some new chicken owners might want that,
crisp, clean look of a clean chicken leg.
So some characteristics toavoid, but nothing that the
(04:56):
chicken owner can't overcome.
And just like many domestic animals,people have been domesticating chickens
for thousands of years, and we have over500 breeds can you describe some different
types of chickens available and whatpeople could be looking into when they go
down the rabbit hole of chicken breeds.
(05:17):
Yeah, this is important, for anew chicken owner to understand.
I'm not going to steer you necessarilytowards a specific breed here, and we
can talk about specific breeds of eachtype, but what we really want to talk
about is kind of categories of chickens.
And so we're going to break that downinto like five or six categories.
So it's kind of bantam, standards,hybrids, egg layers, heritage,
(05:41):
meat birds or dual purpose.
So let's kind of delve in tosay, you know, 'Hey, I got my new
catalog' or 'I'm on the website.
What am I looking for?
What do these terms mean'?
And so let's just talk about thefirst general category that I would
talk about with chickens is the sizecategory, standard versus bantam.
A standard size chicken is just likewhat we all think of, well, just
(06:03):
we're chickens, you know, they're 7-8pounds, maybe some of them bigger, some
a little bit smaller, but generally,generally they're in that range.
Bantam size is going tobe about half that size.
And so these really were developed,I believe it was when we started
to move away from a rural settingand into an urban setting.
People still wanted to keep chickens,just kind of like a toy poodle was
(06:26):
bred from a regular sized poodle,we bred out these bantam chickens.
Even if you're in an urban setting, youcan still have your chickens and collect
your eggs and they're smaller size.
Some bantams are true bantams in that theydon't have a standard size counterpart.
However, those are, thoseare a little bit more rare.
That would be a silkie or a seabright.
(06:47):
So, the bantam size of a Rhode IslandRed would share a lot of the same
characteristics of the standardsize, just in a compact form.
Hybrids would kind ofbe the next category.
So think of hybrids, like you woulda labradoodle or something like that.
So you're taking a lab and a poodle,you're mixing them together and
(07:10):
you're getting the best of bothworlds, the friendliness of the lab
and the non shedding of the poodle.
What they do with hybrid chickens,it's kind of the same thing.
A lot of times they're aiming fora specific character trait like
kind of like a super egg layer.
So instead of 200 eggs a year,they're going to get 270 plus.
That's a very desirable trait.
(07:32):
You're spending less on feedand getting eggs all the time.
And people really like that.
So you're talking about useful hybrids.
a few years ago for BackyardPoultry Magazine, I wrote an
article about cinnamon queens,paint strippers, and showgirl
chickens, bred just for their looks.
You mentioned a silky chicken.
(07:53):
I loved my flock of naked neck chickens.
Some people started breeding thefluffy silkies to the naked necks, and
they call them showgirls, and I wouldsay that's kind of a useless chicken.
But they are beautiful.
Right?
You can talk about those ornamental birds,
(08:15):
They lay eggs
I wouldn't say useless.
They lay, they do lay eggs.
We're talking about new chicken keepers,fun personalities one thing that a
new chicken keeper doesn't necessarilyrealize is that they're more like pets
and you're, you get to raise 'em andthey're fun to watch you get to know the
different breeds and their personalities.
so that kind of brings usto like egg layer chickens.
(08:38):
So egg layers, you're going to getthe super egg layers, like what
we discussed with the hybrids.
But then there's also some really goodegg layers that would be heritage breeds.
And so those would be like your RhodeIsland Reds, New Hampshire's, Delaware's,
your meat birds, the most traditionalis the Cornish Rock Cross, which is
going to take a Cornish, and a PlymouthRock, mix them together, and then
(08:59):
you get your, your super meat bird.
Now, I will say for the, thebeginner, I usually don't
recommend the Cornish rock cross.
I recommend a red broiler or a Red Ranger.
There's a few different variations on themarket, but they grow a little bit slower.
So a traditional Cornish Rock crosswill grow in seven to eight weeks.
(09:20):
I recommend for the newchicken keeper, something that
might grow in 10 to 12 weeks.
And they just feather out a little bitbetter, they're a little bit easier to
raise, and I feel like it's a betterprocess for the new chicken keeper.
Dual purpose, best of bothworlds, egg layer, meat bird.
they're not as prolificwith either one of them.
So, you're not going to get as muchmeat, nor are you going to get as
(09:43):
much eggs out of them as the hybrids.
However, what you'll do is you'llraise them to about 17 weeks.
You'll process the roosters that you don'twant for meat, and then you'll keep your
hens and there'll be your egg layers.
So that I feel like that coversany of the big categories for us.
So hopefully that helps the newbie chickenowner navigate that first question, right?
(10:05):
It was, what do I want?
Why is there so many different terms?
Of course, this is a huge topic andI've always had mixed flocks, but
sometimes on social media, full backyardof Speckled Sussex or Dominique is
beautifully striking a lot of peoplewho are getting into chickens, they're
(10:28):
going to buy maybe seven to 25.
And they like to pickout a few of each breed.
