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Andalusian

The Andalusian breed of chicken, like the beautiful Andalusian horse, was developed in the...
Pros: Quiet
Great free-ranger
Reliable egg layer
Gorgeous
Friendly
Cons: Flighty
Hidden nests
The good and the bad about our Andalusian:

The good- She is a great layer of small round eggs (about 6-7 a week). She is a likable bird in the coop, somewhere in the middle of the pecking order and I have never seen her bully any of the other hens. Very quiet and I hardly notice she's there half the time, but she will come running as soon as I call her.
The bad- She loves to make hidden nests. Just the other day I found 6 eggs in the hay bales. She also likes to sleep in the rafters of the coop instead of the roosting bars which kinda makes a mess in the water... oh well. Doesn't like to be pet or held in the slightest (will screech like your trying to burn her alive).

In all a we love our Andalusian and may get more in the future.
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Purchase Price
Free
Pros: Great personalities
Cons: Small white eggs
Ok. Generally speaking, people either love Mediterranean birds or they hate them. I love them. And I recognize that they are not for everyone.

They are extremely active. They don't like confinement, and are escape artists. Heck, they can fly. And I don't mean fly like a big fat chicken. I mean they can fly. You may see them hanging out on top of the coop. Just because they can.

Mine laid smallish white eggs, and they did not lay as much as my other breeds. I just loved them for their beauty and their quirky little personalities.
Pros: beautiful colors, friendly
Cons: rarely laying
nice chicken but rarely lays
Purchase Price
15 usd
Purchase Date
3/3/18
Pros: Curious and friendly, even tempered. Lays every other day at a year old. Does well in my covered run with high roosts.
Cons: Doesn't want picked up or reached for, will sidle away. Had frostbite on comb worse than all the others this winter.
Matilda was a jumper from the first minute out of the box. She likes to be up high. She still flies to my shoulder to say hello some days. She wants to come to me not the other way around. She avoids being picked up and doesn't like being reached for. She uses the nesting box and lays about every other day at a year old. I am very very pleased with her. She is happy in my smallish covered run but I do have a small flock and many high roosts which she prefers. She doesn't cause trouble with the other girls and stands somewhere in the middle of the pecking order.
Purchase Price
4.00
Purchase Date
May 2016
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Pros: Beautiful, Good Egg Layers, Show Stoppers
Cons: Hard to find quality stock, big and flighty, bad in cold weather
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Purchase Price
$200
Purchase Date
Forget
Pros: Hens were very tame and docile
Cons: A lot of roosters are people aggressive.
My hens were tame to the point of annoying, they would fly up and eat off my feed bucket while I was carrying it. The hens starting laying early and layed a nice sized eggs. The rooster was a different story. He was so worried about going after the kids that he would chase them all the way into the house. I came out one day to my daughter trapped in the building by him. If you can find a good rooster they are a great breed to have or if you just want some good hens.
Purchase Price
$3 each
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Pros: Very thrifty
Extremely friendly and often prefers to be inside with me rather than with the flock
Inquisitive
neither aggressive nor a doormat
Bold
Very social
Cons: Definitely likes to be "Up" and will need regular wing clipping
My adorable Andalusian (Lucille or LuLu) was a late addition to my brooder. I stopped into a feed store and they had just gotten a batch of Blue Andalusians from Privett. One of the hatchlings marched right up to my hand and snuggled into it, crying until I enclosed her in my hand... then fell promptly to sleep. Of course she came home with me!

I have heard mixed reviews on Andalusians, so I didn't know what to expect. Throughout her chick-hood she was my little buddy and needed to be on my shoulder or in my hand at all times. She's 18 weeks old now and while she enjoys her flockmates, many afternoons are spent with her following me around inside the house or napping on my outstretched legs.

She isn't "show quality" which doesn't matter in the slightest to me. She IS one of my favorite girls (shhh... don't tell the others!) however, and I can't imagine my flock without her.

I'll update my review once she hits POL.
Purchase Price
6.00
Purchase Date
07012017

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Pros: About 1 in 5 are gorgeous
Cons: Flighty, eggs aren't great, obnoxious
I moved these hens along after only a year and will not order them again. They are extremely flighty (over the fence almost daily), they are not exceptional layers, comparatively, and the eggs they do lay are the least yummy eggs I've harvested from chickens (barely, if at all, better than your typical high end grocery egg). They also took living IN the nesting boxes, (despite ample roosting space) something I've seen no other breed do. This would have just been quaint, I suppose, if they also didn't also quickly crap all of them up requiring constant cleaning or all of our eggs would be covered in poop every day.

