Anyone own Anconas and could tell me about their experiance?

[Lobee]

I have all female Anconas and S.S. I notice hardly anyone owns or talks about that breed, why? If you do have experiance with this breed can you tell me alittle about it? I read up a lot on this breed and thats why I ordered them but I was looking for more of a small flock hands on kinda opinion. Thanks Lobee

 

[MissPrissy]

They are standard size and won't set/brood eggs. I prefer a heavy or large breed chicken so I have no interest in them for my flock.

 

[happyhens]

I have 2 ancona chicks. They are much calmer than I expected them to be, so far I like them very much. I really like their colors so far.

 

[Lobee]

Yes i do notice them getting calmer now. Mine are 2 weeks old and bold.

 

[Smoky73]

I have had Anconas in the past. They were the noisiest hens I owned and extremely skittish birds. They did not settle down enough to be approachable until they were at least 2 or 3 years old. I also had some Minorcas and Andalusians that were the same way, though I didnt keep them long as I just bought them to raise up to sell.
All laid large white eggs and alot of them!

 

[raindrop]

I had Anconas a few years ago. They were very skittish and loud and all got eaten fairly quickly by critters. Not good at free ranging. I wouldn't get them again.

 

[Lobee]

Well I did read up on them a lot, I figured I would find out more info talking to people that kept them.....I guess I should of asked before getting them. The info on the chickens in books tell you that they are alert,quick and good free ranging birds. I guess we will see other wise I'll sell them. When I got them I was already wishing I went with another breed like the Welsummer. I love the S.S though. Well thank you for everyone that answered

 

[RedTailRanch]

Lobee, I have four Anconas in my flock. They are almost 8 weeks old, so I am no expert yet. I ended up with three males and only one female. So far they have the MOST personality of all my chicks, except one Black Minorca who is pretty cool.

My lead Roo is developing a mean streak towards some of the females in the flock. Oddly enough, he seems to get along ok with the other males. The other two males are pretty mellow, but all of them like to escape the brooder and go wandering around the house. They can cause pandemonium in the brooder though. They get skittish when I come around, but once they settle down they are actually pretty calm around me. The female, so far is pretty mellow and is by far NOT the loudest of all my breeds.

For my purposes I am hoping that they will be a good choice. I am on 10 acres and plan to let them free range during the day. There are predators here, and l chose them because they are supposed to be quick, alert, and good foragers like you mentioned.

I think I may fall into a different category than most chicken owners on here though. I don't like heavy breeds or bantam breeds. I don't like feather footed or silkies, and I am not raising just a couple as pets nor am I keeping them for food (I'm a vegetarian). I am keeping them because they are beautiful and fun to watch roaming around the yard and they help keep the insect population down during the summer.

Oh, and before I start getting hate mail because I said that I don't like certain breeds...I think all those breeds are cool, just not for me. It's like owning a dog, everyone likes something different.