Best breed for backyard coop?

[Brahmamama4]

I would love advice on what breed I should choose for my backyard coop. I had Brahmas last year and ended up having to find them a home because they were clucking and doing their egg song all day long. I have a neighbor who works the night shift as a police officer so I want to have a pretty quiet breed. I've also been looking for Cochins, but they seem to be hard to find in our area. Any input would be greatly appreciated!

 

[PtldChick]

What are your goals for you backyard flock? Both brahmas and cochins are large feathered breeds, which means a lot of feed goes into maintiaing that body size and the feathers. Their egg production and size is not remarkable, especially given their size. They have a rather high feed to egg production ratio. I fyou just wnat a couple of pretty birds and you don't care about getting a lot of eggs for your moeny, lots of epole like Cochins. Faverolles are also pretty and fluffy, feather-footed birds - cute faces with their beards, and lay more eggs. they're considered a good breed for the Northwest. If you'reein Western WA, you probably already learend last year that having feather-footed breeds means they will have muddy little boots all winter long.

Any breed of chickens can be loud or quiet. They will all be loud at times, especially once they start laying. Some individual birds are louder than others, just their personality. If your neighbor is pretty sensitive to noise, you might want to buy him/her one of those white noise machines to help keep peace!

 

[Brahmamama4]

If we were to get a few eggs a week I would be fine with that. We don't need a ton of eggs and I'm only planning on having a few chickens. I was just looking at the chicken selector on mypetchicken.com and it gave me a few suggestions I hadn't considered such as Orpingtons and bantams. Are bantams usually quieter? I suppose I will just have to buy a few extra and weed out the noisy ones..

 

[tinalibnania]

Duct tape!

 

[tec27]

Cant go wrong with RIR's. They lay a lot of eggs though. They're usually docile and quiet. They are the standard "backyard" bird.

 

[Cindy in PA]

Cant go wrong with RIR's. They lay a lot of eggs though. They're usually docile and quiet. They are the standard "backyard" bird.

I only had RIR once & they were mean, noisy and didn't lay worth a hoot! Not being mean, just saying I really don't think you can generalize about any breed. I have had about 10 different breeds over the last 19 years & some of each have been quiet, loud, nasty, good & bad layers. Chickens make noise. Dogs make noise. I had bantams and they were as loud as large fowl. If you have to worry constantly about neighbors, I can't imagine it's any fun! Good luck with your search, just don't expect any certain breed to be exactly as someone says.

 

[Eggcessive]

Mille Fleur d'uccle chickens lay a decent sized small egg for a banty, and my hen is as quiet as can be. They are beautiful birds, too. My salmon faverolles are also quiet, very sweet, layed back, and lay good size large eggs. We have 21 different breeds and those are the most quiet.

 

[Nija Chick]

I can imagine the horror of having to keep my lovvies quiet my Roo, Bàbá adìye wakes me and the neighbors at 7am sharp! and my girls although quiet most of the time, announce loudly about laying each egg. i count it as my just due for all the neighbors parties, and loud dogs no one dares complain or i'll put Bàbá adìye in a cage and park him outside their bedroom window Muhahahaha!! Love the country!

 

[PsychoChicken]

I have 2 Barred Rocks and they are only loud when they see me. When I spy on them and they don't know I am there- they hardly make a peep. I also have 2 Black Australorps and they make even less noise. Both are great egg laying breed and friendly. I would try the Australorps if I were you.

 

[tec27]

I only had RIR once & they were mean, noisy and didn't lay worth a hoot! Not being mean, just saying I really don't think you can generalize about any breed. I have had about 10 different breeds over the last 19 years & some of each have been quiet, loud, nasty, good & bad layers. Chickens make noise. Dogs make noise. I had bantams and they were as loud as large fowl. If you have to worry constantly about neighbors, I can't imagine it's any fun! Good luck with your search, just don't expect any certain breed to be exactly as someone says.

You had to have some bad RIR. They are one of the best laying breeds.