Hello Sue in CT.
The production birds sold as RIRs are not the Heritage birds of yesteryear. They have been bred to be a little kinder and less aggressive. Sometimes it works but frequently they are still the chickens from hell. A RIR rooster is a dangerous animal and should be BBQ'd on sight. RIR's are known as the Brown Egg Machine. A reasonably good layer is the Australorp. A good looking, calm, easy keeper. If hybrid are OK Red sex-links make good hens, only half RIR.
One word of caution. It is not unusual to brood baby chicks in the house because of the care necessary for their survival. Under the kitchen table is good, in front of the TV is better. (no commercials). Generally speaking chicks must be under close supervision for about 6 weeks. This is a problem because after 3 weeks you begin to realize that chickens smell. After 4 weeks the neighbors begin to notice. After 5 weeks families begin to break up, as in "ITS ME OR THEM D**N CHICKENS". So you need to time your chicks so they can go outside after 4 or 5 weeks. There are 24+ of them and they STINK. The temperature should be 70 deg or above. In New England that's mid June. unless you have a heated coop. Even then they will require a heat lamp on cold nights for a couple weeks. Good luck and remember. THE ENABLERS ARE HERE!
Ol' George
--- In CHICKENS-101@yahoogroups.com, leighton10293@... wrote:
>
> Hello everyone.
>
> My daughter is in 4-H and we have joined the chicken group. I have been reading the posts for the past few weeks, but she has been doing research on her own, she will be 10yrs old next month. We have a meeting on Sunday and we are going to order chickens from McMurray Hatchery. We are going to build (or buy) a coop in the next couple of months and she will eventually show her chickens at the 4-H fair.
> She would like to get RIR, but after reading the posts, I don't know if that is such a great idea. We are looking for a bird that also produces eggs (that is how I sold my husband on the idea of having chickens!!) My daugher will be responsible for taking care of the chickens and I will help out.
>
> Any ideas for easy going chickens that are also good egg layers?
>
> Thanks so much!!
> Sue in CT
>
CHICKENS-101@yahoogroups.com
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