Can you tell us the pros and cons ofhaving a mixed flock versus one breed?
For new chicken owners, Irecommend a mixed flock.
it's more fun to seedifferent personalities how
they grow, what they like.
(10:49):
For instance, I just had a customerthat called and what should I get?
And it's a friend.
I'm going to recommend some of theornamental that you talked about.
That might be a moreof a worthless chicken.
Well, they're fun to see in your flock.
fun for kids I'll say geta few of the egg layers.
So you always constantlyare in egg supply.
Then some of the females, I'll recommendthat of the heritage breeds, just
(11:12):
because they're the traditional breeds.
They're really friendly, you know,like the buff Orpingtons or maybe the
Speckled Sussex, but the biggest thingthat I always recommend is just this
variety, which is fun for chicken keepers.
I always recommend getting a Polishbecause they're fun with the crested hat.
So I really like the variety of them.
(11:32):
However, if you want to breedyour own chickens, I would
recommend, a single flock.
And then keep your male ratioto about, five to seven females.
you can start to breed them.
You can keep an eye on how muchfeed your breed is consuming.
You can track their healthbetter because they are uniform.
(11:52):
There are benefits to having,a flock of the same birds.
Growing up, I was a member of theWestern New York Poultry Club.
We had a veterinarian who was president.
He was a veterinarian of dogs andcats, but his hobby was leghorns.
He had every size, bantam,and standard, and every color.
(12:14):
All the variations, breeding and hatchinghundreds culling choosing the best
he was really invested in leghorns.
You see a lot of that, especiallyfor show breeding towards the APA
standard, the American Poultry Standard.
And so then they're selecting basedon certain breed characteristics and
really honing in on that breed, whetherit, you know, might be leg color or
(12:35):
feather color or shape of the bird.
That's when you get into one breed.
Are there some chicken breedsthat are healthier than others?
You mentioned a Cornish or Cornish cross,may be growing too fast for the newbie,
or if you have a big waddle or comb,it might be not great in old climates.
Are there any unhealthy chicken breeds?
(12:58):
That have made it over the centuries?
We've really bred away from, breedsthat have genes that are inherently
unhealthy, you hear a lot aboutthe Americana, there used to be an
Araucana the reason why they neverreally took off is they had a lethal
gene and they just couldn't breed right.
That's why you hear the Americana termnow, we've really gotten away from
(13:21):
that and figured out the breeding.
For the new chicken owner, what's the bestthing I can do for my chicken's health.
I always recommend getting a good brandof feed and making sure they always
have clean water, you always hear mesay a clean coop is a healthy coop.
I don't feel like that comes down tothe breed but more the husbandry of
the chicken keeper or, you know, likehealth practices and things like that.
(13:45):
So I feel like through modern breedingas well as good feed practices.
And if you're a little bit concerned,there's a lot of probiotics, vitamins,
electrolytes that you can startto feed your chickens throughout
their life and it can really help.
For newbie chicken owners who want tocreate a flock, you'll notice that a
(14:08):
lot of times chicks are available asstraight runs, pullets, or cockerels.
And my next question is there a noisiestchicken breed Somebody's living in a
suburb area that they should avoid?
if you're ordering cockerels, youshould know they will be loud.
You mentioned a few industry terms.
(14:29):
A lot of times I'll mention these andpeople are like, what is a straight run?
Glazed over.
Straight run meansstraight off the hatcher.
You should get approximately 50percent males, 50 percent females.
Everyone always says youget more males than females.
I feel like you get about 50 50.
If you live in a city, youdon't want to order that.
(14:50):
Cockerels, all males youdefinitely don't want to order that.
Females.
That's what you're going for ifyou're the urban chicken keeper,
especially the urban chickenkeeper, or somebody that just enjoys
peace and quiet on their property.
So the loudest chicken breed,I don't know if there's a loud
chicken breed versus another.
(15:13):
However, I will say this.
I feel like if you get a really largerooster, they're going to be the loudest.
So if you get a real big rooster,they're going to be just real loud.
some people get used to it after time.
You won't even notice it,but I'm not going to say your
neighbors won't notice it.
So.
I wrote in my notes, Sereamas, oneof the smallest chicken breeds.
(15:36):
Those little roosters, might notbe the loudest, but they are noisy.
Yes.
Producing a lot of noise.
Different noises chickensmake, rooster makes.
which is crowing, but then thefemales also make a lot of noise,
but they're more quiet noises.
Like you'll hear, when they lay an egg,they make like a certain egg laying
(15:57):
noise and, just kind of like littlepersonality quirks of each breed, and
that's why I always recommend a mixedflock because there's all these different
little noises that you get to hear fromeven the hens, which are, more subtle.
And fun to listen to.
Sometimes those Sereamas, likea Chihuahua going up to a lion.
Don't realize how small they are.
(16:18):
Yeah, I like that, for sure.
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(17:02):
com.
We are back with Eric Stromberg, directorof the poultry division at Stromberg's.
We're talking about easy chicken breeds.
An easy chicken breed wouldbe a friendly chicken breed.
