Which breeds for kids?

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kimmypie

kimmypie

Songster
10 Years
Sep 1, 2010
368
10
169
Utah
We will probably get 4 chickens next spring (I like to plan ahead!) and I'm wondering which breeds are best for kids? We have 4 young kids (The oldest is 7, youngest 18 months) so we'd like to get birds that will be friendly. We will start from chicks if that makes a difference. Thanks for any advice, we have never had chickens before and I'm getting really excited!

Oh, and we live in Utah and I didn't see any breeders in Utah, is a feed store or an online hatchery my only bet for getting chicks?
 
If size is not a concern, Brahmas are wonderful and docile - they give a decent amount of eggs also. They are pretty big though. Beautiful birds that come in a few colors, and very tame usually. My light Brahma rooster was huge and he followed us around that yard begging for treats - but hid at the sight of unfamiliar faces. He was good to the hens and was never people or kid aggressive. He would help feed the chicks as well - awesome breed!
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If you go with feed store I'd choose Barred Rock or Buff Orps, not Leghorns or any red such as RIR, NH Red, production red. These are breeds commonly found in feed stores around here. If they have bantams or Silkies they are usually fine. Lots of people like EE's (hatcheries usually call them Ameraucanas) because of the chance of blue or green eggs. These are also a cross. They can range from friendly good blue egg layers to mean tan egg layers who lay few eggs.

Not because there is anything wrong with a good quality RIR or the others, but because of what hatcheries call RIR, which are cross bred.

If you do happen upon a good breeder, that's the best choice.
 
My vote is silkies.
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They are the sweetest most tame chickens I have. Plus they just plain look silly and are fun! But they can go broody pretty often. Easter Eggers are supposed to be very friendly and docile quiet birds, although the one I have doesn't let me touch her or get near her but that is probably because I bought her from a farmer and she is an older bird.

Have you talked to the feed store where you are and see if anybody there has baby chicks? Honestly when I first started out on my chicken adventure last year I put a wanted ad in the farm and garden section of my local craigslist and added a picture of our "empty lonely coop looking to share sunsets and candle light laying mash dinners with some fellow hens" and low and behold people replied to me saying that they had some hens for sale that I could come by and see. Then I would contact them and ask them if they knew anybody else that had a specific breed I was looking for and they refered me to someone else and so on and so on.
 
I am new to chickens myself, so I couldnt offer you ideas on the best breed for children, however I have studied in depth about parasites and chickens. I do suggest that you buy from a breeder who is NPIP certified (NPIP= National poultry improvement project). I also encourage you to de worm your chickens monthly using a gentle wormer like pyrantel pamoate. round worms can sometimes blind a child. more likely from unwormed dogs or cats though. I wired a bottle of hand sanitizer outside my coop and use it before i go in, and after I leave the coop. Congrats on planning ahead.

Donna in Branson
 
We've had a few different breeds over the years...easter eggers, leghorns, barred and white rocks, red and black sex links, wyandottes..We currently have 2 easter eggers and a silkie and I have to say that the silkie is absolutely the best breed for children. our easter eggers have been really docile too and our daughter can pick them up. But she loves the silkie. the leghorns did not like to be touched and our wyandotte was very mean. The sex links and rocks were in between, they would only come up to you if you had treats.

I would go with easter eggers or silkies. It always helps when you raise them from day old chicks and they are used to being handled.
 
I just called the local feed store and they carry a TON of different breeds. She said them fast, but these are the ones I picked up on that I was interested in.

Ameraucana (and these are just Easter Eggers since they aren't a breeder right?)
black australorp
buff brahma
cochin
gold lace wyandotte
maran
buff orpington

We'd like a mixed flock of good egg layers that are calm and good with children. Not that the kids will be handling all them all the time, but I would like for the chickens not to run away scared any time we get close. I'd like to get an Easter Egger for the cool colored eggs, a black Australorp just for fun because my husband is Australian, and then two others.
 
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Silkies are perfect if your kids arent evil, like mine is... Remind them that "no, they cannot fly. No matter how high you throw them."

I like amerucanas too, lots of personality and even my rooster is very tolerant of mischief
 
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We have 2 gold laced wyandottes - very good layers, nice birds, friendly but not overly so.
We also have 2 Easter Eggers - super friendly, sit on your lap, good layers - one lays blue & one lays green. Would highly recommend them - they are not only really nice but super cute.
We just got a buff orpington and we've heard great things about them - supposed to be really good backyard birds.
 
i did a ton of research on this because i am getting chicks in a few days and have a 21 month old and 3.5 year old. they LOVE going to the farmers market and holding the chickens and bunnies.

I chose all bantams because i live in the suburbs and i did not want big chickens that could potentially scare/hurt my boys. egg production wasn't a huge concern for me but the ones i chose have medium production....not as high as chickens bred for their egg production but can be reliable (when not broody).

this is what i am getting. I ordered from cackle hatchery and getting 5 of each kind, figuring half will end up as roos. they are all known for being calm, sweet personalities.

silkies
buff orpington
easter eggers
 

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