Best type of chicken for kids to raise...

[loverOFchickens]

Personally I think all of these suggestions are GREAT breeds but the best breed for kids is one that is an OK or good breed (not flighty) of thier choice!!

 

[BayCityBabe]

Dominiques are very calm & don't mind being handled.

 

[Chicken Girl]

I would get a silke! They love to be held! My lil sis (2) does not know how to be soft yet and she goes down to the chicks when we are doing stuff. That little chick is going to be a vary strong chicken! lol I would get one!! Or 5!! lol


Chicken Girl

 

[thebroodybunch]

We have RI Reds and white Leghorns. I read that the leghorns are flighty but they have become more friendly than the RIR's. They love to be cuddled and petted. They go right to sleep in my kids' laps. My kids are 4 and 7. You can look at my chicken blog to see pics of what my kids can do with these chickens. (the link is in my signature.) In general, I don't know if it really matters what breed you get as long as it's not aggressive by nature. Chickens will become what you make them. If you don't spend a lot of time with them, they will be skittish, but if you take the time to handle them and teach your kids to handle them properly, your chicks will be friendly.

 

[19hhbelgian]

I love my ee's... I would also suggest a silkie just for fun. The eggs won't be big out of a bantam bird, so if you want good sized eggs, I wouldn't get a whole flock of bantams

my EE's are very nice, pretty, and you can't beat the egg color!

 

[Sugar Sand Farm]

I would also go with Silkies If you want kid friendly birds. My granddaughter has speckled sussex that she loved, a tom turkey,cochins but she really only wants to hold the silkies. She has really taken to them alot more than the larger breeds. Those she carried around until they were to big for her but the little silkies are just right. She sits with her Blueberry on her lap and can carry her around without fear of dropping her.

 

[Akane]

It would be easier to ask what not to get.

When you ask for a breed you tend to get everyone's favorite and everyone will have a different favorite. Something that might help is the henderson chicken chart http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html . It sums up average number of eggs laid, average size of eggs and birds, and color of eggs for each breed. Then has a short comment on their personality. I have found the listings for how rare breeds are isn't so accurate anymore and many that it says are very rare are not so impossible to find these days.

I would either go with a bantam breed since majority are bred to be calm and friendly or if you want full size eggs some of the heavier brown laying breeds. I would stay away from common production breeds as most that are bred for the most extreme egg laying haven't been bred for personality. Also some of the really common breeds like RIR that were bred to survive on farms can tend more towards aggressive since they've had to be rather pushy and bold to survive predation. That doesn't mean there aren't some very good ones but there is a higher chance you will get something that isn't good around kids.

I would not get seramas for young kids or suggest them as a first chicken. Mine are nowhere near as calm as some of my other bantams like japanese or d'uccle, their small size may actually be a disadvantage, they are not as hardy for keeping outdoors, they are not bred to lay well and many of the smaller sizes may not lay fertile eggs at all, the eggs will be extremely tiny and not as useful, and it can be difficult or expensive to get a good starter flock going. If you want something on the small end even for a bantam and generally friendly japanese bantams, d'uccle, dutch, and old english game bantams would all be better choices than the serama.

 

[JoAnn_WI_4-H_Mom]

Yes, use the Hendersen chart suggested by the prior post.

Do try to find someone who actually breeds that bird and can tell you if their strain/line is good with kids. There seem to be lots of folks on BYC who might help you find birds.

Hatchery chickens can be very good with kids and very like the breed standard, or not. It is a bit of a crap shoot on that front. Often hatchery chicks are nice healthy productive birds, just not the color, size, body type, personality or feathering you were hoping for.

Good Luck and tell us what you choose!

 

[chickenlover98]

My easter egger hen is just soooo sweet!!! And hardy for winter!

 

[Akane]

EEs are not a breed. They are a mix of breeds and can be anything that lays colored eggs. Every line of EEs will be different. Each hatchery's EEs will be different. Each individuals flock of EEs will produce different personalities, colors, etc... You never know what you'll get with them and sometimes you won't even get colored eggs if they are crossed out with birds that don't have the blue egg color gene. While majority are nice it's a complete gamble with them. They range from the friendliest to wildest chickens and from the calmest to the most flighty depending what they've been bred with. If you want EEs and need something specific you really have to find an individual that knows their flock and can tell you exactly what they are like.