Welcome to the article. Most likely if you clicked here, you're a new chicken person or you wanted to add something to this article. This article will be open to anyone who wants to edit and correct spelling or grammatical errors, or to add your "two cents" of inforomation.
Many new chicken people wonder: Which breed is best?
Each person has their differing opinion about breeds. BYC is an excellent resource for chicken breed and product reviews. The reviews are by people who've actually had experience with that breed. How much better can it get? In each BYC review, there will be pros, cons, ratings, pictures, and descriptions.
The true answer to: Which chicken breed is best? is ALL of them!
For years, chickens have been utilized for different things. Some may keep their chickens as pets, while others keep them to show them. Some may keep their chickens for egg layers, while others raise them for meat. In fact, some people might do all of those listed above
In this article, we will focus on a few different breeds. Members are welcome to jump in and add a breed, correct any spelling/grammatical errors, etc.
The Golden Sex Link
As a first breed, we'll focus on the Golden Sex Link breed (otherwise knows as Golden Comets, Golden Stars, Gold Links, etc. abbreviations: GSL)
Photos:
(BantyChooks's photos)
(End of BantyChooks's photos)
Photo Descriptions: In the above chick picture, the yellow/brown chicks are Gold Link chicks. The picture of the hen is my chicken, Katie who sadly died last year. She was a Golden Link hen.
Breed Description: These hens are so friendly. They make excellent "pets" or egg layers. They are bred for egg production, so their life span isn't very long, but if you're lucky, you could get a hen or rooster who lives for years! Because of being bred for egg production, egg laying will start to gradually "burn out" after the second year. These hens lay extra large brown eggs and my biggest egg I have was laid by one of these girls (measuring 7"x5"). These chickens make an excellent first breed for any chicken newbies. They are very easily feather sexed. This is because when they feather out, the cockerels will be solid white, while pullets will be reddish/golden. They don't go broody often either.
Pros: easily feather sex, amazingly extra large eggs, friendly/docile, very hardy to most climates.
Cons: Bred for egg production so they most likely will have a short life span.
The Barred Plymouth Rock
Our second breed is the Barred Plymouth Rock (BPR or BR).
Photos:
Photo Descriptions: Several pictures are of my BR rooster, Wings throughout his life. In the chick picture, the black chicks with the white dot on their head are Barred Rocks.
Breed Description: The hens lay extra large brown eggs, they are heavier because they are also bred for meat, they are gorgeous, and mostly friendly! One thing I find though is that they require to be handled more as chicks if you want them to be calmer as adults. Lastly, they are a harder breed to feather sex, being that the cockerels and pullets look similar till they reach a certain age.
Pros: excellent layers, good for meat, mostly docile, roosters are VERY friendly, and they are very(very, very, very) hardy.
Cons: Larger in size (although this isn't a bad thing if you ar elooking to breed for meat), they tend to go broody more often than a breed like Gold Sex Links.
The Silkie
Our next breed? The Silkie! Please note that my Silkies are NOT show quality and are only hatchery stock. Show quality Silkies will look a little different than hatchery stock.
Photos:
(BantyChooks's photos)
Buff silkie
? color silkie
(End of BantyChooks's photos)
Photo Descriptions: The chick pictures are of my Silkies as babies. The adult Silkie pictures are of my hen, Connie.
Breed Description: The Silkies are a very unique breed. They usually vary in temperament. I had two that were cuddly, but also had two that were "flighty". The Silkies are typically bred for show, so they only lay small-medium cream/off white eggs up to 3-4 times a week. Silkies have five toes, they don't have regular feathers. Their feathers are so soft that some people relate it to the "down" feathers that chicks have till they feather out.
Pros: great for showing, excellent pets, mostly a calmer breed, can be an egg layer if you only want about 1-4 eggs a week.
Cons: not the greatest at egg laying
More breeds coming soon!
Members: feel free to edit/add any breeds to the list. If you've added anything or fixed anything in the article, please post your name in the list below:
Thank you to the following members for their upkeep, management, and any information/photos added to the article:
@ChickenLover200
@BantyChooks
Thank you for reading! Stay tuned for more breeds!