(17:22):
Are there maybe half a dozen chickenbreeds that are very domesticated
and very friendly you can think of?
if anybody ever asked me thisquestion, the first breed that I
say is a Buff Orpington, and I'vehad many Buff Orpingtons, not only
do they seem to be really healthy,but they're also super friendly.
(17:43):
And I've always, any flock that I'veever had, I always find that that's.
Go to next.
I would say Cochins they're large birds.
So they're gonna lay large brown eggsThey've got feathered feet people
seem to like that and they have aunique look they're really friendly.
Speckled Sussex.
(18:04):
I've always thought that was a good one.
I would also say Salmon FaverolleThat is one of my favorite breeds.
I've always loved them.
They have a good personality, cool eggcolor, and just one of my favorites.
So, you know, besides that, I thinkyou just let your imagination go
(18:26):
wild and try to find a good breed.
If you allow them any free range,flighty birds are going to be going
up in the trees, and you're goingto need a little coercing to get
them back into the coop at night.
Yep.
Sometimes they'll free range alittle too far, and all of a sudden
you're saying, where are my chickens?
if you have one flighty bird, it dragsthe other good birds away from the coop.
(18:47):
The flighty bird seems to know how toget back easier than the other birds,
the heavier breeds do seem more friendly,not only because they're not flying
into trees, but they're sticking around.
They're more reliant on you.
When you were mentioning the cochins havea unique look I, think they remind me of
like 1800s Victorian, like hoop skirt.
(19:09):
Yeah, they're a great bird.
they're super friendly.
I recommend those.
A lot of people getting intochickens are looking for egg layers.
That's probably the gatewaybetween dual purpose and then
maybe eventually meet the birds.
What are some of your favorite egg layers?
(19:29):
Who are the most productive bird breeds?
I mentioned red sexlings before.
That's my go to.
Let's say you're gettinga flock of 25 birds.
I would always tell you get fivered sexlings there's a little
variation like cinnamon queen.
They're hybrid egg layers and they're,they're actually really nice docile birds.
(19:50):
But the nice thing about that, it'skind of the anchor of your coop that
is going to lay a bunch of eggs.
So you're not disappointed when yourfancy looking birds stop laying eggs.
And then, what I think about for good egglayers is when I present my neighbors,
family, friends with chicken eggs,is like the different colorations.
(20:10):
So I like, an Easter Egger, an Americanabred to lay more colored eggs, the
blues, greens, then I'll say, let's getsome dark eggs like Welsummers, Cuckoo
Marans now you have, this technicolorlook to your egg cartons, maybe you
get a white leghorn, which I did saythis, those are flighty, but you know,
(20:31):
you have a white lagern that's givingyou your white eggs, your Easter egger
that's giving you some colored eggs,your Buff Orpington's giving you a
standard brown egg and then a Welshmerthat's giving you a real dark egg.
So then you have this really coollook to your egg carton when you hand
it off to your friends and a lot ofpeople don't know about green eggs.
So they're freaked out at firstbut you assure them they're
(20:51):
the same they get to show theirfriends these cool looking eggs.
So.
That's what I would recommendis kind of a for the newbie.
If you're looking for eggs, try to geta different mix of eggs in your carton.
How many chicken breedsare in the APA or the ABA?
It's over 500, maybe 600.
I don't know the exact counts, to behonest That's a great trivia question.
(21:13):
I wish I would have known.
I'm not going to hold you accountable,Australorps are also one of my favorites.
Yep, great bird.
Egg layers and very friendly.
not sure about Jersey Giants, but they're
Jersey Giants are anexcellent large egg layer.
and a friendly breed
Are there any mean chickenbreeds that are also good layers?
(21:38):
Malay are very tall birds, and theyonly lay one to three eggs a week.
Right.
So that would be your Old English.
And so people love those birds,especially for their show quality.
We were talking about, you know, theAPA standard and things like that.
Well, they're show quality and peoplereally enjoy showing both the bantams
and the standards, but I would notclassify those as friendly birds.
(22:01):
Also I get a lot of questions.
How do I make my roosters more friendly?
Well, I have never found the secretto making your rooster more friendly.
However, I have met friendly roosters,but I don't think it had to do with me.
And I don't think it had anythingto do with the breed really.
I just think I lucked out.
(22:22):
So if anybody figures out thesecret feel free to reach out.
A few reasons to keeproosters on the farm.
Some people like the actual noise thatthey crow and they make a lot of people
will keep a rooster as kind of thatfirst line of defense for the hens.
If you look at a flock of chickens,All the hens are kind of down
(22:43):
pecking at the ground, right?
But the rooster, he's up lookingaround, making sure they're safe.
And if he does hear something, he'll befirst to sound the alarm and last into the
coop, which that's a very valuable thing.
He protects the girls, sounds the alarm.
What I found, if that's the reasonwhy you're keeping a rooster, a lot
of people don't like roosters thatare real tall and can jump up on them.
(23:05):
So I get a heavy breedthat can't jump high.
That's one of my tricks.
See if your listeners agree.
That brings us to our lastquestion: keeping chickens alive.
