Australorp

An amazing layer who doesn't care what the weather might be. Tends to be shy when young, but calms significantly approaching POL. Very smart, wily bird that can and will get into everything (or puzzle out how to in short order).

Just got my Australorp chicks. They are very friendly and adorable. Very curious birds.

These are my professional layers. They lay pretty much an egg a day, although they're not particularly cuddly. My rooster, Gregory Peck, takes his job seriously. He is alert and notices everything--especially hawks. He takes good care of the girls and finds them tasty things to eat. He also crows beautifully. Gregory actually takes cuddles better than the Aussie hens.

Thumbs up for the Australorps!

(Not sure on the purchase date, so I put in the shipping date.)

I thought I was getting pure Lorps but have since realised they are crosses. Love them the same but they are after 3 weeks still flighty around the dog where as the old girls (4 NHamp Reds) were fine after a few days. I think my two girls maybe boy and girl.

I traded two of my Does (Rabbits) for 15, 6 weeks old Australorps, I have had 1 die on me so far, hoping the rest make it so start up my chicken farm.

I have two australorps, Matty and Asa, they are just beautiful birds. Their feathers are silker than my Leghorn and Reds. Never have a problem with them. Wonderful egg layer too.

This is at the top of my favorite breeds list for many reasons This breed of chicken is VERY hardy , they hardly ever get sick and they can resist all kinds of climates weather it be hot or cold A+ for Australorps!!! They also lay almost every day a really nice large brown egg that is just delish!

We were told this one would be a mid-range mannered bird, so we're making sure to handle her and she's roosting with a couple other mild hens. So far, so good!

It wasn't the star egg layer I was hoping for, but I could have lived with that. Unfortunately she always had a dirty bumm. No matter how many times I cleaned it, it was dirty again. I culled her for that reason alone. She dressed out nicely and was a nice couple of dinners.

I just bought another Australorp chick yesterday and am going to give it another try.

Our Australorp is our flock's head hen and she does a wonderful job. She is calm and dignified, keeps everyone else in line without being aggressive. Though she is a tad aloof, she is the only hen in our flock who is friends with everyone without exception.

Can't wait to get one

The greatest chicken I ever had. Gorgious feathers and super calm. Perfect pets and terrific brown-egg layers. Naterally they are a 8-13 pound bird so just note they are huge.

i have three one cock one hen and one pullet and i thought the pullet was a mutated Andulusion how stupid was i.

My Black Australorp is one of my favorites (well, all my birds are my favorites but...) Lolo is a very calm, gentle bird. She is very small, but I've seen australorps as big as orpingtons. Her egg lying rate is pretty decent, one small egg per day. Lolo is so pretty too!

I love this breed! Even though I had one then lost her to a bobcat, she was still really sweet, she layed well, but she took a long time to finish molting.

I love my Black Australorps! They are such sweet calm birds, even my Rooster is a cuddle bug! They are great layers. My hens aren't too noisy (although can sound amazingly like a baby is crying outside from time to time). Definitely will continue getting BA's!

I've had a few Australorps and most have been sweet except one I just got rid of. They have all been amazing layers of nice brown eggs and one was a very good mother but very protective. They are generally calm and, they are just so beautiful in the light with their green/purple shine. The thing that attracts me to them are the dark black eyes. So pretty and the eyes make them look so sweet. Currently I have 5 Australorp chicks

We got our first australorps this past spring, they have super friendly, easy beautiful birds. the hens lay nice brown eggs, are easy to take eggs from. Had an issue with our rooster for a bit, was very aggressive, but calmed down and has become a model rooster, watches over his flock nicely. Have had 1 hen go broody this last month. I can still take eggs and she just give a little squawk has never pecked me! I love these birds!

Black Australorps were added to our flock to increase the likelihood of broodiness. Hens were decent foragers in our free range operation, laid large eggs with decent rate of lay year round. Barred Rocks, RIR's, and Black Stars easily outpaced them on egg production and egg size, but hens are good, steady producers. Very docile hens are rather low on the pecking order and accept lots of matings, so many had bald backs (sex ratio 3 males:35 hens). Beautiful iridescent black plumage, reasonably strong feet and legs, respectable foraging ability.

Hens were the second best at hatching and raising chicks, outdone only by the Black Stars. One hen raised two clutches of chicks in one year. Productive life was acceptable, around 2 years, at which time the hens starting piling on the fat and egg production dropped. One became an internal layer. Molting speed was moderate, and return to production didn't take too long.

Hens seemed more vulnerable to predation (slow?, less alert?) and got picked off by hawks/eagles/dogs.

My Australops have the sweetest personality, are very calm and docile, and are friendly and easy to pick up. I have 1 and 2 year olds and they remain among my favorites. Because they're so docile, they tend to be on the low end of the pecking order, but I have a couple who have a spot of the top roost.

I've never had one try to peck me, even when I had to remove Ms. Broody from her nest several times a day last summer. After her evictions, she was quite perturbed and would peck at other hens who got in her way, but she never pecked me. She was very broody most of the summer and I brought her inside in a dog crate several times because we had a brutally hot summer and I was afraid she'd die from heat exhaustion or dehydration. It would take about 3 days to break her broodiness. This year I'd like to get some eggs for her.

They lay large eggs. I have trouble fitting some of them in the egg cartons! Some of them have very pretty speckles.

They have gorgeous color in the sunlight, with blue and green highlights.

They seem to be very hardy. I had a young one with sour crop who eventually died, despite a lot of intensive care. I'm guessing she had some sort of abnormality because I'd nurse her back to health and she would get sour crop as soon as she was back on a normal diet. However, all the others have done very well, despite last summer's 100+ degree heat and slap-you-in-the-face humidity. The don't seem to be bothered by cold into the teens.

The only drawback, in my situation, is that's they're slower than the other hens and are the prime target for fox. One lucky girl managed to get away with a bare butt, but two others were taken. I currently have them inside an electric fence, but NONE of my chickens have any problem walking through my seven-strand fence.