New additions (Sebright, Cemani cross, Polish etc)

[Cyprus]

Personally I don't havent had any of those breeds but I would say that if your wanting friendly hens that you can pick up easily, just spend time with them and let them get to know you and trust you. They are quick learners and will soon associate you with feed! I have heard that sebrights can be flighty but that's not to say they are all the same. I have some white leghorn hens and I cant get near them. When I do hold them they are very calm and don't struggle about though. If you are looking to get a cockerals, watch out for the polish. He will pull the feathers out on her head. I have a araucana that has only just started to regrow her head feathers from my cockeral. I had to rehome the cockeral.

This is my experience:

Any and all sebrights I've ever owned or met have been insane. They would practically break their necks trying to get away as fast possible. And if, by God, I caught one it would SCREAM bloody murder incessantly.

My white Leghorns, on the other hand, are approachable. One even likes to come up to be held. She's an attention hog.

 

[CCUK]

This is my experience:

Any and all sebrights I've ever owned or met have been insane. They would practically break their necks trying to get away as fast possible. And if, by God, I caught one it would SCREAM bloody murder incessantly.

My white Leghorns, on the other hand, are approachable. One even likes to come up to be held. She's an attention hog.

Yes. They can be so different. I think I'm about the only person with flighty leghorn. They kat the most big beautiful eggs though. The friendliest are my araucanas. One is quite happy to sit on my shoulder whilst I'm doing jobs around the garden!

 

[BASMP]

I feed the chickens here some fish, two, or three times a week; about a palm full for say 4 chickens so not lots. They do free range but it can get very dry here, a bit like Greece, and the fish in addition to their normal feed I believe helps make up for the lack of bugs in dry weather. You can see the difference in foraging behaviour after it's rained.
Something like cooked sardines will provide oil and vitamins.

Unfortunately they re not that fond of fish..Its not so dry though, here in my place..plenty of bugs for them..Maybe i should try canned fish? Is this any good for chickens??

 

[Shadrach]

Unfortunately they re not that fond of fish..Its not so dry though, here in my place..plenty of bugs for them..Maybe i should try canned fish? Is this any good for chickens??

Canned fish is okay, but what it's canned in may not be. Sunflower oil I try to avoid, the same for brine because of the high salt content.
Cooked meat is another option.

 

[BASMP]

Personally I don't havent had any of those breeds but I would say that if your wanting friendly hens that you can pick up easily, just spend time with them and let them get to know you and trust you. They are quick learners and will soon associate you with feed! I have heard that sebrights can be flighty but that's not to say they are all the same. I have some white leghorn hens and I cant get near them. When I do hold them they are very calm and don't struggle about though. If you are looking to get a cockerals, watch out for the polish. He will pull the feathers out on her head. I have a araucana that has only just started to regrow her head feathers from my cockeral. I had to rehome the cockeral.

Many of them are mixes but I would like to know mixes of which breeds if someone has the knowledge. My older flock is just like that, calm and docile with a few little individual differences of course! Yes, Sebrights and Leghorns are said to be flighty but I havent experience such an incident..I had a Leghorn hen years ago and she was quite a calm bird. My Sebright pullet I posted at the start of this thread is calm and friendly, too..Not nervous and skittish at all. And my other bantams that I have them for some time now, are friendly and calm as well.
I already have 4 cockerels, 2 bantams (6 and 3,5 months old) and 2 most probably Red Rangers (4 months old) that you can see here as well my older Polish pullet:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/1-month-after.1333660/#post-21784179

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/1-month-after-part-2.1333680/#post-21784101

So far even though my white bantam cockerel has started his reproduction activity there is not a problem of violent behavior or loss of feathers etc..I think its due to his small size, too. He's quite friendly especially to my first Polish pullet as you can see (I purchased them together some months ago. But I'll keep an eye to those things you described.

 

[BASMP]

Canned fish is okay, but what it's canned in may not be. Sunflower oil I try to avoid, the same for brine because of the high salt content.
Cooked meat is another option.

I read that you can feed them dry cat food, too. Whats your opinion?

 

[BASMP]

This is my experience:

Any and all sebrights I've ever owned or met have been insane. They would practically break their necks trying to get away as fast possible. And if, by God, I caught one it would SCREAM bloody murder incessantly.

My white Leghorns, on the other hand, are approachable. One even likes to come up to be held. She's an attention hog.

I guess it depends on each individual chicken's characteristics, the way you grow them, etc..My cemani mix hen is this way when i try to catch her. I think she's more sensitive though because of her moulting.

 

[Ted_Harrell]

On #3, I was going to guess Ayam Cemani/Australorp mix.

 

[Shadrach]

I read that you can feed them dry cat food, too. Whats your opinion?

I've never tried feeding the chickens cat food although I know others do.
I try to avoid feeding them anything that may contain additives and preservatives so I suppose it depends on what's in the cat food.
Also, cat food and the vitamin drinks tend to be expensive.
I would try plain cooked fish and mix it in with their normal feed.

 

[BASMP]

Yes. They can be so different. I think I'm about the only person with flighty leghorn. They kat the most big beautiful eggs though. The friendliest are my araucanas. One is quite happy to sit on my shoulder whilst I'm doing jobs around the garden!

No, I dont think you re the only person as most articles I read about Leghorn, describe this breed as such, flighty and nervous..On the other hand my Araucana hen is 50-50..I mean she's not flighty, quite friendly but she she keeps her distance