Australorp

In April 2014, we purchased 4 Black Australorp chicks from a feed store. They were our first chickens, and we still have them.

(they were molting when these pics were taken, so that is why the second one is bald.)

They are VERY tame, very quiet, don't try to fly out of yard, smart and are a good choice if you live in an urban area. These are also very good with children and don't mind being handled. They somewhat slow down with laying during the winter, however. Also, they don't eat eggs. Once or twice I found the remains of an egg in the coop, but they never eat eggs after that.

I purchased these birds as chicks and love the breed. They are a very calm breed. I can count on them for a few eggs in the winter when my Easter eggers slow down. I love there dark soulful eyes. The breed has done well in my area even when the temps go up past 100 in the summer and minus in the winter. It depends if you keep water cool, fans going, electrolites in water in the summer, and If you protect your house from North winds in the winter youll keep any breed healthy through the temp changes. I have never owned a Rooster of this breed.

My Cackle Australorp is one of my favorites. She'll run over whenever you come outside to see what's going on, but she's not so ostentatious that she'll invite herself up onto your picnic table, like some of the more "in your face" breeds. She'll happily cluck around on the ground and mind her own business. She's laying 5 eggs a week and she started laying just under 20 weeks old. She's a big heavy bird and prettier than you'd think for a plain black chicken. Their big black eyes, shiny green feathers and red combs make them stand out in a mixed flock. Every now and then she'll get a little squawky but for the most part she's a very quiet and well-behaved backyard buddy. She doesn't pick on the other chickens much and she is near the top of the pecking order. I think I'll always have one in the flock, mine is very mild-mannered.

We love our BA's. They are some of the heartiest, most reliable birds we have raised so far. The hens are a bit aggressive to each other, but not too bad and the roos are somewhat aggressive, too. We have had them for over a year and none of the hens have gone broody yet. They really love us and want to be close to the house all the time. That was okay until we got tired of having to watch for chicken poo constantly. Can't fault them, though. Awesome breed!

I fell in love with BA's several years ago when I had a beautiful hen named Girlfriend. She was a textbook lap chicken. She was also an excellent layer and a devoted mother. When we got chickens again last year, I knew I wanted more like her. We ordered 6 from McMurray and while they aren't all lap chickens like Girlfriend, Georgie Girl is pretty close. She's the first one to come running to me when I'm outside and will sit in the shade and nap wherever we're hanging out. She's a daily layer and sings the loudest egg song of them all. All my BA girls are sweet, inquisitive and follow me like puppies. They are easy to handle and lay delicious brown eggs. I highly recommend them!

I hate to be the outlier here, but our Australorp is my least favorite bird. We inherited her from a friend, so didn't raise her from a chick. I would not get another Australorp as ours doesn't have a very interesting personality and lays only one every week during the warm months and never in the winter. We are also slowly introducing new chicks into the flock and she is incredibly aggressive towards them (although she's never pecked or been aggressive towards the adult birds).

I had a black australorp hen who lived to be about a year and a half until the neighbor's dog got her . She always wanted to be around me and know what I was doing. She went broody about every 6 weeks, which drove me crazy because I have no rooster and didn't want to hatch eggs. Her name was Bossy, which was fitting for her personality.

I have two Austrolorps and will never be without them. They are so much fun. Mine will let me pet them and hold them. They really are some of the best breeds.

What can i say that hasnt already been said!!

I love my australorp she lays the prettiest tastiest eggs! She runs up to me when i have treats she doesnt mind my two lear old chasing her. She doesnt mind the dog walking round! I also swear she talks to me lol!! I love the noises she makes! She is a happy chicken and loves a cabbage hung up! I have two of her chicks and cant wait for them to mature even though they are australorp crosses.

Hazel Hen!!

These are A highly reccomened breed because they are awesome overall
I would highly recommend them to anyone.

