Reviews by ChickenWisperer

The Holland is one of those dreamy, perfect breeds for every owner of a mixed flock or the person who desires good producing birds that are friendly and low-stress.

This is a breed that EVERYONE should own.

Not only are they beautiful, unflinchingly calm, quiet and sedate, they're great layers of XXL white eggs. Extremely hardy, they've done superbly well for me in a so. KY climate - winters below 0 with windchill, snow, and ice, and summers well over 100 degrees with humidity so bad you can't hardly breathe. They're great in coops or as freeranging foragers. Best of all? They fit in GREAT in just about any flock, and are just as personable with people as they are other chickens. I adore this breed!

And it's not like they're hard to look at either.

Want a huge personality in a little package? A little bird that can run with the big birds? A super friendly long-tailed friend? Get a Cubalaya.

They're great birds, even in mixed flocks. They can (and will) take up for themselves, but aren't bird aggressive. They're SUPER friendly with people, extremely personable, and have huge personalities. They're great free-rangers and economical eaters. Very hardy in cold or heat!

They have few downsides - one, the eggs are small (like them) and two - they're downright fearless. This seems like a good thing at first, but a little hen I had once killed herself - my father was out in the backyard, sawing up wood - she flew up to perch on him, nearly landing on the running chainsaw! They're crazy little buggers, but they'll make you smile. I miss my girl terribly and I'd love to have another one day.

These birds are a bunch of dorks! No, seriously, they really are. Dorkings, that is.

They're great birds - very friendly, lots of personality, non bird-aggressive, good foragers, usually get along with everyone, great layers of decent sized eggs.... But they're dorks. I'm serious! They're kinda weird, a little too enthusiastic about everything, sometimes a bit socially inept and tend to be easily distracted... but hey, we love them all the more for it! They're also extremely hardy - they do well in SoKY climate, where winters can get below freezing with horrible wind chill and snow/ice, and summers over 100 with humidity so bad you can't even breathe.

Only bad things one can possibly say about these birds is that they get dirty really easy, and sometimes, they're a bit loud.

Barnevelders are great to look at, but not all that great for someone who wants friendly birds.

They're really, really skittish. I never once mistreated mine, hand raised them, yet any time I would go to the coop or walk up to them while free ranging they would run screaming from me. Have nary a clue why, other than that's just the way the breed is. Also, they're really, really loud.

However, they're great layers. But, their eggs are neither particularly large or particularly dark. They're also hardy birds, but seem to do better in winter than summer. My birds were fine in KY winters but tanked a bit in the sweltering and humid heat.

Don't get me wrong - I really do like my Brahmas, but I don't love them.

Brahmas do very well in mixed flocks, in my experience are never bird-aggressive and can usually take up for themselves. They usually get along with EVERYONE in the flock but never seem to have any close friends.

It's neither a pro nor con to me - but they do go broody fairly often. My girls usually tried to brood about once a year but didn't drive us batty like the Cochins did. Also, they're weird. I don't know how to explain it any better than the fact we don't often call our Brahma by name, but instead elect to call her "Dur dur durr".

However, Brahmas are pretty bad layers of hysterically small eggs, and they'll eat you out of house and home. The one dark Brahma I have left probably eats more than the other 7 chickens in the coop combined.

Though my birds were great layers, I will NEVER have them in any flock ever again. These birds are highly aggressive and they'll be your #1 source of feather picking, bullying, and cannibalism problems in the flock - unless, that is, you've got Delawares, Orloffs, or especially RIR.

The birds might not be that bad with other aggressive breeds that can tumble with them - but I'll never take on the stress of owning them again.

DO NOT BUY THESE BIRDS FOR MIXED FLOCKS. You'll be walking into a world of hurt!

I absolutely ADORE Spitzhaubens.

They are great layers for their size and type, extremely friendly, non bird aggressive and absolutely stunning in any flock. For their smaller size, they're incredibly hardy birds and lay well even in winter. They've got an exotic look without the idiocy and finicky nature of other tophats - plus, a huge bonus, their tophats don't obscure their vision and they are great free-range birds. There were few others in my flock that could out-forage my Spitz.

They are a GREAT choice for mixed breed flocks - they're neither aggressive nor overtly submissive, usually take up for themselves well and can form friendships in the flock. They're smart birds and they WILL make you smile.

I miss my Spitz dearly and would love to have the breed again.

I would suggest Langshans to just about anyone with a docile flock. While they are very large birds, they are non-aggressive, decent layers, and very nice to look at. They don't have a lot of personality in my limited experience, but I find they are nice to raise regardless.

I will agree, the RIR and production red I owned were better layers than any other breed I've had to date. They were very friendly to me and were nice to look at, but they were the main proponent of aggression in my flock for over a year. I gave them multiple chances to correct behavior began to free range, gave them stimulation, but nothing worked. They killed 2 birds before I got rid of them and I'll never own another.

I loved my Marans. While they didn't lay as much as my Australorps, they did have good personalities and were very nice to look at.

A roo I handraised and hatched myself was the best rooster I've ever owned. I still miss my Ashi and regret selling him, but he was simply too big for some of my little hens.




I don't currently have any Marans, but I want some again!

I had my blue Cochins for well over a year.

The birds shied away from human contact, were either scared of all my other birds or aggressive, and never laid many eggs.

Some people value broodiness, but I couldn't hardly stand it and it was a CONSTANT struggle to get her off the nest. Most all of my eggs were ruined when they were broody and when I did give her fertile eggs, she got off a few days from the hatch and moved to a new box.

Cochins may be for some people, but definitely not for me. I don't plan on owning them again.

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 to mention they are great with other birds. They take up for themselves VERY well but are also in my experience one of the most bird-friendly breeds I've had in my flock. They don't crave human contact but they definitely have personalities and enjoy your company. I believe birds that were hand raised would probably crave human contact like my others.

My hen was purchased from the Amish and raised around some fairly bird aggressive breeds (RIR, sex links, poor quality Wyandottes) but even so, she is the best head hen I could ever ask for. She deals out punishment with an iron clad fist but is happy to sit back and enjoy life with 0% aggression when she can. She gets along well from every bird from my Faverolle to my EE's to the Langshan without any problem whatsoever.

At 5 years old, my baby girl Tau'i was still laying and still the head hen to this day. It will be a sad day when she leaves us, but I will make sure there is always at least one Australorp in our flock!

ETA: Tau'i just passed a week ago due to internal laying/ovarian cancer. We are terribly upset that she's gone after being with us for 6 years... but she left many good memories and I still miss seeing the "bird with no eyes" out there in the coop.

I bought my Delaware with a group of breeds thinking I was getting a great bird that would do well in a mixed flock and also be a good egglayer.

Wrong.

Even though I raised my hen with docile breeds, it didn't matter at all. It was soon clear when they hit laying age that she was highly aggressive and completely intolerable to everyone else. She would chase down my other birds just to pull their feathers out! She literally terrorized them and would not leave them be. The breaking point was when some of the birds couldn't even eat because of her. She had to go!!

She began laying early and laid every day, great sized eggs for a pullet, but in my book if a bird cannot get along with other breeds and be a good layer then they might as well be worthless. I thought perhaps she was a fluke, but I was proved wrong when many other Delaware owners or previous owners told me that they absolutely couldn't have them in a flock with any birds who weren't also bird aggressive.

While little Lilly was a good girl to me, I will never own another Delaware again.