Do you play favorites? Admit it....it's OK....I won't tell the others....

[MsChickenMomma]

Yes, yes I do play favorites.

Just don't tell my other chickens!

My favorite chicken is Rodney and he's a Rhode Island Red. He's an absolute sweet heart. I'm always cuddling him and sneaking him little pieces of bread when my other rooster Randy and the girls aren't looking. Rodney actually waits by the steps on the house for bread now. He's spoiled rotten.

He just turned a year old on June 8th.

 

[PrairieChickens]

I totally play favorites, although I have so many, there's fewer non-favorites than favorites. For starters, there's Goldie and Gladys, two hens from our first generation. They're favorites of mine because they were my first experience with friendly chickens, and Gladys in particular was sweet and outgoing from the beginning. I don't give them a lot of special treatment simply because they're at the top of the pecking order and don't need any help getting the treats.

Goldie Gladys
Then there's Chicky Gaga, who is my favorite from the second generation. She's a spunky and bizarre Polish crested hen with a ton of personality... I'm not sure that she even knows she is actually a chicken at all. She will follow me around the yard and even tolerates being taken on trips to the nearby park. There she will happily scratch around in sandboxes and tolerate the attention of children while I photograph her. I also love Mars, who is the first nice rooster I've ever had, and I am always impressed by how much of a gentleman he is to his girls. Winnie has a special place in my heart too because of her intelligence and calm nature. She's been known to visit the neighbors for treats on occasion, and will stick by my dad's side while he gardens to snap up any goodies he unearths while weeding. Chipmunk is an Easter egger who holds a special place in my heart. In spite of being handled less than most of my chickens, she nonetheless has a friendly and calm personality and tolerates being picked up even if she's trying to sit on a nest--a good thing too, since just today I had to take her off the nest and cool her off because she was getting overheated in the coop. Among the others in the second generation, I have a fondness for Arizona and Strawberry because of their calm and tolerant natures--they never pick fights with anyone--and Aretha Chicken for her quirky, energetic personality. There are really only one or two chickens in the entire batch I DON'T care for, and even they are good hens... just not particularly friendly.


Mars Winnie Chicky Gaga



Chipmunk Arizona Strawberry


The third generation has me spoiled for choice on favorites! Mrs. Patmore is probably at the top as she was the most energetic and entertaining chick to start with, and now that she's mostly grown, she is one of my best friends. When she sees me coming, she will run towards me and leap onto my arm to perch there. Because of this habit, she is usually treated to special trips into the house to snack on the bugs that get trapped in my parents' windowsills. Star is a close second to Mrs. Patmore for favorite chicken from his generation. A bantam cochin like Patmore, Star had a close call with death and had to be diligently nursed back to health. He is so robust and healthy these days you would never believe he was the same chicken, but he still crawls into my lap for cuddles when he has the chance. Another favorite from this latest generation has to be Mrs. Hughes, who is a black australorp pullet who loves to cuddle. I've nicknamed her my Zen Hen, because of her ability to quickly relax into my arms almost as though she is meditating. Mr. Carson is another black australorp, purchased in the same batch as Mrs. Hughes. Like Hughes, he likes cuddles, though he's more picky about how they're dispensed--he does not want to be held in your hands, thank you very much, but he will happily perch on your arm and drift off to sleep while you stroke his feathers.


Star Mrs. Patmore Mr. Carson

Mrs. Hughes

Gryffindor is another favorite. Gryff is an EE rooster that my mother picked out from a bin of pan fry chicks because of his uniquely-colored down. He's growing quickly into a gorgeous and spirited bird. He's a bit of a nipper, but his curious pecking stops once he realizes you aren't food and is never hard enough to hurt. Though he may initially shy away from being held, he will practically jump into our hands if he realizes we have one of his favorite treats, and he will calmly wait in our hands while we pick him cherries or lettuce to snack on. Gryff has a special place in my heart in part because I was so worried when my mom deliberately picked a rooster from the brooder. So far, though, he has proven my concerns to be unwarranted, and for that I am very glad.



