Best backyard breeds

[feather13]

Buckeyes, Speckled Sussex (very friendly), EEs, and French Marans. Add some interesting egg colors too!
Last year a lot of birds sold out early, and that's happening again this year too. How about checking Cackle? They have some breeds that MMcM doesn't carry. Both hatcheries have been good for us.
Mary

Thank you, Mary! Glad to hear you had good experiences with Cackle. Maybe we'll try them. I've always wanted French Marans. We had a Speckled Sussex in the past (she was killed by a stray husky) and love that breed.

 

[feather13]

Brahmas are nice for backyards. They're too chunky to escape and I find their voices to be lower than other chickens so they're not as irritating when they're being chatty. Though their sneezes sound like a donkey braying, and you'd need to watch out for mud.

I would think Dorkings would be pretty safe, as they have shorter legs. I think they're dual purpose, which is always nice.

Steer clear of Lakenvelders though...they're pretty but love to roam.

White Faced Black Spanish could be cool--when they're younger they're known to be flighty but apparently they mellow out a lot as they age. They're also critically endangered in the USA according to the Livestock Conservancy.

Wyandottes are good birds but can be cliquish, so if you prefer for your flock all to hang out together you may want to avoid getting multiple Wyandottes if you get them.

This is all really helpful! Thank you. Good to know Lakenvelders and Black Faced Spanish can be flighty and that Wyandottes can be cliquish. Dorkings and Brahmas sound perfect and they're both such pretty birds.

 

[VeryHappyHens]

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!

Lakevelnder chicken are my all time favorite I have a very sweet Lakeveldner girl name Blair and she is so sweet. She is one of my only chicken that will jump up on me and follow me. Chocolate orpingtons are great to same with lavender orpington but there the same breed. Next one of my fav breeds are Easter eggers there so sweet and will cuddle they even lay pretty eggs I have a sweet easter egger name Twinkle and Amyathest there so sweet they love to roost on my shoulder.

 

[VeryHappyHens]

I think they are tooooo flighty

Not true my easter eggers are sweet and love to cuddle?

 

[VeryHappyHens]

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!

Get Delwares Whitting True Greens, Lakevelnder, Yokhma, Sultans, Blue laced eRd wydotte Steele egger blue splash maran lavender orpington choclate orpington buff orpington.

 

[cherrynberry]

Not true my easter eggers are sweet and love to cuddle?

Not saying they aren’t nice, they are my favorite breed, but in my experience my hens are pretty flighty. We kept having hens jump over to our neighbors house

 

[VeryHappyHens]

Not saying they aren’t nice, they are my favorite breed, but in my experience my hens are pretty flighty. We kept having hens jump over to our neighbors house

Oh I thinks it depends on the EE I thinks it depends on what they were breed with makes there personalty because I had really sweet EE in my experience. It just depends on the bird.

 

[cherrynberry]

These aren't the best photos in the world. We have two EEs and, as you can see, they have very different feather patterns. One has puffy cheeks and is brown and the other one has a smooth face and is orange. They are quite camera shy lol. They are also really quiet.

I like the smooth faced one. Her lacings look pretty.

 

[cherrynberry]

Oh I thinks it depends on the EE I thinks it depends on what they were breed with makes there personalty because I had really sweet EE in my experience. It just depends on the bird.

Some of mine are okay too, but once I had 7 of my hens in my neighbors yard...they didn’t seem too happy.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Brahmas are fantastic! Calm, quiet, and beautiful! This is my girl Maribel I got from Murray McMurray last year. She lays 5-6 eggs a week