Best backyard breeds

[feather13]

We currently have 11 pullets and hens and are looking to add four or five more. We got chicks from Murray McMurray last time and were happy with our order. We're going to go in with other folks to meet the minimum order.

The first date with the most variety is in June. Here's what they have that looks interesting: Dorkings, Columbian Wyandottes, Silver Laced Wyandottes, Delawares, Light Brahmas, Rose Comb Leghorns, White Faced Spanish and Lakenvelders.

We live in the suburbs and, while our neighbors like our chickens, breeds that are generally quieter are preferred. We free range our chickens, so also would like breeds that aren't prone to scale high walls and roam the neighborhood. So we tried to select larger breeds.

Does anyone have any experience with these breeds? Did you like them? Hate them? We've had Wyandottes and Delawares in the past, but I don't really remember their personalities.

Thanks in advance!

 

[_-Captain BRM-_]

BARRED ROCK!!!! Buff orpingtons are great too.... i have also loved Sapphire Gem. Very peaceful and quiet.

 

[feather13]

BARRED ROCK!!!! Buff orpingtons are great too.... i have also loved Sapphire Gem. Very peaceful and quiet.

Thank you! We've had Barred Rocks and Buff Orpingtons before (we have a BO now), but these won't be available through McM Hatchery in the near future. We have Mareks in our flock, so we've made the decision to get vaccinated birds. This rules out most local hatcheries for us

 

[_-Captain BRM-_]

Easter Eggers are fun! (Americana's)

 

[SegiDream]

Brahmas are sweet, might be almost comparable to the orpingtons. Our brahmas never fly over the fence and they have soft voices, unless something major happens.

Our wyandotte is one of the flightiest chickens we have. When we let them out to roam the backyard the wyandotte or the dominiques sometime will jump over the 4ft fence, rare but it happens. She is usually quite loud and squawky with her egg song lol other than that she is pretty quiet.

 

[FuzzyCritters]

Delawares are amazing! Mine are calm, friendly, and quiet. I free range mine and they have never flown over the fence. Reliable egg layers too! Brahmas also have these qualities, except they aren't as good of a layer.

Not a big fan of wyandottes... mine are the most aggressive breed I own.

Leghorns are known to be flighty, so not a great choice if you want to keep them in your yard. I had a leghorn mix in the past, and she certainly was an escape artist!

 

[feather13]

Easter Eggers are fun! (Americana's)

Thank you! We have two Easter Eggers and love them. They are usually silent or very quiet and rarely if ever try to escape our yard.

We're trying to place an order with Murray McMurray and it looks like what they have available this summer is very limited so far. So we're trying to find some new breeds from their list of what's available.

 

[feather13]

Brahmas are sweet, might be almost comparable to the orpingtons. Our brahmas never fly over the fence and they have soft voices, unless something major happens.

Our wyandotte is one of the flightiest chickens we have. When we let them out to roam the backyard the wyandotte or the dominiques sometime will jump over the 4ft fence, rare but it happens. She is usually quite loud and squawky with her egg song lol other than that she is pretty quiet.

Glad to hear! We're very interested in Brahmas and they have quite a following on BYC.

Good to know, too, about the Wyandotte. Our smaller breeds scale 6-10ft walls and we're trying not to get more escape artists lol.

 

[cherrynberry]

Easter Eggers are fun! (Americana's)

I think they are tooooo flighty

 

[feather13]

Delawares are amazing! Mine are calm, friendly, and quiet. I free range mine and they have never flown over the fence. Reliable egg layers too! Brahmas also have these qualities, except they aren't as good of a layer.

Not a big fan of wyandottes... mine are the most aggressive breed I own.

Leghorns are known to be flighty, so not a great choice if you want to keep them in your yard. I had a leghorn mix in the past, and she certainly was an escape artist!

Great to know that you like your Delawares and also that Brahmas aren't prolific egg layers. I'm sorry to hear about the Leghorns because they're so beautiful!

That's two strikes against Wyandottes. We have two Black Stars/Sex Links and they are loud and aggressive, so we don't need to add any more drama queens LOL.