Gryffindor


There are several others I could point out as favorites, but the last one I will mention is Pipsqueak. Pipsqueak goes by many names, including Little Bit, Tiny Dancer, Piper, and others. Pipsqueak is our littlest chicken, smaller even than the two bantam chicks I purchased more than a month after her. As our only OEGB and by far our smallest chicken in the main flock, you might think poor Pipsqueak gets pushed around. Not so! Apparently aware of her small size, Pipsqueak takes advantage of the situation, and darts in and out of the larger chickens' feet to snag treats right out from under them. She then runs away unseen leaving a very confused chicken in her wake. When not pilfering treats, Pipsqueak sings constantly, perhaps to warn the other chickens of her presence and avoid being stepped on (which happened quite a lot when she was younger.) Pipsqueak stays in the run only because she wishes too, and has demonstrated more than once that our feeble attempts to contain her are pointless. Fortunately, she seems happy to stay in the run with the other chickens, and so far has only escaped far enough to perch on the door of the run and survey her domain from a clearer vantage point. Curiously, Pipsqueak's favorite companions are not the other bantams, but rather the massive australorps who used to trample her constantly in chickhood. It's quite a sight to come into the coop when they're all snuggled up for the night and see her tiny head poking out of a mass of black, feathery bodies.

Pipsqueak
Pipsqueak gets a lot of special treatment from us because she's so unique in our flock, and we'll often scoop her up for a little one-on-one quality time and treats. Even though she has no trouble holding her own in the flock, we like to spoil her a bit, just because she's such a neat little chicken. We also like to spoil Sybil, a little black bantam cochin who is due for a name change since turning out to be a roo. He is so quiet and unassuming that he often gets crowded out of treats, so we try to pull him aside and share some with him away from the chaos.

Sybil

 

[jak2002003]

I often sneak the lower ranking hens extra meal worms when the others are not looking.

All my chickens are Japanese Bantams, and most are very placid, friendly and love to be petted.

But I have one LEAST favourite hen that really is nasty. The only reason I keep her is she is my only black tail white hen.

She is so highly strung, very mean to the other chickens, she attacks chicks, she will even attack the rooster if she is annoyed with him.

When they free range she will sneak up on my fantail doves and jump on them.

She goes crazy if I try to pick her up........I have to corner her and pin her down.......she screams and pecks me and wiggles so much until I put her back in the coop - its not that she is frightened, its because she wants to be the boss.

She steals all the other hens treats - not letting them get near the food dish - and if any dare to sneak a treat she will chase it down and give it a beating up.

 

[Angela Gazey]

I also have a crazy chicken . . . a Golden Campine named speckles, she's female but has begun crowing, is free range because she escapes, and also enjoys attacking the dogs (and people) and stealing their food. Despite this she is pretty.

Kye is actually my favourite he's a really friendly Rooster - loves cuddles, being hand-fed and is great when moving the chickens - we just grab him and he calls the flock to wherever he is . The white and black chickens in the background are his daughter and son (the mother is the black chicken in the front - a cross between an Austrolorp Rooster and Speckles!).

 

[iheartnh]

We just lost our favorite girl last night.

She was a Blue Andalusian named Gracie, that we somehow got in a batch of red sex-links we bought last spring. She was gorgeous and SO smart! She and another hen got attacked by the neighbor's dog back in January and my big pregnant self walked around our pasture for hours and finally found her - - DH nursed her back to health and we spent a fortune building a 6 ft fence around the area where they free range .... and then we found out that she could fly over it.

We let her, b/c she loved to forage in our gardens. But last night, a dog that we rescued and have been trying to rehome, dug out from our backyard (also a chain link fence) and killed her while we were at a TBall game.

I'm heartbroken.

Oh, wow - I am so sorry for you loss!

