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Member Reviews: Australorp

Positive Reviews

chickenman98

Very friendly chickens, good layers, and beautiful

Posted
By chickenman98

Pros: Very sweet temperament, lovely color, great layers

Cons: Can't think of any

I will start by saying that I love Australorps. In fact, my very favorite hen is an Australorp. She is such a sweet chicken and just let's you walk right up to her to pick her up. She doesn't run or anything. Sometimes she even comes up to me and acts like she wants to be petted. I love their deep black color with a greenish sheen and how they are built. They are also great layers. There was actually once a laying record record set when a hen laid 364 eggs in 365 days. If you are looking for friendly laying hens, these should be a top choice. 
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ChickenWisperer

Amazing birds!

Posted
By ChickenWisperer

Pros: Great layers, great with other birds, very human friendly, nice to look at, hardy, long term layers

Cons: Limited color availability in the US

What can I say about these birds?   They are simply every chicken keepers go-to breed. They are very hardy in both cold and hot weather (being in south central KY, we can get temps around 100 with humidity way up there and winter nights down in the single digits with wind chill and snow). Amazing layers of XXXLarge brown eggs, they're the type of layers that won't let you down. They are also very attractive birds - a lovely shape, HUGE dark eyes, big combs/wattles, and a glorious black color with primarily green sheen with blue and purple also. They're also big birds, I'd assume good for processing though I don't do that with my pets!   They are incredibly friendly, not...
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Ibicella

Kings in Black

Posted
By Ibicella

Pros: Hardy, large, prolific layers, lots of meat, quiet, good tempered

Cons: Personality can also be skittish/aloof.

The Australorp is my favorite breed.  They are beautiful with their large combs and regal mantles of black feathers that flash brilliant metallic green in the sun. They are also one of the most flexible breeds you can get for whatever set up you desire.    These are large heavy chickens that are good all-purpose birds and good for beginner chicken owners. If you want eggs, meat, or pets, this is an excellent breed to pick. I've used them for all three. They are a popular favorite here in the Pacific Northwest as they don't seem to mind the constant rain and mud very much.   Their personalities range from very friendly to aloof. They can be big snuggly lap...
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Negative Reviews

Cindychlvr

High maintainence if you're after egg production

Posted
By Cindychlvr

Pros: Hardy bird, large, beautiful

Cons: VERY broody, late to start crowing for roos, skiddish,

I purchased a flock of 25 birds. All Australorps. 2 died young. I can deal with that. I had seven go broody at once. Atleast one so far became what I would describe as a late bloomer and revealed itself as a roo at almost 10 months old. I raise chickens for their egg production. Not an ideal breed for that at all. In the future I will stick with RIR and Plymouth Barred Rock.
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prinellie9542

Not a good layer

Posted
By prinellie9542

Pros: big bird and very nice temper

Cons: doesn't lay every day; eggs are not large

I was expecting large eggs and an egg almost every day.  It took her the longest to start to lay and maybe get 3 a week.  I would rather have one RED STAR than five Australorps. :)
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fikeyismybaby

MEAN

Posted
By fikeyismybaby

Pros: Goes broody often,has a mothering instinct

Cons: Doesn't lay eggs often,is very mean to others

I have two austrolorps an they pick on my banty hens. One of my banties that was dying got adopted by an austrolorp and they sat in the nest box all day. Now that the banty went missing the austrolorp is fine and plays with the other chickens.
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More Reviews

ehecatl

My favorite breed on all counts

Posted
By ehecatl

Pros: egg quantity, size, temperment, plumage

Cons: none

Of my breeds these are my favorites. (I have plymoth rock, australorp, production, and arucanas)  Australorps are my best producers, are intellegent, friendly, not too passive or agressive and even manage to keep their plumage in better condition than the rest.
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applefalls