Predators are the enemyof chicken keepers.
Any breeds better adapted to predators?
(23:26):
My neighbor made fun of my Polish,Silkies, she says if they have a lot
of feathers on their head, they'renot great at avoiding predators.
Some predators are built to eat smallbirds, talking about flighty birds.
I imagine some are goodat avoiding predators.
The flighty birds are the best becausethey don't seem to trust anything.
(23:47):
Not only do they not trust me, butthey're not going to trust any kind
of situation, like guys sitting inthe backs of restaurants with their
eyes on the door, that's what I feellike a flighty bird is, is they're
always keeping an eye on the situation,which I think is good for all birds.
There's birds that are the first to soundthe alarm, those are the flighty birds
like your white leghonrs, lakenveldersany of them that are, flighty, will
(24:11):
stay alive and help sound the alarm,at night you mentioned sometimes you
have a hard time getting them in.
I remember I had a group of whiteleghorns, five, 10 years ago, and
they would roost in this tree rightoutside my second story bedroom window.
You would look outside they're, 20 feetin the air staring in the eye and you're
going, well, it looks safe enough.
(24:33):
That does show that their naturalinstincts are to get real high
up and stay away from predators.
You, you mentioned the Polish, anybreed that has that big crest well, that
prevents them from seeing up real well,and where do a lot of predators come from?
The sky.
So they're gonna be the last to know.
So as far as a good breed to avoidpredators, Keep your birds inside,
(24:58):
build a sturdy pen with a top over it.
These are your pets and there's nothingmore disappointing than getting 20 weeks
into raising your pets and then all ofa sudden they're gone a lot of predator
issues you can prevent as long as you're,you know, checking on your pens daily.
I'm in Minnesota, so wehave a lot of bear issues.
(25:18):
we have to, electrify some of the runsI would recommend a good time door.
That's my recommendation ifyou want to avoid predators.
Thank you Eric, for a great conversationabout easy chicken breeds for newbies.
It's February now, but it's agreat time to be planning for your
spring and summer chick arrivals.
(25:40):
Order your birds early.
They go fast.
Thank you, Eric.
Yeah, thank you.
Nice to meet you, Kenny.
Thanks again to Brinsea, oursponsor for this Mother Earth
News and Friends podcast episode.
You too can experience the Brinseadifference and maximize your hatch
rates with Brinsea incubators thatmonitor temperature and humidity and
(26:02):
are made of antimicrobial materials.
Brinsea ships worldwide andprovides stellar customer support
to answer all your questions.
Hatch your chicks with Brinsea, theleader in innovative incubation research.
Learn more at Brinsea.com.
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(26:29):
thanks for joining us for this episodeof Mother Earth News and Friends.
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(26:50):
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Until next time, don'tforget to love your Mother.
A few reasons to keeproosters on the farm.
(00:02):
Some people like the actual noise thatthey crow and they make a lot of people
will keep a rooster as kind of thatfirst line of defense for the hens.
If you look at a flock of chickens,All the hens are kind of down
pecking at the ground, right?
But the rooster, he's up lookingaround, making sure they're safe.
And if he does hear something, he'll befirst to sound the alarm and last into the
(00:24):
coop, which that's a very valuable thing.
He protects the girls, sounds the alarm.
What I found, if that's the reasonwhy you're keeping a rooster, a lot
of people don't like roosters thatare real tall and can jump up on them.
So I get a heavy breedthat can't jump high.
That's one of my tricks.
See if your listeners agree.
(00:46):
Welcome to the Mother EarthNews and Friends podcast.
At Mother Earth News, for 50 yearsand counting, we've been dedicated
to conserving the planet's naturalresources while helping you conserve
your financial resources in this podcast.
We host conversations with expertsin the fields of sustainability,
homesteading, natural health, and moreto share all about how you can live
(01:08):
well wherever you are in a way thatvalues both people and our Mother Earth.
We'd like to thank our sponsorfor this episode, Brinsea.
That's B R I N S E A, chickincubation specialists.
They've been focusing on egg incubatordesign continuously since 1976,
(01:30):
resulting in egg incubators, chickbrooders, and incubation accessories.
They offer unparalleled practicality,reliability, superior hatch
rates, and healthy chicks.
Innovation you can trust.
Good day, everyone.
I am Kenny Coogan and joining meon this episode of Mother Earth
News and Friends is Eric Stromberg.
(01:52):
Eric is the director of thepoultry division at Stromberg's.
Today we are talking about easychicken breeds for new chicken owners.
Welcome Eric.
Hello, Kenny.
It's nice to be here.
I'm excited to have you.
I'm sure the listeners are as well.
Growing up, I loved getting myStromberg's Catalog in the winter and
(02:15):
dreaming about the chicks and ducklingsI would be purchasing in the spring.
And I loved studying theirsizes, colors, and purpose.
Today we're going to be talking abouteasy chicken breeds for newbies,
but I was thinking what would be acharacteristic of a chicken that would
make a breed more difficult to raise?
(02:36):
Like what would be anot easy chicken breed.
