Reviews by GreenMum

Oh my beautiful little fat girls with the short legs! They looked so adorable running to greet me every time I went near the coop. Their stubby little legs would swing wide to get some speed...smiling just remembering. Unfortunately, one evening we found our neighbour's dog in our chicken yard with our four beautiful Silver Dorkings dead...one in each corner. I was so devastated I sat in my coop and cried over them. One day I will have lovely Dorkings again. One day.

There is no doubt in my mind that those monks in Quebec did a great thing! This is one of the best dual purpose birds I have had to date (let's keep in mind that I have only been keeping birds for about 5 years). Their egg production is very good, even through the winter months. Egg size is great and the colour is a lovely dark beige. My girls started laying at about five months. When I handle one of the girls, you can tell that there is a significant amount of meat on her and they are both filled out in all the right places. I only have the two girls so we haven't processed one yet, but I do know that if I was to be self-sufficient and wanting to find a bird that I could get both eggs and meat from, this would be my first try.

I only have two of these girls in my flock and they are both the same temperment...they like to be left alone. And not just by me, but by the other hens as well. They have no problem standing up for themselves which is surprising since they are probably the smallest breed I have in my yard. Their egg-laying is low; sometimes just three or four med/large blush-coloured eggs in a week. I was under the impression (according to "Henderson's Chicken Breed Chart") that their production would be 3-4 eggs per week, but mine have never produced that much. They are now two years old...I don't see it getting better, but I will certainly keep them. The silver/grey colour is definitely a pretty addition to my flock.


Even in a molt she's pretty

I originally got Ameraucana's because of the egg colour. Who could resist green/blue eggs? Once I started to raise them...well! The first thing that struck me was how much they resemble predators, with those beards puffing out the sides of their faces. When they face you straight on...totally reminds me of something out of Jurassic Park . But on the flip side of that coin, when they come racing over to you to get their treats and their beards are swinging free... they are just too cute for words!
I have had them in my flock since 2009 and can't imagine a bunch of girls without them. They add character to the yard (not that mine really needs much more character LOL) and colour to the carton. I really adore them.
I've read a few posts that people find them unfriendly and aggressive with other birds; I have two different batches of them in my flock right now. The first I got in 2009 and the second in 2011. The girls in 2009 I spend a fair amount of time with as they were my first shipment of chicks. These girls are supremely friendly, very docile, don't run away when I try to touch them they just sort of move out of the way of my hand and then look at me. The girls from the 2011 shipment are more stand-offish. But they will still come running to get treats and only one of them is what I would call aggressive. Interestingly, she got sick last winter and when she got better, it was like she wasn't going to take any more crap from anyone and started to assert herself. She really got picked on a lot when she was ill.
Anyway, I'm babbling here (get used to it folks, it happens a lot ). End story: LOVE my Ameraucana's!