breeds for suburbia

[Kelly FG]

I live on a 1/4 acre in a suburbian setting. I have seven standard hens. We have a big range in tempature here on Long Island-winters can be 10 degrees, yesterday was 99 degrees

I have
2 buff orps, sweet, not too loud, beautiful, way too big to fly, great layers, seem to handle the heat well, one has broody tendencies

2 EE's (ameracaunas) both a little loud, one can fly(we clipped her wings), very good layersof great blue/green eggs, one has gone broody & likes to hide her eggs, pretty, friendly & seems to tolerate the heat well.

1 Black Australrop-she's the alpha hen so she "sings" all the time, probably makes the most noise, she is my laziest layer, she's beautiful, very people friendly, tolerates the heat well

1 Barred rock-she's huge, a fair layer, very shy, she's not as vocal as some of the others but her voice is unique-it sounds like a broken kids bike horn, she's pretty, she often seems the most irritated by the heat, perhaps because she's so big.

1 Red Star- not flighty, a GREAT LAYER, not broody at all-she's the only one to lay her egg in less than 2 minutes & hop off the nest before its dry, has never sang the egg song once, by far the least vocal, she's super friendly-would rather hang out with the dog than the rest of the flock, she's small compared to the others & doesn't seem bothered by the heat at all.

I had a Silver Laced Wyandotte that died last summer, she was big, an ok layer, a little loud, not flighty or broody & she mysteriously died on a hot summer morning, although she didn't seem fatigued I've wondered if the heat was the cause.


hope that helps. I agree the noise is very specific to the chicken, not the breed. They have Chicken-alities and it makes each one unique.

 

[seriousbill]

I haven't had an enormously broad range of chickens but I'm inclined to agree with that thumbs-up assessment on the Brahmas. I guess if they are from South Asia they are going to be heat tolerant even if they are BIG chickens.

Okay, I stand corrected on the standard Brahmas. Mine are bantams and do okay in the heat, better in the cold.
But I always wondered if the bigger ones had more trouble in hot weather because of all that feathering. Guess not.

Good to know.

I'm standing firm on breed temperament, though. Just generally speaking, a Fayoumi is flighty and an Orp is not. Individuals do vary, but I think those kinds of generalizations are valid enough to be helpful to folks selecting breeds.​

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

I would pick the Light Brahmas. I have some that are around 2 months now. They are very nice looking birds and calm.

 

[raindrop]

Brahmas, Rhode Island Reds, or Barred Plymouth Rock, maybe Orpingtons but they tend to go broody more than the others in my experience.

 

[glowworm]

Kelly, your info helped a lot. It sounded like you liked your red star the most but that's the only one that's not on my list to choose from

Sounds like chicken breeds are just like dog breeds when it comes to personality. Most of the time the chicken will "fit" its general characteristics, but there are some that do not.

 

[Katy]

My BLRWs are very friendly and not too loud. They come running up when I go in the pen, but they don't seem to talk as much as some of my others. The roos crow, but not as much as my Marans roos. But I suppose my loud and "in town" loud could be two different things. Can't beat them for being eye-candy tho!

 

[All about the EGG]

I have 5 sex link hens. All are 8 weeks old. So far so good as far as noise!

 

[seriousbill]

BLRWs....Can't beat them for being eye-candy tho!

So true. Really nice birds. If I were going to get another breed (which I am so not right now, but if I were), I'd get some of those...​

 

[s6bee]

I think like people even within breeds each one has a personality. I read through here and some of my breeds don't all coinside with descriptions on here. I think Buff Orphingtons are a safe bet, I have and LOVE my black Austrolorp, quiet, good layer, let us approach her. Our Barred Rock is quiet, shy. We also have Silver Laced Wyandottes, those are my best layers, but very shy, and quiet. So you probably need to figure out what the best attribute to have is and go from there.

Good luck.

 

[jkm]

I sold my BR rocks for a sack of organic feed, they were one year old and real screamers, taught buffy to yell to!
feed store gave me " gold stars" gold comets"? supposed to be quieter, my two buffys do some yelling, but nothing like the arrogant BR......ps I miss them....