So this is a difficult question, Kenny.
I don't have any breeds that Iwould just say like, 'Alright, this
one's a tough one to raise', right?
But I would start to characterizedifferent breeds that have characteristics
that make them hard to raise, right?
So, one of the characteristics thatI would say that especially new
(03:00):
chicken owners should watch out forour birds that are considered flighty.
And so a lot of times when you'regoing through a catalog or a website,
you might see this term flighty.
And as a new chicken owner, you'rethinking ' what does that mean'?
They're birds, they're all flighty.
They all have wings.
Well, that's not what they're tryingto express when they say that.
So if you think of a flighty birdversus a non flighty bird, so all
(03:23):
chickens are domesticated, right?
But some chickens are a littlebit more wild than others.
And so what I always think of isthat two different breeds that you
could kind of characterize thisway would be a Buff Orpington.
I would consider non flighty, a whiteleghorn I would consider very flighty.
No matter how much you kind of approachand, let's say handle a white leghorn
(03:49):
or feed it treats, all that kind ofstuff, it seems like no matter what,
they're always going to be more wild.
They're going to try to getaway from you in the pen.
They don't really want to comenear you and things like that.
So when you see flighty on a website orin a catalog, new chicken owners beware.
It's not necessarily thatthey're bad chickens.
(04:10):
It's just they're moreindependent, we'll say.
So, just understand that not only willthey be independent and not necessarily
want to be near you, but they alsolike to, we'll say, fly the coop.
If you have a pen that's got an open top,a lot of times they'll like to jump out.
And kind of forage on their ownand do their own thing and then
come back at night, which isn'tnecessarily a bad thing, but it can
(04:33):
be difficult for a new chicken owner.
Big combs and waddles in coldtemperatures can cause frostbite.
Feather legged birds, legs can get, theydrag in the mud and they can get dirty
now, while that's not a problem for me,some new chicken owners might want that,
crisp, clean look of a clean chicken leg.
So some characteristics toavoid, but nothing that the
(04:56):
chicken owner can't overcome.
And just like many domestic animals,people have been domesticating chickens
for thousands of years, and we have over500 breeds can you describe some different
types of chickens available and whatpeople could be looking into when they go
down the rabbit hole of chicken breeds.
(05:17):
Yeah, this is important, for anew chicken owner to understand.
I'm not going to steer you necessarilytowards a specific breed here, and we
can talk about specific breeds of eachtype, but what we really want to talk
about is kind of categories of chickens.
And so we're going to break that downinto like five or six categories.
So it's kind of bantam, standards,hybrids, egg layers, heritage,
(05:41):
meat birds or dual purpose.
So let's kind of delve in tosay, you know, 'Hey, I got my new
catalog' or 'I'm on the website.
What am I looking for?
What do these terms mean'?
And so let's just talk about thefirst general category that I would
talk about with chickens is the sizecategory, standard versus bantam.
A standard size chicken is just likewhat we all think of, well, just
(06:03):
we're chickens, you know, they're 7-8pounds, maybe some of them bigger, some
a little bit smaller, but generally,generally they're in that range.
Bantam size is going tobe about half that size.
And so these really were developed,I believe it was when we started
to move away from a rural settingand into an urban setting.
People still wanted to keep chickens,just kind of like a toy poodle was
(06:26):
bred from a regular sized poodle,we bred out these bantam chickens.
Even if you're in an urban setting, youcan still have your chickens and collect
your eggs and they're smaller size.
Some bantams are true bantams in that theydon't have a standard size counterpart.
However, those are, thoseare a little bit more rare.
That would be a silkie or a seabright.
(06:47):
So, the bantam size of a Rhode IslandRed would share a lot of the same
characteristics of the standardsize, just in a compact form.
Hybrids would kind ofbe the next category.
So think of hybrids, like you woulda labradoodle or something like that.
So you're taking a lab and a poodle,you're mixing them together and
(07:10):
you're getting the best of bothworlds, the friendliness of the lab
and the non shedding of the poodle.
What they do with hybrid chickens,it's kind of the same thing.
A lot of times they're aiming fora specific character trait like
kind of like a super egg layer.
So instead of 200 eggs a year,they're going to get 270 plus.
That's a very desirable trait.
(07:32):
You're spending less on feedand getting eggs all the time.
And people really like that.
So you're talking about useful hybrids.
a few years ago for BackyardPoultry Magazine, I wrote an
article about cinnamon queens,paint strippers, and showgirl
chickens, bred just for their looks.
You mentioned a silky chicken.
(07:53):
I loved my flock of naked neck chickens.
Some people started breeding thefluffy silkies to the naked necks, and
they call them showgirls, and I wouldsay that's kind of a useless chicken.
But they are beautiful.
Right?
You can talk about those ornamental birds,
(08:15):
They lay eggs
I wouldn't say useless.
They lay, they do lay eggs.
We're talking about new chicken keepers,fun personalities one thing that a
new chicken keeper doesn't necessarilyrealize is that they're more like pets
and you're, you get to raise 'em andthey're fun to watch you get to know the
different breeds and their personalities.
so that kind of brings usto like egg layer chickens.
