They're a colorful, busy breed that lays well, white or slightly cream eggs. I think they're quite decorative on green grass. As far as personality, mine aren't especially friendly, except for one cockerel "Typo" who was the sole survivor of an incubator mishap and, because he was lonely, (mostly because I was bored) imprinted on me and was handled more than usual. But they are Italians, and they crow and cackle all day long. I call it "Chicken Opera". If given half a chance, they'll try to roost in trees; they fly rather well for a chicken, and, even if they don't go broody, they like to hide eggs.
True story; years ago, I found a broken egg by the back porch, and just assumed my young daughters had dropped it. later that day, there was another, and a couple of days later, two more. So I called the girls, showed them the mess and reminded them they needed to be more careful when gathering eggs. They all denied having dropped the eggs, and I was trying to impress on them that no one was in trouble but that they needed to be honest. They still all denied having dropped the eggs. I was getting irritated with the casual lying and was about to launch into my "honesty is the best policy lecture", when an egg ROLLED OFF THE ROOF and landed at our feet.
Huh.
So we get a ladder, climb up and see that the gutter is full of eggs because those Anconas have been flying up on the roof to lay in a niche by a stove pipe created by a piece of bent flashing. The niche was very shallow, and the eggs were rolling out and into the gutter which was so full it was about to pull off the house. In fact, when I tried to carefully remove them, I accidentally leaned on the gutter for support and it finally came loose at one end. The eggs rolled down the gutter like an assembly line and smashed on the sidewalk; blat, blat, blat, blat, blat, blat, blat, blat. My daughter told me that was one of her favorite memories growing up.