Chicken Breeds - Page 2

[tree_hugger]

Originally Posted by Ldavis24 

ugh don't tell me that about the Australorps! I am picking up a couple this weekend or Monday...

I have am Australorp in my flock. She is lovely! She is a big bird with blackish-green feathers who lays large, brown eggs. When she was younger she did go broody several times a year, but now that she is older (3.5 years) she doesn't anymore. I highly recommend Australorps, you will love them!

[Ldavis24]

Originally Posted by tree_hugger 

I have am Australorp in my flock. She is lovely! She is a big bird with blackish-green feathers who lays large, brown eggs. When she was younger she did go broody several times a year, but now that she is older (3.5 years) she doesn't anymore. I highly recommend Australorps, you will love them!

Hehe well we have had our hens for a month and thus far a few things have become very apparent. We ended up with 2 RIR, an Astralorp, A Silver Laced Wyandotte and a Dark Cornish...Our Australorp is a BIG girl, and top of the pecking order and she is a WITCH...Miserable jerk actually, we are going to end up sending her to freezer camp, I know it...The rest are alright, they are all a bit standoffish...

I just picked up 2 6 week old chicks, A red Sex link who is a sweet heart and a Gold Laced Wyandotte Rooster who has such a little personality..I feel bad because we are going to eat him. I took him because he was free. I love the Red Sex Links though, they are so sweet and friendly. Don't know about their laying yet.

[Ma Cactus]

Our nicest is a buff cochin, but although she is HUGE, she lays few eggs (2-3/wk) and they are small.  We also have an australorp (lg eggs, almost every day, not much personality but pretty), a very flighty siscillian buttercup (small eggs), and a partridge rock (med-lg eggs, almost every day).  We had a gold laced wyandotte who was a good layer but the silly creature flew into the side of the coop after a dog scared her and broke her own neck.  Not much meat there either!  In general our various rocks (the current is our third - lost the others to a dog and a hawk) have been excellent layers with a lot of personality.  

[lucyem]

We have a bunch of different breeds and it is a lot of fun to see them all interact.

Silkies are very sweet.  One is special needs but super broody.  One is smart and fast and holds her own with the big girls.  My kids can pick them up and pet them for ages and the silkies enjoy it.  Mine seem to lay a lot for silkies.  Between the two I get 2 eggs 5 days out of 7 and 1 egg the other two days.  Silkie eggs are small but kids love the tiny eggs.

Buff Orpingtons have been my top hens in the flock hierarchy.  Though I lost one last winter and one last summer.  Both just dropped dead so no idea what happened so not my hardiest breed.  Very laid back and interested in things going on around them.  They lay great and I get an egg a day from my 2 yr old hen most of the year.

Wyandotte hens are so cool looking.  We only have one.  Her name is Dotty.  She is super flakey and cannot walk anywhere - she runs.  Took her months to figure out how to get on the roost.  She still prefers to sleep by herself on the floor of the coop.  She seems to be an OK layer but I am having a hard time telling her eggs apart from others.  She is so spastic that we would probably not get anymore.

Black sex links we have 2.  I have no clue how old they are.  Both lay eggs daily but one lays a lot of tiny little useless eggs.  My husband likes them because they normally have x-large eggs.  He wants more of them.  They do not get along with the other hens and are kind of mean and not very attractive so not on my list.

Andalusians are real big foragers.  They are small and lay smaller eggs, though bigger then silkie eggs.  They are not happy being in a coop/run and is a good breed to allow to free range.  They also have huge combs so not good for severe winter areas.

White crested polish bantams are a riot.  They get along with everyone.  They can fly the easiest.  They have goofy heads and always interested in me and come running when I go outside.  My three at least are super smart and even with the pouf on the head have no issues seeing things.  