Pretty good bird

Posted
By applefalls

Pros: Beautiful feathers; good layer

Cons: Rather stand-offish, sometimes difficult to catch

My Australorp is about five years old and still laying! While she is currently one of my favorites in the flock, she didn't used to be. When she was young, she and her Australorp sister were hard to catch, stayed as far away from humans as possible, and were prone to messy-cakey-butt. This is the only breed I've ever had to bathe. But now that she's one of the flock elders, she is much sweeter. She comes to me easily, is easy to pick up, and hasn't had cakey-butt in two years. *keeping fingers crossed*
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TJsTwinzz

Australorp

Posted
By TJsTwinzz

Pros: Friendly, alert, healthy, lay very nice eggs

Cons: Eat a lot, don't lay every day

I have two black Australorps, and both are very nice girls. However, one of them doesn't lay, and the other one doesn't lay as much as she did when she was younger. The laying one has a son whose half Australorp, and he's a very handsome boy, big and soft, but his comb is lopped over, giving him a rather mischievous look. Both the girls are very sweet and friendly, and always come when called. They are very large chickens, and they eat a lot, but they can easily sustain themselves while free-ranging.
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loveourbirds

australorps are one of my best layers.

Posted
By loveourbirds

Pros: docile, do well caged or free range. very fertile, decent meat bird. nice sized dark brown eggs.

Cons: could be better meat bird. doesnt do near as well under artificial light.

i have 2 roos, 4 hens in black australorps. i get 22-25 eggs a week from these 2 trios, with over 90% fertility.  they seem to be very disease resistant, i would rate them as a pretty good on cold hardiness, their combs do frostbite easily. some vasaline rubbed on them does help with this. i love the dark brown eggs, not as dark as my marans, but way darker than my rocks. being a larger bird, they do need a decent amount of protein, don't expect them to lay well cooped up if your not feeding a good quality feed.
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kjxoxo1

The Best

Posted
By kjxoxo1

Pros: Great egg layers and very docile...curious personality

I love my Australorps!! Best decision I could have made. I get an egg a day!!
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Fluffers

good birds

Posted
By Fluffers

Pros: good layers friendly birds

Cons: little shy

I have 2 Australorps  they are very friendly and they lay good eggs. But Tweeter is a little  shy birdmy favorite chicken is the Australorp chicken.
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jojufarm

Great

Posted
By jojufarm

Pros: Great Layers. easy to care for

Cons: none

We have had them for over a year now and there very good layers of a large brown egg, also easy to handle. we can just walk up to one and it will let us pick them up. 
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AustralorpGirl

Prolific Layers

Posted
By AustralorpGirl

Pros: Sweet tempered, an egg a day, watchful

Cons: VERY thorough forager

I've got blues and blacks. These are my favorite chickens. They are sweet tempered, still enjoy being picked up and handled, and run to meet me every time I pop outside. I have two roos and only one of them has crowed twice. That's it and they're over a year old. We also have very cold, snowy winters and they seem to enjoy the snow. As long as it's not windy  and the sun pops out I open the door and they play in the snow. They are a very hardy bird. My only issue is that they can eat everything, grass and plants very quickly and thoroughly. I plant a couple patches of oat grass for them and they tend to stick to it. Overall a great bird. Mine lay an egg everyday and 2 or 3 days a...
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Silseb

Good egg layers and very useful

Posted
By Silseb

Pros: nice size eggs and good sized bird for eating

Cons: large birds eat alot more than bantams

These are great all around chickens. Very hardy and the dark color makes it harder for predators to see them. Lay well. Nice size cockerels for eating.
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ringzemall

Best layer of my flock

Posted
By ringzemall

Pros: Beautiful, lays lots of eggs, friendly

Cons: None

My Australorp was my first hen to lay, last to stop for the season, last and fastest to molt, and first to start laying again this spring.  Her eggs are large, and she generally lays 5-6 a week.  She will be two in July.  She's funny, but definitely not the smartest chicken in the flock.  She will watch the others jump into the pen, then walk around and around the pen trying to figure out how they got in-LOL.
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