I love my Australorp. I bought her second hand from someone reducing her flock an she has been a sturdy dependable layer. Even at age 3 she still cranks out a bunch of eggs. I like the way she looks, she makes the other ladies look pretty small though as she has bigger tail feathers an just seems fluffier overall.

My Australorp is pretty smart. She knows when I am digging in the yard and she will wait for me next to my shovel for worms.

Ours was attacked by a raccoon a while back and she survived the attack thankfully.

She recovered quickly and is back to normal even after having her neck thrashed.

Anyhow I will always keep an Australorp in the flock. I feel like she kind of keeps the peace as the number 2 hen.

My Australorps are very friendly, they are always there to great you at the door and talk to you, but they are a hands off sort of birds because they will not jump on your lap and don't enjoy being picked up, though usually calm. They are also great layers their first year, then after that it rapidly declines, which is fine for pets, but not very good for comercial egg production. Overall I definitely recommend them if you want friendly chickens that don't need to be handled often.

I've had a few of these and love them a lot! I have a rooster right now only.He is very sweet! And the ladies love him! I use to have a hen and she hatched chicks in the middle of winter! She layed all year too and almost an egg every single day! Their eggs are very large in size as well! They are very beautiful too! They are pretty calm and don't get worked up to easily and get along with most everyone! Here is my only black australorp that I have right now his name is Maxwell.

i have two Australorps they're great birds,but they beat up the other chickens.

I have 1 Austerlorp and getting more her name is Sassy and she can be dominant but she's usauly the sweetest thing.She's very docile and lays around 300 eggs a year.She loves winter and summer
and get's along amazingly with the other chickens accept when she's mad which rarely happens and loves dust baths.Austerlorps are great for showing and are easy to handle because there so slow.I
LOVE my SASSY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have 4 Australorps in my flock. They are by far the best layers out of all my breeds (Dominiques, Speckled Sussex, Welsummers, Ameraucanas, Brown Leghorns, Cream Legbars and Bresse). They lay huge eggs 4+ days per week in the cooler months and 6+ days per week in warmer months, so they are a great bird for smaller flocks because even with just a few birds, you will likely get eggs on a daily basis.
They are excellent foragers and are a robust, healthy breed. They have the most beautiful, soulful eyes!

Our black Australorp was almost an afterthought. We were originally planning on having a flock of six birds, but at the last second, my husband thought we might as well go for eight. We added "Arise" (her name is a terribly obscure joke from Aqua Teen Hunger Force) to our box of chicks coming home, and she's been a jewel ever since.

Her feathers have that rainbow sheen to them, which always brings compliments from visitors, but more importantly, she is a friendly and gentle bird. We have young children, and temperament was our main concern with all of our chickens. She can sometimes get a bit salty - especially now that it's the dead of winter, and she's tired of being cooped up in the sub-zero weather but never aggressive. Speaking of winter, her comb and wattle are looking significantly less robust than they to in warmer temps. No signs of actual frostbite yet, but we are on the lookout!

Her curiosity makes her charming. She watches everything closely, she would actually jump into piles of leaves with our kids in the fall, and she is always one of the first chickens running up to us when we come outside.

She is one of our largest birds too. While we do not keep chickens as meat producers, if we ever do, I will consider Australorps for that.

the ones that I got were mean but I think that this is because I got them from a hatchery and not a breeder. But they are great egg layers.

I really loved my black Australorps. They was great layers, large, light brown eggs. Healthy build and beautiful feathers. They were not as "friendly" as other breeds when it came to a small back yard flock, as in they didn't like to be held or touched as much as the other breeds. Overall, great chickens!

Depending on why you want Australorps, their broodiness can be good or bad. For me it was bad. I struggled to make a nest box that my Australorps didn't want to brood in constantly. Thankfully they still let the other chickens lay in the nests they were brooding in. After figuring out how to stop their broodiness, they became great egg layers. They don't have much personality and are slow to figure things out, but they are still a great chicken breed.