How to Choose a Chicken Breed

A Barred Rock, a very popular chicken breed.

Choosing a chicken breed can be a very difficult and time-consuming process. However, it is essential to take your time when considering which breed to choose, as this will impact not only the amount of joy and pleasure you receive from raising the birds, but also their future health and happiness.

Instructions

1. Determine your purpose in raising chickens. Although many people raise chickens for merely a hobby, others decide to raise them for a number of other reasons, such as egg production, meat production, or exhibition. Deciding on what your purpose is for raising chickens will help you to choose a chicken breed that is ideal for your individual circumstances.

2. Determine how much room you have to raise them in. Although chickens can typically remain happy in smaller quarters, larger flocks do require more room. Therefore, it is crucial to determine just how much space you can devote to raising chickens before determining what breed of chicken you are going to raise.

3. Determine how much time you have. Raising any type of livestock requires a great deal of time and energy, and chickens are no exception. Therefore, when choosing a chicken breed it is important to decide just how much time you want to invest. Certain breeds take more time than others, especially the more exotic breeds (the Silver Phoenix, for example, requires extensive care to ensure that their long tail feathers are kept in good condition.) Therefore, making sure that you have the time to adequately take care of them is essential.

4. Decide how much you are willing to pay to purchase your starter flock. Prices for chicks can vary widely depending on the breed and sex that you choose. In general, hens cost more than cockerels, and the more exotic breeds typically cost more than their everyday counterparts. Therefore, if you are planning on just having a backyard flock for a hobby, it might not be in your best financial interest to choose a chicken breed that costs a great deal. On the other hand, if exhibition is your ultimate purpose than a more expensive exotic breed might make a more suitable choice.

5. Determine if you want to hatch your own eggs or allow the chickens to do it themselves. Many breeds of chicken (especially those that have been bred specifically for egg production,) will not hatch their own eggs, meaning that if you want any of your own eggs to hatch you will have to do so through an incubator. Many dual-purpose breeds, however, will hatch their own eggs.