(08:38):
So egg layers, you're going to getthe super egg layers, like what
we discussed with the hybrids.
But then there's also some really goodegg layers that would be heritage breeds.
And so those would be like your RhodeIsland Reds, New Hampshire's, Delaware's,
your meat birds, the most traditionalis the Cornish Rock Cross, which is
going to take a Cornish, and a PlymouthRock, mix them together, and then
(08:59):
you get your, your super meat bird.
Now, I will say for the, thebeginner, I usually don't
recommend the Cornish rock cross.
I recommend a red broiler or a Red Ranger.
There's a few different variations on themarket, but they grow a little bit slower.
So a traditional Cornish Rock crosswill grow in seven to eight weeks.
(09:20):
I recommend for the newchicken keeper, something that
might grow in 10 to 12 weeks.
And they just feather out a little bitbetter, they're a little bit easier to
raise, and I feel like it's a betterprocess for the new chicken keeper.
Dual purpose, best of bothworlds, egg layer, meat bird.
they're not as prolificwith either one of them.
So, you're not going to get as muchmeat, nor are you going to get as
(09:43):
much eggs out of them as the hybrids.
However, what you'll do is you'llraise them to about 17 weeks.
You'll process the roosters that you don'twant for meat, and then you'll keep your
hens and there'll be your egg layers.
So that I feel like that coversany of the big categories for us.
So hopefully that helps the newbie chickenowner navigate that first question, right?
(10:05):
It was, what do I want?
Why is there so many different terms?
Of course, this is a huge topic andI've always had mixed flocks, but
sometimes on social media, full backyardof Speckled Sussex or Dominique is
beautifully striking a lot of peoplewho are getting into chickens, they're
(10:28):
going to buy maybe seven to 25.
And they like to pickout a few of each breed.
Can you tell us the pros and cons ofhaving a mixed flock versus one breed?
For new chicken owners, Irecommend a mixed flock.
it's more fun to seedifferent personalities how
they grow, what they like.
(10:49):
For instance, I just had a customerthat called and what should I get?
And it's a friend.
I'm going to recommend some of theornamental that you talked about.
That might be a moreof a worthless chicken.
Well, they're fun to see in your flock.
fun for kids I'll say geta few of the egg layers.
So you always constantlyare in egg supply.
Then some of the females, I'll recommendthat of the heritage breeds, just
(11:12):
because they're the traditional breeds.
They're really friendly, you know,like the buff Orpingtons or maybe the
Speckled Sussex, but the biggest thingthat I always recommend is just this
variety, which is fun for chicken keepers.
I always recommend getting a Polishbecause they're fun with the crested hat.
So I really like the variety of them.
(11:32):
However, if you want to breedyour own chickens, I would
recommend, a single flock.
And then keep your male ratioto about, five to seven females.
you can start to breed them.
You can keep an eye on how muchfeed your breed is consuming.
You can track their healthbetter because they are uniform.
(11:52):
There are benefits to having,a flock of the same birds.
Growing up, I was a member of theWestern New York Poultry Club.
We had a veterinarian who was president.
He was a veterinarian of dogs andcats, but his hobby was leghorns.
He had every size, bantam,and standard, and every color.
(12:14):
All the variations, breeding and hatchinghundreds culling choosing the best
he was really invested in leghorns.
You see a lot of that, especiallyfor show breeding towards the APA
standard, the American Poultry Standard.
And so then they're selecting basedon certain breed characteristics and
really honing in on that breed, whetherit, you know, might be leg color or
(12:35):
feather color or shape of the bird.
That's when you get into one breed.
Are there some chicken breedsthat are healthier than others?
You mentioned a Cornish or Cornish cross,may be growing too fast for the newbie,
or if you have a big waddle or comb,it might be not great in old climates.
Are there any unhealthy chicken breeds?
(12:58):
That have made it over the centuries?
We've really bred away from, breedsthat have genes that are inherently
unhealthy, you hear a lot aboutthe Americana, there used to be an
Araucana the reason why they neverreally took off is they had a lethal
gene and they just couldn't breed right.
That's why you hear the Americana termnow, we've really gotten away from
(13:21):
that and figured out the breeding.
For the new chicken owner, what's the bestthing I can do for my chicken's health.
I always recommend getting a good brandof feed and making sure they always
have clean water, you always hear mesay a clean coop is a healthy coop.
I don't feel like that comes down tothe breed but more the husbandry of
the chicken keeper or, you know, likehealth practices and things like that.
(13:45):
So I feel like through modern breedingas well as good feed practices.
And if you're a little bit concerned,there's a lot of probiotics, vitamins,
electrolytes that you can startto feed your chickens throughout
their life and it can really help.
For newbie chicken owners who want tocreate a flock, you'll notice that a
(14:08):
lot of times chicks are available asstraight runs, pullets, or cockerels.
And my next question is there a noisiestchicken breed Somebody's living in a
suburb area that they should avoid?
if you're ordering cockerels, youshould know they will be loud.
You mentioned a few industry terms.