Hopefully the hens themselves will be tastier than their eggs.
Pros: Good Layer, Friendly with others in flock, Beautiful Bird
Cons: Flighty and skiddish of everything









Our Blue Bell is a lovely bird. She is a great layer and good with the other 8- Sister Chicks. Good layer, 5-7 eggs per week. Not very friendly, and flies even with clipped wings. She flew into the neighbors yard and got attacked by their dog. She is in recovery. She has let us treat her without any trouble. As she recoups, she has gotten her skittishness back. Beautiful Bird!! And Very friendly with the other girls in the flock.
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Pros: Pretty, Unique, mine are annoyingly friendly
Cons: Haven't found any yet
I have 3 Andalusian (2 Girls, 1 Boy)... they are being raised with Lakenvelder, Cornish, Brahma and Nacked Necks... the whole group is so friendly, they try to climb all over me any chance they get. The Andalusian were the first to come to my hand at 2 wks old teaching the others to trust me. The Andalusian are the bigger birds of the bunch, and so are the more dominant set, but only the male is overly pushy around food, but from my experience all of my males have been that way. I'm pretty sure I will be tripping over these three constantly once they are grown enough to go outside and not worry about the winter cold. It was a good last minute choice for me. Mine are from Welp Hatchery if that matters to anyone deciding. (My male is a splash, my females are Laced)
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Pros: *A gorgeous bird* *Cold hardy* *Good egg producer* *Broody* *Hens are sweet*
Cons: *A bit skiddish at points* *Roosters are aggressive* *Very flighty* *Doesn't like to be caught*
My friend has had several Andalusians throughout her chicken experience, and her rooster, Bitty Cloud, was probably an even meaner than my first Arucana rooster, Chubby-Cheeks the 1st, and that's saying something! Even though her rooster was a meanie, her hen, Winnifred, is a good egg producer, even if she is still skiddish and flighty. But these are somewhat decorative birds in my opinion, especially the roosters. I definitely wouldn't recommend this bird to a beginner.
Pros: Rather steady layer of white eggs
Cons: Flighty
Had to clip both wings. She was constantly going to neighbors yard to graze over a 6 foot fence. She always came back, but did not want the complaints. Love her markings, and her comb is so large it folds over to one side. Mine is not very tame, very standoffish. Will come up for treats but will not compete with the other birds to get them. I have to toss them in her direction. I wish I would have bought more of them when they were available at the feed store.
Purchase Price
3.49
Purchase Date
2015-06-13
Pros: Beautiful, Smart, Quick
Cons: Intimidated, Flighty, Quick
I love our Blue Ands! We currently have two females and one male. Our male is currently the top of the pecking order, and he was the first to learn to crow (at only 8 weeks, impressive right?). His comb is beautiful, big, and red, while the females have smaller combs colored grey and pink (currently 11 weeks old). They have great personalities, although they run away as soon as our hands come anywhere close to them. The male isn't as afraid of us. I mention that them being "quick" is both a pro and a con, because they are able to get away in case of a predator attack, but a con because you'll be chasing them around everywhere if you need to catch them to look at them. They are very smart birds, and have a much sleeker head and longer, narrower beak than my others.


Above is our lighter female. She has specks of black feathers all over her, including a prominent black feather in her tail. Our other female is darker.


Here is a side view of our rooster. He's so handsome, right?
Pros: beautiful! can fly really well! good at free ranging
Cons: scared of EVERYTHING, flighty! panicky, if you catch them be prepared to put ear plugs in.
i got one in a batch from a hatchery she is the most BEAUTIFUL bird i have! just with the smoky blue color! BUT....yes there is a butt she isent laying yet which isent the issue.....she along with my aconas .....are the FLIGHTIEST birds i have! wild birds aren't as flighty! i mean i raised them right i dont want to say ALL the birds are like that but mine are and it sucks! but they do WELL at free ranging!
Pros: Good layer, beautiful, dominant, lots of personallity
Cons: flighty, slightly aggressive, stubborn
I originally bought 8 pullets. I thought 2 were blue andalusians, but one turned out to be a splash marans instead (very hard to tell them apart as babies lol). They are all 25 weeks old now and my BA, Dixie, has only missed 2 days since she started laying. She has been laying for 2-3 weeks now. Her eggs are a nice white, rounded shape and are very large for being pullet eggs. She is also absolutely stunning for being a hatchery chick.