Many new chicken people wonder: Which breed is best?
Each person has their differing opinion about breeds. BYC is an excellent resource for chicken breed and product reviews. The reviews are by people who've actually had experience with that breed. How much better can it get? In each BYC review, there will be pros, cons, ratings, pictures, and descriptions.
The true answer to: Which chicken breed is best? is ALL of them!
For years, chickens have been utilized for different things. Some may keep their chickens as pets, while others keep them to show them. Some may keep their chickens for egg layers, while others raise them for meat. In fact, some people might do all of those listed above
In this article, we will focus on a few different breeds. Members are welcome to jump in and add a breed, correct any spelling/grammatical errors, etc.
The Golden Sex Link
As a first breed, we'll focus on the Golden Sex Link breed (otherwise knows as Golden Comets, Golden Stars, Gold Links, etc. abbreviations: GSL)
Photos:
(BantyChooks's photos)
(End of BantyChooks's photos)
Photo Descriptions: In the above chick picture, the yellow/brown chicks are Gold Link chicks. The picture of the hen is my chicken, Katie who sadly died last year. She was a Golden Link hen.
Breed Description: These hens are so friendly. They make excellent "pets" or egg layers. They are bred for egg production, so their life span isn't very long, but if you're lucky, you could get a hen or rooster who lives for years! Because of being bred for egg production, egg laying will start to gradually "burn out" after the second year. These hens lay extra large brown eggs and my biggest egg I have was laid by one of these girls (measuring 7"x5"). These chickens make an excellent first breed for any chicken newbies. They are very easily feather sexed. This is because when they feather out, the cockerels will be solid white, while pullets will be reddish/golden. They don't go broody often either.
Pros: easily feather sex, amazingly extra large eggs, friendly/docile, very hardy to most climates.
Cons: Bred for egg production so they most likely will have a short life span.
The Barred Plymouth Rock
Our second breed is the Barred Plymouth Rock (BPR or BR).
Photos:
Photo Descriptions: Several pictures are of my BR rooster, Wings throughout his life. In the chick picture, the black chicks with the white dot on their head are Barred Rocks.
Breed Description: The hens lay extra large brown eggs, they are heavier because they are also bred for meat, they are gorgeous, and mostly friendly! One thing I find though is that they require to be handled more as chicks if you want them to be calmer as adults. Lastly, they are a harder breed to feather sex, being that the cockerels and pullets look similar till they reach a certain age.
Pros: excellent layers, good for meat, mostly docile, roosters are VERY friendly, and they are very(very, very, very) hardy.
Cons: Larger in size (although this isn't a bad thing if you ar elooking to breed for meat), they tend to go broody more often than a breed like Gold Sex Links.
The Silkie
Our next breed? The Silkie! Please note that my Silkies are NOT show quality and are only hatchery stock. Show quality Silkies will look a little different than hatchery stock.
Photos:
(BantyChooks's photos)
Buff silkie
? color silkie
(End of BantyChooks's photos)
Photo Descriptions: The chick pictures are of my Silkies as babies. The adult Silkie pictures are of my hen, Connie.
Breed Description: The Silkies are a very unique breed. They usually vary in temperament. I had two that were cuddly, but also had two that were "flighty". The Silkies are typically bred for show, so they only lay small-medium cream/off white eggs up to 3-4 times a week. Silkies have five toes, they don't have regular feathers. Their feathers are so soft that some people relate it to the "down" feathers that chicks have till they feather out.
Pros: great for showing, excellent pets, mostly a calmer breed, can be an egg layer if you only want about 1-4 eggs a week.
Cons: not the greatest at egg laying
More breeds coming soon!
Members: feel free to edit/add any breeds to the list. If you've added anything or fixed anything in the article, please post your name in the list below:
Thank you to the following members for their upkeep, management, and any information/photos added to the article:
@ChickenLover200
@BantyChooks
Thank you for reading! Stay tuned for more breeds!