(14:29):
A lot of times I'll mention these andpeople are like, what is a straight run?
Glazed over.
Straight run meansstraight off the hatcher.
You should get approximately 50percent males, 50 percent females.
Everyone always says youget more males than females.
I feel like you get about 50 50.
If you live in a city, youdon't want to order that.
(14:50):
Cockerels, all males youdefinitely don't want to order that.
Females.
That's what you're going for ifyou're the urban chicken keeper,
especially the urban chickenkeeper, or somebody that just enjoys
peace and quiet on their property.
So the loudest chicken breed,I don't know if there's a loud
chicken breed versus another.
(15:13):
However, I will say this.
I feel like if you get a really largerooster, they're going to be the loudest.
So if you get a real big rooster,they're going to be just real loud.
some people get used to it after time.
You won't even notice it,but I'm not going to say your
neighbors won't notice it.
So.
I wrote in my notes, Sereamas, oneof the smallest chicken breeds.
(15:36):
Those little roosters, might notbe the loudest, but they are noisy.
Yes.
Producing a lot of noise.
Different noises chickensmake, rooster makes.
which is crowing, but then thefemales also make a lot of noise,
but they're more quiet noises.
Like you'll hear, when they lay an egg,they make like a certain egg laying
(15:57):
noise and, just kind of like littlepersonality quirks of each breed, and
that's why I always recommend a mixedflock because there's all these different
little noises that you get to hear fromeven the hens, which are, more subtle.
And fun to listen to.
Sometimes those Sereamas, likea Chihuahua going up to a lion.
Don't realize how small they are.
(16:18):
Yeah, I like that, for sure.
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(17:02):
com.
We are back with Eric Stromberg, directorof the poultry division at Stromberg's.
We're talking about easy chicken breeds.
An easy chicken breed wouldbe a friendly chicken breed.
(17:22):
Are there maybe half a dozen chickenbreeds that are very domesticated
and very friendly you can think of?
if anybody ever asked me thisquestion, the first breed that I
say is a Buff Orpington, and I'vehad many Buff Orpingtons, not only
do they seem to be really healthy,but they're also super friendly.
(17:43):
And I've always, any flock that I'veever had, I always find that that's.
Go to next.
I would say Cochins they're large birds.
So they're gonna lay large brown eggsThey've got feathered feet people
seem to like that and they have aunique look they're really friendly.
Speckled Sussex.
(18:04):
I've always thought that was a good one.
I would also say Salmon FaverolleThat is one of my favorite breeds.
I've always loved them.
They have a good personality, cool eggcolor, and just one of my favorites.
So, you know, besides that, I thinkyou just let your imagination go
(18:26):
wild and try to find a good breed.
If you allow them any free range,flighty birds are going to be going
up in the trees, and you're goingto need a little coercing to get
them back into the coop at night.
Yep.
Sometimes they'll free range alittle too far, and all of a sudden
you're saying, where are my chickens?
if you have one flighty bird, it dragsthe other good birds away from the coop.
(18:47):
The flighty bird seems to know how toget back easier than the other birds,
the heavier breeds do seem more friendly,not only because they're not flying
into trees, but they're sticking around.
They're more reliant on you.
When you were mentioning the cochins havea unique look I, think they remind me of
like 1800s Victorian, like hoop skirt.
(19:09):
Yeah, they're a great bird.
they're super friendly.
I recommend those.
A lot of people getting intochickens are looking for egg layers.
That's probably the gatewaybetween dual purpose and then
maybe eventually meet the birds.
What are some of your favorite egg layers?
(19:29):
Who are the most productive bird breeds?
I mentioned red sexlings before.
That's my go to.
Let's say you're gettinga flock of 25 birds.
I would always tell you get fivered sexlings there's a little
variation like cinnamon queen.
They're hybrid egg layers and they're,they're actually really nice docile birds.
(19:50):
But the nice thing about that, it'skind of the anchor of your coop that
is going to lay a bunch of eggs.
So you're not disappointed when yourfancy looking birds stop laying eggs.
And then, what I think about for good egglayers is when I present my neighbors,
family, friends with chicken eggs,is like the different colorations.
(20:10):
So I like, an Easter Egger, an Americanabred to lay more colored eggs, the
blues, greens, then I'll say, let's getsome dark eggs like Welsummers, Cuckoo
Marans now you have, this technicolorlook to your egg cartons, maybe you
get a white leghorn, which I did saythis, those are flighty, but you know,
(20:31):
you have a white lagern that's givingyou your white eggs, your Easter egger
that's giving you some colored eggs,your Buff Orpington's giving you a
standard brown egg and then a Welshmerthat's giving you a real dark egg.
So then you have this really coollook to your egg carton when you hand
it off to your friends and a lot ofpeople don't know about green eggs.
So they're freaked out at firstbut you assure them they're
(20:51):
the same they get to show theirfriends these cool looking eggs.
So.
That's what I would recommendis kind of a for the newbie.
If you're looking for eggs, try to geta different mix of eggs in your carton.
How many chicken breedsare in the APA or the ABA?