The only problem I have with Dixie is that she's very dominant which causes her to be very unwelcoming to newcomers. She pinned one of my newest chickens down and pecked her in the back of the head until she was almost dead. If I hadn't of found her when I did, that poor chicken wouldn't have made it. If you don't have a rooster though, BA will make a good replacement as Dixie is very protective over the other hens even though we have a rooster.
Pros: Beautiful, good free range
Cons: Mean, flighty, aggressive to other breeds
I believe these chickens hate people. They were going after other chickens combs at 5 weeks. They are fine if allowed to free range, but in close quarters, they're terrible. Beautiful birds though. I have blue ones. They'll all be in the soup pot soon. Not recommended for a mixed flock.
Pros: No pros yet.
Cons: No cons yet.
I just bought these week old chicks at Tractor Supply in Apache Junction, Az. They are very healthy looking chicks. I also got 6 White Leghorns and 6 Rhode Island Reds. Out of the 3 breeds the Andalusians are the shiest. Maybe that will change when they get used to us. I can't wait to see these Andalusians full grown. This is a first time for me in owning this breed.

I gave them 5 stars because I didn't want to give a poor rating since I've only had them for less than a day.
Purchase Price
2.99
Purchase Date
2015-03-19
Pros: Pretty
Cons: Rarely lays me an egg,VERY flighty, mean
Tjis is my daughters "pick" when we got our hens so I am stuck with her but she is a mean old bird to the other hens. She is a loner and took over the Roo position in the flock when I removed my Roo for a few months. She mounted the other hens & sat guard. I guess that makes her somewhat useful but she also picks the heck out of the lower hens. She laid her first egg once I returned the Rooo & it was a jumbo. I've gotten nothing else in a week.
If I am in the run, she disappears into the coop. If I am in the coop, she disappears into the run. If they are free-ranging; she is off by herself.
Good luck catching this lunatic: you'd think I was pulling her nails out the way she freaks & squawks!
Pros: Nice, active, beautiful comb, nice egg layer
Cons: Crows quite ALOT
Nice rooster nice eggs
:cd
Pros: big eggs, great foragers, smart, beautiful
Cons: loud dinosaur-like squak
My flock of 10 chickens includes two Blue Andalusians (Blue & Bell) that I hatched from eggs from Gabbard Farms, my birds are both about two years old. They are amazing little hens, they lay a huge white egg in relation to their body size. They are also great flyers and both have their primaries clipped on one wing to prevent them flying over our fences into the neighbors yard. Many other reviewers have mentioned their voices, they have more of a screech then a cluck and are very vocal, but my husband and I actually like their strange calls, we affectionately consider them our little dinosaurs, they sound a bit like a baby dinosaur from the movie Jurassic Park.

Blue, despite her small size, is lead hen in the pecking order. She has known she was in charge from the day she hatched from her egg. Bell on the other hand is low hen in the pecking order but seems to be constantly plotting to change her status, without much success. I started with four chickens (including Blue & Bell) about a two years ago & then added 6 more when the originals were ~ 5 months old. Both Andalusians have been hard on the new flock members, and Bell continues to be their worst nightmare. Things seem to have settled down but Bell has taken to sleeping in a nest box to avoid the perch confrontations in the evening when it was time to coop-up.

Both of my Andalusians are very affectionate with people and when ever I sit down in the yard they run over & jump in my lap, but Blue in particular is extremely cuddly, she just loves to be pulled closed & stroked. In the winter she follows my husband & I around begging us to pick her up & warm her feet.

I worry about their large combs during our Alaska winters, but so far so good. We are coastal & relatively far south in western AK so much warmer then most folks expect when they think Alaska. I also have a 100 or 150 watt heat lamp in the coop for when temps fall below freezing.

I would highly recommend Blue Andalusians, and I think any flock I have in the future will contain this breed. They have lots of personality, are good foragers, affectionate when given lots of attention, & lay a huge egg for their small body size.











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