Time to pick the chicken for your coop. But which variety? All of them are fine egg layers, some better than others. You should talk to the person you buy your chickens from to find out how well the breed (or strain) of chicken is as far as egg laying goes.

So our questions to our breeder:

1. Will Rhode Island Reds eat more than White Wyandottes?
2. Will either be foul (ha!) to each other of they are mixed in the coop?
3. Which one has the better egg?

To each of these questions it is based all upon the bird. Althouh we have recently discovered that the Rhode Island Red chicken has a stronger shell – that explains why most cooks use them and also why they are more expensive. (Write about feed and oyster shell new post – link it back here)

We also noted that it is fine to have all species of bird within the coop, but mind them when you ar epicking them out. You want to look them over very carefully to make sure they are not diseased or are missing too many feathers. Especially blood on chickens – if you see even a speck of blood on a chicken disregard it and look at the next.

Don’t be led into what the breeder wants to give you – pick your own. If you chose wrong, so be it – your choice. It won’t appear as the breeder was getting rid of the worst producers or sickliest stock.

So we chose 2 Rhode Island Reds and 2 White Wyandottes to start our flock – no rooster necessary (states the breeder). Getting them caged was another task and one that is best left for a friend with a truck. I think the interior of my car will smell like chicken droppings for quite some time.

Word of caution – DO NOT put your new birds in the trunk of your vehicle to get them home – if they don’t get baked in the sun or frozen in the winter they’ll surely get gassed by your cars emissions.