Choosing Breeds!

[PlymouthRockBBredSebright]

My ladies are barred rocks, i love em soooo much because of they're personalities. so sweet and docile, and very talkative!

 

[christwodog]

Isn't that a Salmon Faverolle as your avatar? That's one of my favorites right there. They are so goofy! I also recommend barred rocks, like the poster above me, they are very personable and curious. I have blue ameraucanas also, they tend to be wary and a little skittish, but they lay beautiful blue eggs regularly.

 

[Chicken-lovebirdchihuahua]

What breeds are they @Chicken-lovebirdchihuahua?

I have a Brahma(its sweet) blue Andalusian(they are flighty) Domonqe (kind) 2 barred rocks(kind very fluffy) New Hampshire red (sweet)3 EEs (they are very jumpy but can be kind) 1 golden laced Wyandotte (1or2nd most docile)

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

I am looking for especially kind birds as pets, but egg production is also somewhat important.

What do you mean by “kind birds”? Docile birds or people friendly birds? If you are looking for people friendly birds the best way to achieve that is by buying baby chicks and handling them often as well as socializing with them every day. I believe that any breed can be people friendly. My brahmas hens, Leghorn pullets, and Andalusian pullet were all people friendly because I raised them from day one. If you want especially docile chickens then I recommend you look into the following breeds: Cochins, Brahmas, Orpingtons, Silkies, Easter Eggers, and Faverolles.

 

[sroy]

I have Brahmas, Beilefelders, Isbars, and a Barnvelder. All of them are people friendly. My particular favorites right now are my isbars. They are SO sweet!! One of them is my favorite chicken ever!! Get day old chicks and handle them a lot!

 

[AmazingRachel]

Cream Legbars.
Fell in love with their appearance, the history, and the science that went into developing the breed. I'm making a powerpoint all about it. I'll link it in here when I'm finished.

 

[JurassicBawk]

I like my Easter Eggers mutts. I hand raised 2 and 2 were replacements for an accidental rooster and one that a predator got, and while all are tame I can tell a difference in the 2 I raised being more clingy/sociable than the two I got at 4 months old. I've got a giant black/gray with wattles, a black and fire red wild partridge color with a giant beard and muffs, a muffed orange partridge, and a muffed red partridge that has a gray tail and no black markings. From them I get a gray egg, olive egg, mint green egg, and pure blue egg. I love being able to tell them apart and knowing who laid which egg.

When I go outside, they will run up to their porch and yell at me until I acknowledge them. They are very curious and like to hang out with me inside their coop, will squat so I can pick them up but don't really jump all over me otherwise, and will scream at/hide from strangers. They will be 2 years old in early April. They laid all winter their first year when not molting, and this winter they molted in mid Nov then started laying again mid January. I'm currently getting an average of 3 eggs a day from the 4 of them.

 

[moniquem]

I dont have any chickens yet! I am building a small coop this spring. I want 4-6 mixed flock chickens and am leaning towards the Black Australorp, Speckled Sussex, Barred Rock, BO and EE-one of each. I live in city limits so am limited as to how many chickens I can keep. My coop will be 4X6 so I have to be considerate of that.

 

[Henrik Petersson]

For beginners, I would recommend not a breed at all, but brown layer hybrids. It doesn't matter much what type of hybrid; ISA Brown, Lohmann Brown or Bovan, they are all pretty much identical.

Brown layer hybrids are, in my experience, the most curious and active type of chicken, and the one that's least afraid of people. Besides, they lay a gazillion eggs. Also, they very rarely far ill, apart from diseases related to extreme egg-laying.

Downsides:
1) Appearance-wise, they are probably the most boring type of chicken.
2) They are MEAN towards other chickens. You're gonna need one heck of a rooster if you're going to stop a brown layer hybrid from bullying a newcomer.
3) The prolific egg-laying causes shortened lifespan and sometimes illnesses related to egg-laying.
4) For some reason they have a propensity for sleeping outdoors - bad in winter.
5) They will very rarely go broody - pro or con, that depends on what one wants.

 

[gocgo]

I started with Barred Rocks, added some Gold Laced Wyandottes, and then had a broody BR raise some Buff Orpingtons and some ISA browns. Wouldn't go with ISA browns as they don't have a long life expectancy. Any of the other 3 breeds would be great for pets and eggs.