Reviews by Bessetti

Oh my, I LOVE my Australorps! My first flock had 2 Australorps: Crooks (due to a crooked toe) and Dorothy (she developed a red comb early). After a massacre due to a raccoon Crooks was the only survivor. Her injuries healed and she is like a dog now. She comes sprinting to meal worms (or any snacks you have in your hands- watch out!) She sleeps with the silkies but whenever anyone is outside she has to be with us and checking out everything that we are doing. She lets my two year old pet and hold her. Even the day of the attack when she had significant injuries she didn't stop laying her beautiful large light brown egg daily. Now we have a pullet Crow that will be her counterpart when she is old enough who is very sweet already but has yet to start laying. Someone dropped off four Australorp chicks which will also be added to the flock.

I can't speak highly enough about Australorps. I highly recommend them to anyone that asks what breeds I like best. They are reliable layers of large eggs, they are VERY friendly, VERY resilient, and absolutely stunning birds. In the sunlight they are not just black- they are black with glimmering hints of green, blue, and purple. Love, love, love. I do need to get leg bands in order to tell the chicks apart though.

Every single day my two Easter Eggers (Maia and Snidely) give me two beautiful eggs. It was so exciting seeing what color they would lay. Snidely gives me a pale blue medium sides egg and Maia lays a large turquoise egg (often a double yolker). Maia is the leader of the flock and snidely is the lowest on the pecking order. Maia doesn't like me holding her but is very curious of what I'm doing and will usually check it out, while snidely is extremely skiddish. They have very different personalities but I would highly Reccomend an easter Egger for everyone's flocks! People get so excited when they see a blue egg nestled in their dozen eggs. I will be getting more.

I'm thinking maybe I managed to get the only two orpingtons that aren't super friendly. I will give them another shot before totally writing off the breed... But my gal is very sassy. She is bossy to my other girls but is friendly with me. She is very small and I have to put her eggs with the bantam ones they are so tiny. She is a reliable layer. Westley the rooster had to be rehomed (he was suppose to be a hen). I was hoping to keep him since he was friendly and I heard good things about orpington roosters, but as soon as he hit puberty he became extremely aggressive and ended up giving me two massive scars on my arm. I know every chicken is different, but my two orpingtons don't fit the reviews I have read about here even remotely. Mind you, almost all of my other girls (aside from the easter Eggers) are friendly with me. If her eggs were a little bit bigger I feel like I would like her a lot more- they are just so tiny! I do love her personality with me though.