Ancona Questions

[markeddings]

I will be having 2 Ancona's delivered in July as part of a mixed group of hens for our small backyard flock.

We will ultimately end up with about 20 hens. I am having several breeds new to me delivered. Most of them are known to me either by having owned them or having friends who have experience with them. The one exception is the Ancona. We wanted a couple of white/cream egg layers to blend in with our brown and colored egg layers for a more colorful basket of eggs for sale by our daughters, but didn't want the standard white Leghorn.

My questions about them have to do with their overall temperament, flightiness, and getting along with others in a mixed flock. Our birds have a nice sized protected run of about 22 square feet per bird (with 20 hens). The coop size is on the small side, but here in Arkansas, they have never wanted to stay inside the coop, regardless of the temps or conditions as the run is protected from wind and rain. On most days, the girls are let out to forage on our 2 acre wooded lot, and our current mix of Buff Orpingtons, RIR's, Easter Eggers, and Austrolorp are all healthy and seemingly happy. No problems with aggressive birds or failing to return to the coop at night with this combination.

The mixed flock that will replace them will be made up of ISA Browns, RIR's, Buff Orpingtons, EE's, Australorp and Austrawhites, Wyandottes, Welsummers, Barred Rock, and a Blue Copper Marans.

Will I likely have to clip the Ancona's wings, or will they return to the coop every night like my larger breeds? Are they simply a bit flighty, or will they cause problems with the other more docile hens? If my kids hold them from chicks, can they be relatively tamed?

Any feedback would be appreciated. I would have time to replace with another more common breed of white egg layer if needed, but mostly I would like to know a little more about what to expect from them from those who have actually raised them, rather than what the hatchery web descriptions say.

Thanks in advance.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Mine return to the coop every night, but when I let them out to freerange they do enjoy going in the trees and playing around. My EEs and OEGBs join them. They are good birds and have a good level of flightiness, to me, because predator risks make me select against lazy or overly laid back breeds. I have quite a variety of breeds in my flock and they all get along fine. Out of your breed list though, I only have RIRs, EEs, BRs, and Marans.

I don't know if its typical for the breed, but my two like to walk around talking a lot, especially if they can't see each other. It's not an alarmed type talking, and its like they are muttering to themselves but louder. lol

 

[markeddings]

Mine return to the coop every night, but when I let them out to freerange they do enjoy going in the trees and playing around. My EEs and OEGBs join them. They are good birds and have a good level of flightiness, to me, because predator risks make me select against lazy or overly laid back breeds. I have quite a variety of breeds in my flock and they all get along fine. Out of your breed list though, I only have RIRs, EEs, BRs, and Marans.

I don't know if its typical for the breed, but my two like to walk around talking a lot, especially if they can't see each other. It's not an alarmed type talking, and its like they are muttering to themselves but louder. lol

Thank you foe the feed-back! That helps a lot. That type of behavior would be just fine. I plan on having my kids spend a bit of time with them as chicks so hopefully they may start out a little less flighty around people. Thanks again!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Mine get along fine in my mixed flock of around 65 birds. They sometimes fight with my ducks for some reason. They are less flighty than my polish, they are more standoffish, not being overly forward, but also not crazy hysterical. They lay well, but their large combs can be prone to frostbite. I currently have 5. They do add pizzazz to my flock with their mottled coloring and upright stance.

 

[markeddings]

Thank you for the feedback. I really liked their appearance in the pics, and looking forward to a good number of white eggs. Read about the big combs. Haven't had a problem with any of my current birds but we've had two pretty mild winters in a row. Thanks again.