How to pick your perfect chicken

How to pick your perfect chicken. 

Chickens are an amazing creature.  Just like dogs each breed has it's own unique quarks.  Before you can start looking for the type of chickens to buy, you have to ask what their role will be on your farm.  Will they be strictly egg layers or for meat? Are they going to be in a small coup or free range?  Does egg shell color matter?  Will these layers be for producing future generations?  All of these are very important questions to ask yourself.  

Over the years I have probably owned a couple hundred chickens.  I have my favorite breeds and I have breeds I tend to avoid.  Here are some of the breeds I with which I am familiar.


Plymouth Barred Rock:  Very friendly if hand raised.  Good layer of large brown eggs.  Also a decent chicken to eat.  Only breed I have ever had get "broody."  Still one of my absolute all time favorites!







Rhode Island Red:  Another of my favorites!  Fairly friendly, heavy layer of large brown eggs.  Also a fairly meaty breed.









  
Leghorn:  Not very friendly/ borderline mean breed.  Little to no meat value, but these girls sure can lay!  Sometimes two eggs a day.











Production Red:  A cross breed between the Rhode Island Red and the Leghorn taking most of it's attributes from the Rhode Island Red side.










Australorp:  This chicken is just here for business.  Indifferent attitude, mid to heavy layer, and decent meat.












Americana:  Smaller breed that seem a bit skiddish.  Decent layers with odd color eggs including greenish to blueish shades.











  
New Hampshire Red:  Another large breed, heavy layer and a fair disposition. 



Disclaimer!  These are my experiences with these breeds.  Your experience will vary.

What we have to work with

Now that we got the introductions out of the way, let me show you around the farm.  We live on about 6,652 sqft of ground.  On that we have four goats, 15 chickens, and quite a sizable garden.  Size limitations require us to utilize our resources with masterful efficiency.

Our front yard is the least utilized piece of land we have.  My wife and kids have laid claim to the beds here.  Tiff mostly uses them for ornamental flowers.  She planted some sage last year that was a real asset to out spice cabinet!  We also have about a dozen pots to start or keep plants in the front.  I am happy to see her strawberries have really taken off this spring.

In the back yard we have our piece of heaven.  When we first got our chickens they had full range of the back yard. However, due to the chicken's inability to poop somewhere other than our back steps we have confined them to the pen shared with the goats.  Our goats and chickens are confined to the side and about half of the back yard.  It gives them plenty of room to play and their respective "huts" give them a break from the weather as well as the other animals.


Our garden stretches across the back of the yard.  We had the garden in a couple other places and have not had quite the same harvest.  In years past we have had several reoccurring favorite plants.  One of our favorites is tomatoes! They are delicious and they also preserve well.  Another regular in our garden is okra.  It is great in salsa, soups, and best of all fried!  This year we have a couple of new comers.  Summer squash, sweet peas, and lavender are just a few we hope will become regulars.

Meet the crew!

Hey, I'm Dave..."farm boss" of Ginger's farm, Husband to the most wonderful wife on the planet, and father to (almost) 3 amazing kids.  By day I am a full time firefighter and by night I tend to my little piece of ground.  I was raised on a 10 acre farm in Florida and fell in love with farm life.  Ever since then I have been determined to raise my kids the same way; with hard work, a loving family, and most importantly a love for our Savior Jesus Christ.  With all the hustle and bustle in this world we tend to forget our roots.  Eventually we loose the ability to provide our own food and water.  We strive to be different.  The life we live is seldom easy, but we love it!  Follow us as we show our urban homesteading lives to you one day at a time.



Hi, I'm Tiffany...Mommy of the Ginger Farm. I am blessed to be the mother of two, almost three, amazing little red heads and the wife to the greatest craftsman I know.  I am a follower of Jesus and strive to honor Him with my life. Throughout our urban farming adventure, I'm learning each day to be thankful for the resources God has given us to live simply and happily.  I hope you enjoy reading about our experiences and memories on our little farm as much as we enjoy living them!





Hi! My name is Lydia! I am the oldest kid here on the farm.  I love playing with my brother and watching my movies with my family.  I really enjoy helping mom in the kitchen when she is cooking (but my favorite is when we are baking sweets!)  I also enjoy playing with the goats and helping with milking!






 My name is Davey!  I LOVE the outdoors.  I am always getting into trouble around the house.  I do try to help when it comes to feeding and watering the chickens and goats.  Mom and dad say I mostly play in the food and water I like to call it quality control.  Things I'm good at are helping pick up toys, helping dad in his workshop, and falling down ( this walking thing is harder than it seems).