Lakenvelder

This was just my personal Lakenvelder probably, but oh my goodness she ruined it for me. No more lakenvelders for us. She was a very flighty, didn't lay well(maybe an egg every 2 weeks), would attack anything including people, and not to mention absolutely insane. The only time she wasn't crazy was when she was attacked by our australorp and she was really chill, but I think it was because she hurt so bad. I hope you all had better luck than me. My girl has spurs, huge red comb and wattles. She has every single rooster characteristic, except she layed eggs.

Mine are a week old, so I don't have a lot to judge on yet, but they've been so full of character that I was afraid I'd forget some of their antics by the time they reach maturity. I'll update when they do. I have a golden, Hornet, and a silver, Owlet. They are from Ideal Hatchery. I bought them at a feed store while traveling, and had them in a box. They began to fly out on Day 2. The box was 2 or 3 times their height. It was impossible to put them down for a nap, they wouldn't sleep at all during the day. So far, I have not seen them nap. They prefer to explore. When they were in their box, I'd leave the room, and 5 minutes later, I'd find them "foraging" in the kitchen. They love people, run right up to me when I come home. I ended up taking them outside, because it was warm and sunny. They had no problem with the weather, and were able to stay outside for a little less than an hour. Right now, I am watching them run around on the floor, eating crumbled mealworm and hopping about. They have not been aggressive with my other chicks, unlike my Sumatras. Neither one has been phased by bigger chicks, or any thing else for that matter. They seem more clean conscious than usual, not pooing in their food and water, spilling their water less often, etc. I would definitely not recommend for a backyard flock, because they do NOT like confinement. They flew out of the box when they were less than a week, and now, at one week old today, they come running out whenever given the chance. They are loud, but good birds so far.
Hornet and Owlet, 10 minutes ago.

I have 9 Lakenvelders currently. All of mine are very friendly and sociable. They lay creamy colored eggs and are a good egg laying breed. They aren't a duel purpose breed, they are slightly bigger than bantams.

I'm either lucky or everyone is unlucky.......

Having read the reviews most say they aren't great birds, how sad

I've got 4 (3 cocks and 1 hen). They live happily with other chooks and ducks, very passive towards each other, me , the dogs etc.

Yes they can fly, but that's the type of chooks they are. They are easy to keep, good and hardy! Once caught (I'm not very agile) they're good to handle and don't struggle to escape. They boys show no aggressive behaviour to each other and happily roost away together at night.

Generally good layers and the meat is rather tasty, not bland like a lot of chicken.

I'd personally recommend them

A friend gave me one hen last spring. Will never have another one even though they are lovely chickens. I have no idea where she spent the nights. She was either in the trees somewhere or under the motor home. Occasionally I would catch her in the chicken pen getting a drink of water and lock her up to see if she was laying. After 5 days I would give up and let her go as she was obviously miserable in the pen. She was able to avoid the foxes who took a lot of the neighborhood chickens last summer.

I currently have one Lakenvelder hen who is a little over 2 years old. She is a lovely bird who hunts grubs and worms like a pro and is always attentive to potential predators. She is also very noisy and a bit of a sassy pants. She occasionally crows at 6:30 am and also "sings" for about an hour before and after she makes her egg. It is a very distracting sound since my hens live in my small backyard in the city. So far I am able to bribe my neighbors into silence with free eggs. She is a reliable layer. She laid 160 eggs last year and 80 so far this year. The eggs are cream colored and average around 56 grams a piece. I love my Lakenvelder's saucy attitude but I would not recommend this hen for people with small children or first time flock owners. Lakenvelders are beautiful but fiesty. It takes a lot of time and patients to train this rather wild bird to adapt to coop life and living with people.


My hen, Salt, being a sassy pants.


My Lakenvelder, Salt, in attack mode. She will peck and kick you if you get in her space. It doesn't matter if you are a chicken, human, or squirrel.

Update:
My girl Salt passed away at 6 and a half years old in July 2018. She was the best hen I have ever had and I miss her terribly. She was a sassy youth but a delightful mellow girl in her later years. She loved to come into the kitchen for a chat in the morning and would tattle if the younger hens escaped the yard. She held off a rooster for top billing in the flock and laid eggs every year up until she passed peacefully in her sleep. A challenging hen to raise but worth every bit of effort.
Original review: 3 stars, current review :500 stars!

