When you are browsing around the internet, trying to locate the perfect breed for your personal situation, you really need to take a few things into consideration. The first should be one of the most important, are you permitted to have poultry in your area? If you live in an agricultural area, you probably have no restrictions. If you are residential, you will certainly want to check into the regulations before bringing in any poultry to your homestead. Then subsequent questions should be: how will you house your birds? For what purpose will your birds be used? Do you want to purchase new replacements every other/every year or raise from within your own flock? Are you content to watch your birds from a distance, or want something that will be more friendly & personable? Answering these questions before you start to look will help you narrow down your search dramatically.
For instance, if you only have a small area to house your birds, you will be best off looking at bantam breeds rather than the larger ones. Many of the smaller bantam breeds are just as hardy as larger breeds. Several of them make excellent laying birds and the best of the setting birds are bantams (Silkies). Bantam birds make excellent lawn birds as there are several ornamental breeds (Old English Game Birds - OEGB and Japanese to name a couple) that would look charming strutting across the garden. Bantams do an excellent job at keeping unwanted insects at bay. They also often do very well in a caged bird situation, making them ideal for folk that want birds but cannot risk allowing them free range around the home. They can sometimes be a little more on the aggressive side, though not all the bantam breeds are so. Their eggs are a little on the smaller end, coming more in the small to medium range, though just as nutritious as any other home-grown egg. If you are considering a bantam breed, try to start with some of the more common varieties, as some of the more rare ones do tend to be slightly more difficult to raise from chick.
If you are looking for birds strictly to raise for meat, keep in mind that you really should not be considering raising any of them to breeding age. These birds are often crossbreds, the most common of them being the Cornish Rock, though there are several other crossbreds that will grow quickly to a suitable weight/size and convert their feed efficiently to muscle mass. These birds can also have other potential problems because they are bred specifically to grow as fast as possible with as much musculature as possible, sometimes the bone structure cannot keep up. This is another reason to grow them out only for the table. Also remember that crossbreds do not breed true in most cases. So bred together, these birds may not give you the same fast-growing offspring that you can easily purchase. Expect to feed these birds as much as they will possibly eat for between 6-8 weeks for fryer sized carcasses, 10-12 weeks for broiler sized, and 14-16 weeks for roaster sized (this can vary though).
If you are looking for birds strictly to raise for eggs, expect the birds to be smaller in overall size and 'hotter' in temperament. The most famous of these breeds is the Leghorn, which is traditionally the only breed that lays white eggs (crossbreeding has changed this somewhat). Another breed, which is an offshoot of the Leghorn is the Californian, which basically looks like a Leghorn with black spots. These breeds are very lean in appearance, you can expect to see your birds starting to lay early, and usually give an egg every day. They also tend to have prolonged laying periods, some laying an egg a day for a few years or more! However, these breeds also tend to have very lean carcasses and as such excess roosters don't serve that great a purpose. When I say 'hot' I mean don't expect your layer-only birds to come running for attention when you open the door!
Many homesteaders are looking for the ideal combination of meat and eggs in their chicken flock. And why not throw in some fancy plumage or coloration while you're at it to give yourself something pretty to watch every day? A good dual or multi-purpose breed should have a large overall size, good egg-laying skills, good meat accumulation, and ease of raising/care. For a beginner hardiness should also be important. Probably the single most common dual-purpose breed that exists is the Rhode Island Red or RIR. The roosters are large with a suitable amount of meat on a well-fed carcass. The hens often start laying early, have a fair laying period (couple years or more), and lay often, usually an egg a day. They are easy to locate, easy to raise, and very forgiving of the novice raiser. Other breeds such as the Orpington are a good multi-purpose breed, being useful for meat, eggs and also as setters, reproducing the next generation without the need of an incubator.
Then there are breeds that could be construed as being mainly ornamental. Their plumage or appendages are such that they are primarily raised for their beauty alone. Of course they still lay eggs, though perhaps not as well as the egg-only or even the dual-purpose breeds. And their body conformation relegates them as far from the meat breeds as can be. Though they could still be put on the table. Breeds such as Polish (sometimes affectionately called 'Tophats' because of the extra puff of feathers on the top of their heads), Phoenix (known for excessively long tail feathers) and others.
Of course there are also breeds that cross all of these categories or don't fit into any of them. For instance, the standard Cochin tends to lay well, has a large meaty body, and fancy plumage. It has been said the hens often appear to be wearing bloomers because of their excessive feet feathering. The Turken (also known as the Naked Neck) is the precise opposite having no feathers at all on their necks and reduced feathering overall. These are large birds that are moderate layers with an unusual appearance. In the bantams there is the Silkie, which fits into no other category only because they are known not for their meat or as layers, but for their naturally high inclination to set eggs.
Whatever breed(s) you choose, just make sure to have fun doing it!
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