Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
chapter 2
Next: Which Chickens
A Breed for Everyone
When choosing hens for your flock, it helps to know a little about the history and charac-
teristics of each breed. You'll learn which are better suited for snow and indoor confine-
ment and which need open spaces. You'll find out which will be likely to sit on eggs and
go broody and which would never qualify as parental stars. (See also the chart on pages
114 to 119.)
Some birds do great outdoors and require little to no feed if they can scavenge on their
own. Some gals lay like champs in close quarters while others need plenty of free-range
space to spread their wings. Some lay right through a cold winter, and others shut down
when the days grow short. And as for temperament, some are major characters while
others are calm and gentle. On the flip side, giant corn-chowing roasters developed for
feedlot barns should never be considered for laying stock since most won't survive much
longer than the time it takes for them to reach slaughter weight.