The Lakenvelder is a good bird. They aren't fabulous at meat or egg production, but they are nice little pets. They have been aggressive to some of our new birds, but not severely aggressive like some of our game. If you want a good looking bird, then you might consider getting one of these.

everyone says theres are mean and flighty mine was a little angel not perfectly tame but was ok with handling/catching not mean to anything or anyone. She wasnt the best standerd of the breed more of a 3rd place bird but sill over all nice

I chose this breed as a first time chicken owner, along with a cross-section of easy breeds for their look and because I wanted to continue a line of this rare bird. What I ended up with was an overabundance of blood shed and angry neighbors. My rooster (aptly renamed "Norman Bates") became unmanageable, extremely aggressive, though not very protective of his harem. He was an extremely light sleeper, and crowed at the moon, to my and my neighbors' discontent. I could not enter my backyard without him making a ruckus, without ever stopping. When he and his flock were free grazing in the backyard, he set out to pick a fight with anyone who dared enter the garden. My wounds never had a chance to heal, and by the time I was finally able to rehome him, he gave me a bloody hand as a parting gift (I still bare the scar).

Unless you are a patient soul and don't mind a daily blood letting, I do not recommend this breed, especially if you have loved ones you don't like to see harmed. Conserving this breed may not be a good idea after all!

I had one of these in my assorted batch of day olds from McMurray. He became aggressive to my wife and daughter at first but ok with me and later turned on me also. He and another rooster were pretty hard on some of the lower cockerels and constantly fighting. So I ate him. His meat was a little tough but not overly so. And i would describe the flavor as extremely chickeny even a little gamey. The dark meat is VERY dark.

I wouldn't bother getting any more of these.

These birds are the wildest birds I have ever tried to raise. They aren't tame; they act more like a wild creature than a domesticated animal. They have been nothing but a nightmare--please get a nice breed that is sweet and tame, not evil Lackenvelders!

I have a two month old Golden Lakenvelder pullet named Claire. She is my absolute favorite chicken. She is difficult to catch, but once I catch her I could probably throw her in the air and she would not care. Probably not a good breed for an inexperienced chicken keeper, due to their dominance in the pecking order and aggressive nature to new chickens. Overall, a nice bird.

Beautiful to look at and that's just about it on the plus side.
Aggressive,flighty,and not very productive.

It is quite pretty to see a flock of these girls working the pasture for insects and forage. They are very independent, and preffer to be together even in a mixed flock Their independent nature is their greatest asset, that said they are excellent fliers and will go where they please and prefer to roost in the trees, unless they are coop trained!
My Lakenvelders proved to be a challenge, requiring ALOT of handling as chicks to tame. They are high energy birds, that love to roam, preferring to forage. Unlike their reputation as non setters, non broody, my girls proved to be very broody, raising their young very wild though, and they kicked the eggs of the other breeds out of the nest, only brooding their own! I guess it depends on their environment, as to how they brood, mine found the old tree stumps as the place to nest and brood, although one girl hatched her brood in the coop.
They are similar to the Leghorn in production of white, medium to large eggs, and continue to lay through molt and winter. Even though a large combed breed they have not sufferred comb freeze, and handle summers high heat and dry conditions very well.
I highly reccommend these birds for someone who isnt looking for a pet, but wants a bird that is low maintance, self sufficient, extremely hardy, bug controlling, excellent egg producing, predator savy, good in confinement or free range.Perfect for the working person who dosent have a lot of time to spend with their flock but wants great eggs!
With alot of handling, these birds will tame down, but most likely not be lap chickens, though, my girls will let me pick them up for a very brief cuddle...too many bugs to chase, too much to do, busy, busy!

Had some of these years ago. They were wild and flighty. They were okay layers, but not as good as i would have expected them to be. Hard to keep clean and the strain we had was prone to brassiness.

I have 2 lakenvelders, Fred and Ghost, they are gorgeous hens and lay nice white eggs. They get frostbitten really easily. All in all they are good hens.

I love this bird it's so pretty and always wins shows at the fair!

I received a silver Lakenvelder rooster as a chick. Now as he is almost one year old, he is very aggressive to everything and everyone. He stays in the run because of his meanness, and when I walk by the wire he flogs the fence in attempt to attack. I will be getting rid of him and never getting another.

I received a Lakenvelder pullet in my order of the Ornamental Layers Collection from Murray McMurray Hatchery. Beautiful breed in my opinion. Disappointed I sold her so soon! Would definitely like more in the future to keep for my flock.

Our hens are absolute nonsitting chickens. You will need an incubator or fostermom from another breed if you like to have chicks.
Very social towards each other when born and raised together, but very agressive towards both hens and roosters from other flocks. Our lakenvelders have always been very curious and social towards us.
They lay nice white, tasty eggs.
They tend to sleep in trees or any other high enough place and are excellent flyers.