It's over 500, maybe 600.
I don't know the exact counts, to behonest That's a great trivia question.
(21:13):
I wish I would have known.
I'm not going to hold you accountable,Australorps are also one of my favorites.
Yep, great bird.
Egg layers and very friendly.
not sure about Jersey Giants, but they're
Jersey Giants are anexcellent large egg layer.
and a friendly breed
Are there any mean chickenbreeds that are also good layers?
(21:38):
Malay are very tall birds, and theyonly lay one to three eggs a week.
Right.
So that would be your Old English.
And so people love those birds,especially for their show quality.
We were talking about, you know, theAPA standard and things like that.
Well, they're show quality and peoplereally enjoy showing both the bantams
and the standards, but I would notclassify those as friendly birds.
(22:01):
Also I get a lot of questions.
How do I make my roosters more friendly?
Well, I have never found the secretto making your rooster more friendly.
However, I have met friendly roosters,but I don't think it had to do with me.
And I don't think it had anythingto do with the breed really.
I just think I lucked out.
(22:22):
So if anybody figures out thesecret feel free to reach out.
A few reasons to keeproosters on the farm.
Some people like the actual noise thatthey crow and they make a lot of people
will keep a rooster as kind of thatfirst line of defense for the hens.
If you look at a flock of chickens,All the hens are kind of down
(22:43):
pecking at the ground, right?
But the rooster, he's up lookingaround, making sure they're safe.
And if he does hear something, he'll befirst to sound the alarm and last into the
coop, which that's a very valuable thing.
He protects the girls, sounds the alarm.
What I found, if that's the reasonwhy you're keeping a rooster, a lot
of people don't like roosters thatare real tall and can jump up on them.
(23:05):
So I get a heavy breedthat can't jump high.
That's one of my tricks.
See if your listeners agree.
That brings us to our lastquestion: keeping chickens alive.
Predators are the enemyof chicken keepers.
Any breeds better adapted to predators?
(23:26):
My neighbor made fun of my Polish,Silkies, she says if they have a lot
of feathers on their head, they'renot great at avoiding predators.
Some predators are built to eat smallbirds, talking about flighty birds.
I imagine some are goodat avoiding predators.
The flighty birds are the best becausethey don't seem to trust anything.
(23:47):
Not only do they not trust me, butthey're not going to trust any kind
of situation, like guys sitting inthe backs of restaurants with their
eyes on the door, that's what I feellike a flighty bird is, is they're
always keeping an eye on the situation,which I think is good for all birds.
There's birds that are the first to soundthe alarm, those are the flighty birds
like your white leghonrs, lakenveldersany of them that are, flighty, will
(24:11):
stay alive and help sound the alarm,at night you mentioned sometimes you
have a hard time getting them in.
I remember I had a group of whiteleghorns, five, 10 years ago, and
they would roost in this tree rightoutside my second story bedroom window.
You would look outside they're, 20 feetin the air staring in the eye and you're
going, well, it looks safe enough.
(24:33):
That does show that their naturalinstincts are to get real high
up and stay away from predators.
You, you mentioned the Polish, anybreed that has that big crest well, that
prevents them from seeing up real well,and where do a lot of predators come from?
The sky.
So they're gonna be the last to know.
So as far as a good breed to avoidpredators, Keep your birds inside,
(24:58):
build a sturdy pen with a top over it.
These are your pets and there's nothingmore disappointing than getting 20 weeks
into raising your pets and then all ofa sudden they're gone a lot of predator
issues you can prevent as long as you're,you know, checking on your pens daily.
I'm in Minnesota, so wehave a lot of bear issues.
(25:18):
we have to, electrify some of the runsI would recommend a good time door.
That's my recommendation ifyou want to avoid predators.
Thank you Eric, for a great conversationabout easy chicken breeds for newbies.
It's February now, but it's agreat time to be planning for your
spring and summer chick arrivals.
(25:40):
Order your birds early.
They go fast.
Thank you, Eric.
Yeah, thank you.
Nice to meet you, Kenny.
Thanks again to Brinsea, oursponsor for this Mother Earth
News and Friends podcast episode.
You too can experience the Brinseadifference and maximize your hatch
rates with Brinsea incubators thatmonitor temperature and humidity and
(26:02):
are made of antimicrobial materials.
Brinsea ships worldwide andprovides stellar customer support
to answer all your questions.
Hatch your chicks with Brinsea, theleader in innovative incubation research.
Learn more at Brinsea.com.
Again, that's www.Brinsea.com
(26:29):
thanks for joining us for this episodeof Mother Earth News and Friends.
To listen to more podcasts and getconnected on our social media, visit www.
motherearthnews.
com slash podcast.
You can also email usat podcast at Ogdenpubs.
com with any questions or suggestions.
Our podcast production teamincludes Kenny Coogan, Alyssa
(26:50):
Warner, and myself, Josh Wilder.
Music for this episode is thesong Hustle by Kevin MacLeod.
The Mother Earth News and Friends podcastis a production of Ogden Publications.
Until next time, don'tforget to love your Mother.
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