Easter Eggers are my favorite and is the one breed I will keep getting/breeding.  They do not mind being in a run all the time.  They go to bed early and get up late.  Of all my breeds they have been the most hardy.  5 out of 6 lay green/blue eggs which are so pretty.  I also love their muffs :)  They do lay less then other breeds in my coop in the winter.  I think I went three months without seeing a blue/green egg this year.  But I think the nice eggs and nice personalities makes up for the lack of eggs in winter.

[FarmerBeth]

Our two Sussexes (one a light and one a red) are by far our favorites for their mellow but curious manner.  We also have some barred rocks and some way less fun commercial brown and commercial white hybrids.

[talia rose]

This thread makes me happy! So many chicken lovers! We have had Americaunas which I love and want more of because I love the green eggs. We had 3 but 2 got taken out by a young mountain lion last year (we just got a great pyrenese to deal with that!) We have Rhode Island Reds which I'm not crazy about - they are a little mean and get angry when I open the nesting box and they are in there....we just got some Buff Orphintons which I'm excited about since everyone here loves theirs, and some leghorns for their laying abilities. My daughter also talked me into 2 White Crested Black Polish which I am now wondering Why?! I got them. They seem mean, pecking our turkeys babies all the time. Can't wait to get them out into the yard.....

[Ldavis24]

wahhh I miss my Silver Laced Wyandotte, Liz Taylor, she got killed by the neighbors dog a while back and I still feel sad when I look out at the girls and she is missing. She was the sweetest/most stupid one of them all. 

[forestrymom]

We just got 4 Buff Orpingtons pullets and a cockerel, and 1 Brahma hen with 10 assorted chicks (two black and 8 yellow). Our dog promptly ate 4 of the chicks (they escaped the coop :( ). We got them late, late Tuesday night and we've already gotten7 eggs, so it seems they are going to be really great layers (the mother hen isn't laying again yet). They all seem to have really sweet personalities, even the Rooster. They are already foraging and LOVE being out of the coop (which IS pretty small for that many chickens, but we intended to have them range during the day, at least until fall). 

[erthe_mama]

Originally Posted by Ldavis24 
Our Australorp is a BIG girl, and top of the pecking order and she is a WITCH...Miserable jerk actually, we are going to end up sending her to freezer camp, I know it...The rest are alright, they are all a bit standoffish...

A bit OT, but I would totally appreciate it if my religion was not reduced to being compared to your jerky hen. I doubt you mean anything by it, but I though you might appreciate it if you knew that this kind of statement can be hurtful to people. :)

We get our eggs from a farm with a BUNCH of different kinds of hens, but my eight-year-old really loves the blue eggs from the Araucana the best. Our whole carton is multi-coloured though... white, brown, yellow, blue and green. And these ladies are so friendly! They always cluck at us and come up to the fence as we go by. My favourite one that she hasn't bothered to identify yet (a neighbour gave it to her) is brown and black and has big, messy-looking feathers atop its head. Any ideas of what this may be?

[mattemma04]

My 2 red sex link hens are soooooo mean to my 5 EE girls. I let them roam the yard despite hawk issues,but the meanies still chase and attack the others. Got a rooster thinking he would put EVERYONE in their place.Nope.Meanies are still mean,and they don't even submit to his sexual advances. And now the rooster crows all day long in our residential setting. I want to get rid of the roo and the 2 meanies.With my luck the EEs will start getting mean with each other! Despite these issues I still like having chickens.

[limette]

Originally Posted by mattemma04 

My 2 red sex link hens are soooooo mean to my 5 EE girls. I let them roam the yard despite hawk issues,but the meanies still chase and attack the others. Got a rooster thinking he would put EVERYONE in their place.Nope.Meanies are still mean,and they don't even submit to his sexual advances. And now the rooster crows all day long in our residential setting. I want to get rid of the roo and the 2 meanies.With my luck the EEs will start getting mean with each other! Despite these issues I still like having chickens.

Our brown layers are evil. They will attack any chicken that comes close to the fence. One of our chicks got stuck in the fence the other day and the other chickens came racing over to peck at it's head. My EEs are lovely. They give the odd peck to show authority but generally they leave everyone else alone.