California - Northern

[h2oratt]

If it was in Stockton it pretty much has to be a yellow billed.  The black billed are everywhere but the central valley.  A friend raised one many years ago.  It was tamer and friendlier than many chickens.  It was turned lose after being raised from a baby but never left my friends home area.  It would fly down and land on your hand or arm and could talk quite well.  It would say "pretty bird squaky", and it would wolf whistle, plus say other things.  Really a neat bird.  Squaky was a male, and mated with a wild bird, and raised a number of families around my friends house.  The mothers and the babies would come around you but no closer than maybe eight feet.   Kern

Wow what a neat story. They sound like a really cool bird.

 

[Sylvester017]

Where are you located?

I plan on setting some penedesenca eggs in a week or two. I might even get a pullet or two!

The Partridge are 85% auto sexing by color.

Dark as Marans: Yes
Flighty?: Human avoidant and they do Fly...
Heat Tolerant?: Very, ultra, the most heat tolerant breed there is.

I like them quite a bit. They will not be huggie pets though.

JMHO but from my research - I haven't found any dark layers that are huggie pets - Penes, Empies, Wellies, Barnies, Marans. We and our friends re-homed our Cuckoo and BCMs because, although they appear calm, they are human avoidant and tend to be nippy to darn-right mean to other breed flockmates. As for regular brown layer breeds the gentlest human-friendly breed we feel is the medium LF Dominique. Some like the LF BRs but I've had them and it's "iffy" with them as far as temperament. RIRs are good layers but not really a huggie pet. An exception can always be found with one individual bird but in general most of the brown layers are best for utility and not advisable as pets. Now many of the cream, tinted, or light brown layers seem to report better or mellower temperaments as pets.

 

[ronott1]

Thanks, that one is far from floppy. She's a pretty girl. Partridge color correct? Do you work with the blacks as well? I wonder what causes the floppy combs then, quite a few pictures showed it when I was researching the breed.

It is probably when someone crosses a leghorn over them....

 

[caychris]

JMHO but from my research - I haven't found any dark layers that are huggie pets - Penes, Empies, Wellies, Barnies, Marans. We and our friends re-homed our Cuckoo and BCMs because, although they appear calm, they are human avoidant and tend to be nippy to darn-right mean to other breed flockmates. As for regular brown layer breeds the gentlest human-friendly breed we feel is the medium LF Dominique. Some like the LF BRs but I've had them and it's "iffy" with them as far as temperament. RIRs are good layers but not really a huggie pet. An exception can always be found with one individual bird but in general most of the brown layers are best for utility and not advisable as pets. Now many of the cream, tinted, or light brown layers seem to report better or mellower temperaments as pets.

If heard Wellies are better than some.

Hand raise the chicks with pita pintas and or buff orps and you will get very good birds in my opinion. The pitas and buff behaviors calm and rub off on the more flighty birds. My CLB and others raised with Pitas are quite friendly.

 

[Audio51]

Quote: I hope I at least get a few from these, but I will be prepared for it if I don't...

Quote: I have had BC Marans for the last 3 years and have not found them to aggressive with any of the others. I have probably had about 10 at different times. They are not cuddly, but none of mine are because they are not pets. They are no more or less so than any of my others. They have a job to do. The one exception to that is "Stubby". She lost her lower leg and foot as a young pullet and has had much more handling because of that. She is a Blue Ameraucana.

 

[PetRock]

If heard Wellies are better than some.

Hand raise the chicks with pita pintas and or buff orps and you will get very good birds in my opinion. The pitas and buff behaviors calm and rub off on the more flighty birds. My CLB and others raised with Pitas are quite friendly.

My Wellies and Rhode Island Reds are friendly birds and always right there under foot when it is treat time. They aren't quite as friendly as the Pita Pinta but friendlier than most of my other breeds. I have a RIR cockerel out at the farm who is always right by me when I'm out there taking care of my breeding birds. I am trying to get organized so I can hatch some of his babies.

 

[ronott1]

My Wellies and Rhode Island Reds are friendly birds and always right there under foot when it is treat time. They aren't quite as friendly as the Pita Pinta but friendlier than most of my other breeds. I have a RIR cockerel out at the farm who is always right by me when I'm out there taking care of my breeding birds. I am trying to get organized so I can hatch some of his babies.

That is the Kittle RIRs from Horstman?

They are completely different from what hatcheries sell.

 

[MeatTheFlockers]

JMHO but from my research - I haven't found any dark layers that are huggie pets - Penes, Empies, Wellies, Barnies, Marans.  We and our friends re-homed our Cuckoo and BCMs because, although they appear calm, they are human avoidant and tend to be nippy to darn-right mean to other breed flockmates.  As for regular brown layer breeds the gentlest human-friendly breed we feel is the medium LF Dominique.  Some like the LF BRs but I've had them and it's "iffy" with them as far as temperament.  RIRs are good layers but not really a huggie pet.  An exception can always be found with one individual bird but in general most of the brown layers are best for utility and not advisable as pets.  Now many of the cream, tinted, or light brown layers seem to report better or mellower temperaments as pets.

