Australorp and Wyandottes - advise please

[Happy Chooks]

I wasn't sure which section to put this in, so sorry if it's the wrong place.

I'm researching the breeds on this site. I'm looking into getting a rooster and I'm considering Black Australorp and Wyandottes. (Light Brahma too, but I'm not asking about them)

For the rooster: For both breeds it says they are docile, easy to handle and quiet. (I'm not expecting a totally quiet roo, but one that doesn't crow constantly would be nice) Do you find that true with yours?

And if I get either of these breeds of rooster, I'd get a couple hens too. (already planning on the BA hen regardless)
The Wyandottes say they are high layers, but frequently go broody. How often do yours go broody? I don't mind it every once in a while, but I do want eggs out of them. If they are broody more often than not, they won't be a good choice for me.

Thanks for your help! This is like shopping for a car.

 

[joedie]

My Wyandottes have not been broody yet but they are young. I like the BA's better. The SLW's seem to pick on other birds - a lot more than the BA's do. I don't know about the roosters- mine is a EE

 

[Autumn Mama]

I have three Blue Laced Red Wyandottes. The roo is okay so far, and quite big, which I'm wondering may be an issue for my smaller EE hens. You may not ned to worry about that. He crows ALOT, but I love the sound, and he is still a youngster, so maybe it will taper off once he's more mature? He does not pick on my other roo (before we harvested some extra roos, he *never* pecked the others, but was Alpha due to his size, I suspect...). He is gentle with his girls, herds them, "corrects" them with light pecks etc. The hens aren't yet laying at 19 weeks, are very shy, even around the other pullets, and are large girls too. All very pretty. I trust the rooster so far, but am watching for misbehaviour. The hens are quiet, very quiet! They are poor foragers, compared to my other breeds, and really like to eat at the feeder, lol. My BLRW girls peck the others, specially one of my small EE's, not sure why, as they are docile in general. Perhaps because they are a threesome, (I bought the three BLRW two weeks before my others...so they are "older") I just wanted to mention that...

My black Australorps are wonderful, and I have two pullets, no roo. they are curious, love foraging and eating bugs, and keep things peaceful amongst themselves. They can be assertive for food, but not pushy to others. They are easy to handles, the Wyandottes are more reserved and/or stand-offish. The BA girls are really pretty, too, with the green sheen to their mature feathers. They are not laying yet at 19 weeks. My kids can pick them up easily, as can I. I really like this breed so far, better than my Wyandottes.

HTH!!! Just research, research, research! You can always make changes if you get breeds that don't work for you, much easier than selling a car, lol!

 

[felidaet]

I have a SLW rooster that is about 17 weeks old. He has been crowing for about 2 weeks now. So far he only crows a few times when the sun comes up and a few times when it sets. His crow does not seem to be too loud. We can not hear it in the house (so far anyway). Hopefully he will stay this way.

He is not aggressive to humans. He comes up to us but does not let us pet him. He is a little aggressive to his 17 hens on occasion but overall I would say he is not aggressive. Him and one of our Australorp's are still working out who is the boss. She is by far our biggest hen. Her and the rooster are about the same size. He just recently grew slightly bigger than her.

 

[Katy]

My wyandotte roos (BLRWs, Blues, and SLWs) are all docile and I haven't had a mean one yet. They crow about the same amount as any of my other breeds do.

My hens do go broody quite frequently.

 

[tay26]

our SLW roo is at the bottom of the roo list. He has not started crowing yet but the other 2 roosters crow constantly (orpingtons). He is not aggressive at all but not exactly friendly. He just seems to be "there" doing his own thing.
The hens have not started laying so im not sure about broodiness. They do seem to be the most agggresive breed we have tho (BA, BO, SLW, SS, and cochins) and peck at us a lot (hard). This is just my opinion of ours, oh and they are only about 15 weeks old now.

 

[Judy]

I have hatchery SL Wyandottes and BA's. Will never get SLW's again -- mean, noisy, flighty -- and I don't even have a roo. My BA's are by far the friendliest of my birds. The head roo is a BA, and he does crow a lot, but even before we thinned the roos out, he was very much the dominant one, and few of the others ever crowed. I really think that's more a function of who is the lead roo than the breed.

I have a NHR roo that I removed from that flock and put with some older hens. He is nearly the same size as the BA but was not the lead roo, and I rarely heard him crow before I moved him. With his new smaller flock, all of whom are hens or babies, he crows a lot more.

I have read that Wyandottes from a good breeder have a very different personality from these hatchery birds of mine. They are pretty, though.

 

[Uppity Peon]

I hav e 3 roos: a silky mix of maybe 20 weeks (Puff Daddy), and an EE (Rusty) and a SLW (Georgie), both 15 weeks. The silky mix crows like crazy and is a bit aggressive toward the rest of the flock. Bu I think he might be frustrated. They are not ready for hi and thay always run from him in terror.

One of the 2 youngers crowed this morning but I don't know which one. Rusty has been chasing the girls a bit, and Georgie, although he looks quite mature is always very sweet and gentle. Never chases the girls, and never challenges the other roos. Jumps on my knee and lets me pet him.

If I had to choose now, I would keep Georgie the SLW.

 

[ellieroo]

Love SLW ! They are great birds as they come when called and lay great eggs all year save the coldest part! Lost our roo to a coyote.Our birds free range and he saved the girls by putting himself in front of the group.Yes I saw the whole thing! We put the birds up every night and the girls come out of the sagebrush at a run when called. They have never sat eggs that's for the bantys to do!

 

[AnnesChicks]

I have six SLW and two SLW/RIR crosses. I love em all. I have eight hens and get an average of 5-6 eggs each day. I find them to be very quiet and docile birds. My neighbor recently told me they are so quiet she forgot I had chickens.

They come running when they see us, and I can call them into the coop at night if I want to shut them up early so I can go to bed. When I am outside they line up in the run and watch every move I make.

The only one so far to try to go broody is one of the SLW/RIR crosses, but she isn't fanatical about it. A couple of times I thought she was spending too much time on the nest, so for the next few days tossed her out of the coop for the afternoon (they are all done laying by 3) and locked em all out till bed time. That seems to make her forget about it for awhile. She doesn't get upset when I pick her up off the nest and carry her around...funny girl.