 

[iheartnh]

I think it is touching that we humans naturally want to protect the weakest. That is our strength and gives me more faith in my fellows. I so enjoy the people on Backyard Chickens and their relationships with their flocks. Thank you for sharing.

I was noticing the common theme of many gravitating towards the weakling. We rock!

 

[Chikenbutwut]

I don't play favorites...yet, lol! I don't know what I have yet, since I have all chicks and all of this batch were straight run. I say this batch 'cause I have another coming around the 17th. They'll be sexed (though I realize it's not 100%...they'll be coming from My Pet Chicken). They're all bantams. I don't want to get attached to the cockerels 'cause I can't keep them (have a man that is going to take them for me).

My husband, however, does have his fav. chick. The man that thought I was nuts for wanting chickens, sits with his little red bantam Cochin on his chest, just a talking away to it. I really hope for his sake it's a pullet. I'm pretty sure it is though. He just loves that little chick to pieces, lol!

I must say though, the tiniest chick I have so far, a little what a think is an OEGB, is working it's way into my heart. It loves to be under your chin or cupped in your hands, where the others don't much care for it. Just falls right to sleep every time. Such a cute little booger!

 

[Starkasm]

I saw this thread and laughed! Then went outside to take a picture.

About 2 years ago my sister bought a bunch of Americana Chicks. She stopped by on her way home and gave 2 to my daughter. My daughter named them Fionna and Felicia (I call them Blackie and Blondie ) They ended up being very tame and you can pet them and they come when you call (beebee bobbie beebie bobbie! they used to do this weird, what I called beebie bobbie dance in the cage when they were little - so they got nicknamed the beebie bobbies)

About a year and a half ago Blondie was grabbed by a fox. Broad daylight we heard her yell and went running out. The fox was so busy trying to get her that it didn't even notice us at first.
He only got a mouth of tail feathers and scared her and us. She ended up in the house for a while, til her half missing tail grew back. Then back out she went. Then my sisters dog got loose and almost got her - back in the house she came. Then we let her out again and my mother's cornish game hen (who thought she lived here during the day) attacked her and she ran and we didn't find her til the next morning.... back in again. Now blondie comes in to lay her egg in a box and sleeps inside at night. She begs when you are eating something and recently when my hubby didn't give her any, she flew up and took the half of sandwich he had left in his hand!
Not really a chicken to us anymore, just part of the family! She is, as you can see, our favorite! And oh so spoiled rotten!!

 

[mamahen1980]

[/IMG] speedy is my favorite but not sure if roo or hen 10weeks old sweetest of all and is always following me first egg I hatched

 

[iheartnh]

I saw this thread and laughed! Then went outside to take a picture.

About 2 years ago my sister bought a bunch of Americana Chicks. She stopped by on her way home and gave 2 to my daughter. My daughter named them Fionna and Felicia (I call them Blackie and Blondie ) They ended up being very tame and you can pet them and they come when you call (beebee bobbie beebie bobbie! they used to do this weird, what I called beebie bobbie dance in the cage when they were little - so they got nicknamed the beebie bobbies)

About a year and a half ago Blondie was grabbed by a fox. Broad daylight we heard her yell and went running out. The fox was so busy trying to get her that it didn't even notice us at first.
He only got a mouth of tail feathers and scared her and us. She ended up in the house for a while, til her half missing tail grew back. Then back out she went. Then my sisters dog got loose and almost got her - back in the house she came. Then we let her out again and my mother's cornish game hen (who thought she lived here during the day) attacked her and she ran and we didn't find her til the next morning.... back in again. Now blondie comes in to lay her egg in a box and sleeps inside at night. She begs when you are eating something and recently when my hubby didn't give her any, she flew up and took the half of sandwich he had left in his hand!
Not really a chicken to us anymore, just part of the family! She is, as you can see, our favorite! And oh so spoiled rotten!!

Wow - she's a real trouble magnet! I have one like that - unfortunately it's my 9 year old son.....