My experience is very similar to yours. The Marans is a jerk to every single bird in the flock minus the boss hen. She has no problem free ranging while I work in the garden, but she avoids me more so than any other bird. Won't take treats from hand, and can't wait to get away if I catch her to pet her. I've got a younger welsummer pullet that is very curious, and once caught enjoys being held, takes treats, but squaks like it's being killed when you grab it.

 

[chiqita]

OK...I now have the Serama Bug.  I just received 24 eggs and they are settling.  I am wondering if there is any special incubation tricks for them.  temp/humidity?   Would it be better to use the Brinsea Octagon 20 or the Genesis 588.  I have had good success with other eggs in both.   Incubate upright or on the side?.  Any help from anyone with experience would be great.  I posted on one or 2 Serama related threads, but haven't gotten any response and don't really have time to read thru all of them..

I find seremas to be a pain in the hutt to hatch and raise period. I wonder if mine are all too small and thus make the chicks sensitive.

JMHO but from my research - I haven't found any dark layers that are huggie pets - Penes, Empies, Wellies, Barnies, Marans.  We and our friends re-homed our Cuckoo and BCMs because, although they appear calm, they are human avoidant and tend to be nippy to darn-right mean to other breed flockmates.  As for regular brown layer breeds the gentlest human-friendly breed we feel is the medium LF Dominique.  Some like the LF BRs but I've had them and it's "iffy" with them as far as temperament.  RIRs are good layers but not really a huggie pet.  An exception can always be found with one individual bird but in general most of the brown layers are best for utility and not advisable as pets.  Now many of the cream, tinted, or light brown layers seem to report better or mellower temperaments as pets.

My marans are very friendly and good with other birds. Especially my local lines. They are great head birds. But ymmv....

 

[Sylvester017]

If heard Wellies are better than some.

Hand raise the chicks with pita pintas and or buff orps and you will get very good birds in my opinion. The pitas and buff behaviors calm and rub off on the more flighty birds. My CLB and others raised with Pitas are quite friendly.

I've been reading your posts. You've got some good experiences with your breeds. You sound like you have much more space than the small cottage backyard we have. We once had 25 acres but in our current place are limited/zoned to only 5 hens! I guess we should be grateful since many surrounding communities aren't zoned at all!

I know nothing of P/Ps except for your nice reviews of them and another BYCer was losing hers and sending them for necropsies with weird medical reports returned on them.

I'm not a fan of Orps in a coop environment. These girls are rather active and bothersome as chicks from videos I've watched. I saw a gang of 6 Orp chicks running around the coop purposely disturbing 2 sleeping ducklings and then nipping and bothering a couple Leghorn chicks minding their own business scratching around the ground. Had a friend with an Orp that was rather dominant in a closed coop also. As a broody she was overly fierce. I'm accustomed to our gentle Silkie broodies (and even a gentle Leghorn broody once) so when I saw our friend's combative fierce Orp broody I couldn't figure out why she wasn't in a soup pot. She was slightly calmer after raising her brood but not really a cuddle bug. I guess the key here is that some breeds really don't do well in confinement and need lots of pen space or need free-range. I know breeders want to defend birds by saying you have to do selective breeding for good temperament but sometimes a breed is just what it is. How many years have Marans been bred here in the U.S. and they're still unpleasant in mixed flocks.

Wellies are not a huggie breed but they do seem less combative than Marans. We and our friends have had different varieties and obviously different lines of Marans and they appear outwardly calm but in mixed flocks can be nippy to downright obnoxious. Barnies are calm but I haven't come by too much feedback regarding their pet status - because of their large size I would hesitate having them in a mixed flock. Penes/Empies are like the Mediterraneans - terrific for production but human contact is not their thing.

I adore Leghorns for so many reasons and grew up with them. However it saddened me that these girls are way too assertive for my gentle backyard flock and I had to re-home them. I tried both a Buff Leg and a White Leg and surprisingly the Buff Leg was more aggressive than our White Leg! For blue eggs we went with the gentle-tempered Ameraucana rather than CLs. CLs have Leghorn breed history in them so I've stayed away from CLs because the Leg temperament might pop up in some successive generations. Same reason I stay away from BRs which I've had before - they've had game bird and possibly Malay crossed in their breed history and some other breeds to make them more dual-purpose whereas the Dominique which BRs originally came from have stayed basically untouched. I love all these birds for different reasons but they don't necessarily make one good mixed flock.

It boils down to a matter of fancy and what breeds are the goal to fit a purpose - ornamental, utility/production, pet, game bird, etc. and then don't put them together. For us we chose the gentle breeds temperament first, and egg production/color is less important. We get less eggs with gentle non-combative breeds but don't miss the drama queens or bullies in flock politics.