Hi Jean-Claude,

>I want a breed of chickens that scratch very little the ground . I heard
>about a japanese black chicken who had this particularity. do you know?

No, but I have a friend in the NE USA who helped work on the chicken genome
and knows every rare breed in the world. I'll ask him.  Doesn't sound very
chicken-like, I must admit!  They seem to LOVE to scratch.  Or maybe LIVe to
scratch! Since they love bugs and benefit from the protein and pre-digested
plant matter in them, it is in their very nature to scratch, that is how
they turn up bugs to eat.  When I rake the yard I put the leaves or needles
in the hen yard and it is amazing how much fun, exercise and even nutrition
they get from all those little bugs that were hiding.

Some of the other behavioral variations include different kinds of crows,
(long-crowing like the Persian Denizli fowl and the Rapa Nui, or a laughing
crow like the Quetro), and some breeds seem more hyper or calmer (my Black
Langshans are gigantic and the gentlest chickens I have).

>do you allow them to reproduce?

My rarest breeds will be bred this year.  The Dutch breed Welsummer that lay
the very dark brown or lovely speckledy eggs, the Black Langshans (huge
black bird with feathered legs, that lay big brown eggs), the Blue-Laced
Gold Wyandottes (also layers of big brown eggs), and if I get enough pens
built, so I can borrow a rooster, I will also breed Exchequer Leghorns,
small lively birds speckled white and black, which lay medium sized
dazzlingly white eggs).

If I get a big incubator and have the space, I will also probably hatch some
blue eggs from my Easter Egg mutts as needed to fill a tray, they are good
healthy ladies and the pale blue eggs are pretty.  Interestingly, they
produce nice strong thick shells compared to the other breeds, I give my
110-lb 9-month old puppy Celeste mostly blue eggs because like a wolf, she
eats them raw, shell and all, and baby giant dogs need their calcium!

Breeding pens should be done in a few days, then ideally the hens should be
with the roosters 3 weeks before one starts collecting eggs to hatch (and
since none of my breeds are broody, I need to buy an incubator ASAP).  Then,
it takes 21 days for eggs to hatch, so I am looking at 6 weeks till my
breeders have their first babies.

>do you knows a good hatchery that feed them okay?


I am not sure the hatchery name, but Bonnie Meikle, one of the moderators on
my rare poultry list, is a very conscientious breeder in Canada,
[log in to unmask]  and could help you (she has more rare breeds of
turkeys than chickens, I think, but either has or can help you find the only
true Canadian breed, the Chantecler, and can tell you how to contact
responsible breeders you can order chicks from).

When chicks hatch, for three days they can live off the yolk that remains
from their time in the egg, so that is actually the safest time to ship
birds, as day-olds shipped by overnight mail (shipping eggs is risky, very
low hatch rates, and adults cost a FORTUNE in special boxes and postage,
literally over $60 per large adult bird before paying the breeder for the
bird!).  Once the chicks are purchased, the buyer is responsible for feeding
quality food (I recommend before ordering chicks, to find a feed store
reasonably near you where you can order organic feed, it costs a lot more
than regular feed and may be hard to locate, so you really have to think
through how many birds you plan to feed, whether you want to raise them for
meat or eggs, etc.)

HTH,

laurie (Mother Mastiff),

(eager to find a real deal on an incubator and get those pens, up, baby
chicks are extremely cute and almost as much fun as newborn mastiffs,
although nothing in MY world is as intoxicating as puppy breath!)