Reviews by HouseCat

I received 14 Silver Spangled Hamburg chicks from McMurry hatchery last spring. I lost 2 a few days after they arrived and the third a month later from a hawk attack. The remaining 10 pullets and 1 cockerel have turned out to be very resilient birds. The cock looks almost pheasant-like with its' low station and long tail. The pullets make very wild noises when on alert and can be quite pugnacious. There is a certain wildness to them that I haven't experienced with any other breed. They're often termed as flighty but mine just don't seem to care to be around people. They're just too busy off in the pine forest foraging. And they are by no means afraid of me and will come right up and take food from my hand when offered.
They are definitely a free ranging breed. I would imagine if not given enough space, they would turn out to be very ornery and cruel to their flock mates.
Although my Silver Spangles are beautiful, next time I would go with Silver Penciled as I think it would make for a better camouflaged bird.
The eggs are small but plentiful and most of us Americans don't need to be eating Xtra-large/Jumbo size eggs anyways.

As of right now my DCs are only 14 weeks old but the cocks are already close to 5lbs. They seem to be as smart as my OEGs although a little more docile. I ordered a batch of around 30 from McMurry and have been very pleased with how they are turning out. The thing that surprised me the most is how gorgeous they are. In photos they look pretty dull but they are truely beautiful birds. Especially the cockerels. They have this brilliant blue/purple/green iridescence to their feathers. I plan on keeping a rooster and 3-5 hens for breeding next spring. I'll be updating this review as the birds continue to grow with the rest of my flock.