Docile breeds with wildtype coloring?

[Cyneswith]

Are there any? My husband is most interested in having a wildtype rooster, but we must have docile chickens (and I know that temperament varies even within breeds, but choosing the right breed improves the odds.)

 

[sylviethecochin]

Do you have a type preference? I mean, do you like your chickens to look traditional, with no feathered legs, with slim bodies and straight, upright combs?

Cochins and silkies are noted for being the most docile breeds, but if you don't like their looks, that's absolutely useless to you. My father hates both of them.

The thing about roosters is that a lot of them, when they grow up without adult chickens, do exactly what human boys would do when growing up without supervision--they turn into first degree jerks. Personal opinion, but I don't think roosters shouldn't be handled when young. They loose their fear of you and decide that you are a person worth attacking.

If you're not interested in breeding, I would get (sexed) pullet chicks from one source--most hens are well-behaved--and then, when they're older, get a pretty, year-old rooster off of a farm. A lot of people give away roosters for free, and that way you know his temperament and what he looks like.

DON'T get:
Game Roosters
Production Reds
Plymouth Rocks (EDT: barred)

There are exceptions to that, but a lot of the roosters of those breeds are pure evil.

Marans are pretty, and fairly docile, I understand, though I personally have never had any.

 

[Michael P]

Old English Game Bantams are generally quite docile because they are bred for show and no poultry judge will award a rooster who attacks him or her. Modern Game Bantams are even more docile because they are expected to pose when shown. Black breasted red OEGB are about as close as you can come in appearance to the wild ancestor of domestic chickens.

 

[sylviethecochin]

Old English Game Bantams are generally quite docile because they are bred for show and no poultry judge will award a rooster who attacks him or her. Modern Game Bantams are even more docile because they are expected to pose when shown. Black breasted red OEGB are about as close as you can come in appearance to the wild ancestor of domestic chickens.

Can't say anything about moderns, but we got a set of eight Old English Bantams from a breeder. The rooster was a jerk, and one of his two sons was a jerk. Of the other ones we got from a guy up the road (his were from a hatchery), two of four roosters were jerks.

 

[centrarchid]

The following have wild type coloration or are at least close on male side. First may or may not have a default flighty nature although that can be overridden with conditioning. Second two are on the heavy side. Fourth is handlily the prettiest and most flexible with respect to behavior. I keep some of the last specifically as pets. They must be kept separate from other adult males. Strains of last can differ markedly.
Brown Leghorn
Barnvelder
Welsummer
Black Breasted Red American Game

 

[Nodaksnakelover]

I have to disagree on American Games being jerks. For millennia that breed was used in fighting...and a bird that would turn on it's handler to fight would of course lose the intended chicken to chicken fight. I've read some of those gamefowl books that tell you to get rid of any rooster that shows desire to fight you. My personal experience with the breed, is they won't come at you but will actually bite you if you pick some of them up. But with some handling the biters will stop that reaction. My current boy, and American Game has never bitten me, nor has he ever attacked me. He's always been calm around me, walking around my feet when I go through the chicken pen. But that being said, roosters have instincts...sometimes those instincts rise to the surface at an instant. One day a Pigeon flew into the chicken section and my game rooster instantly spun around and was ready for what he thought was a hawk attacking the flock. Anyhow, to each his own of course, but I'd hate to see any breed listed at all when there are individuals of the breed that are good birds. But with American Games, where yes they are a fighting breed...but that's chicken to chicken. Where they select against birds that will fight man.

They don't bother with some of the egg laying breeds where the selection is egg production rather than handling characteristics which are important in gamefowl.
And in egg production, it's all about growing up FAST! And the hormones rage in those breeds in ways that doesn't happen with American Gamefowl. I have yet to see my gamefowl roosters go after my hens the way most roosters do when hormones hit them. Gamefowl are a slower maturing breed without many of the hang ups a lot of current domestic breeds are.

Anyhow, just saw this post and felt moved to comment on this! Have a great day!

 

[twisted-acres-farm]

Do you have a type preference? I mean, do you like your chickens to look traditional, with no feathered legs, with slim bodies and straight, upright combs?

Cochins and silkies are noted for being the most docile breeds, but if you don't like their looks, that's absolutely useless to you. My father hates both of them.

The thing about roosters is that a lot of them, when they grow up without adult chickens, do exactly what human boys would do when growing up without supervision--they turn into first degree jerks. Personal opinion, but I don't think roosters shouldn't be handled when young. They loose their fear of you and decide that you are a person worth attacking.

If you're not interested in breeding, I would get (sexed) pullet chicks from one source--most hens are well-behaved--and then, when they're older, get a pretty, year-old rooster off of a farm. A lot of people give away roosters for free, and that way you know his temperament and what he looks like.

DON'T get:
Game Roosters
Production Reds
Plymouth Rocks

There are exceptions to that, but a lot of the roosters of those breeds are pure evil.

Marans are pretty, and fairly docile, I understand, though I personally have never had any.

 

[lazy gardener]

Even EE come in "wild type" colors that would do well. A lot depends on your flock goals. What do you want these birds for? Do you want wild type coloring so they will blend in to the free range and be less visible to predators? Do you like the "partridge" feathered look? Are you looking for meat, eggs, both? If you want partridge patterned birds, I'd consider brown leghorn, EE, partridge rock. If you simply want good birds that free range well and are predator saavy, I'd add Dominique, barred rock, any of the leghorns. They come in a wide variety of colors. Buck Eye. If you are in cold climate, avoid the single comb birds and choose pea, rose, and walnut combed birds. Almost all types of birds come in a pattern that would satisfy "the wild look". I would steer you away from any of the birds with the fru-fru head gear.

 

[JedJackson]

Are there any? My husband is most interested in having a wildtype rooster, but we must have docile chickens (and I know that temperament varies even within breeds, but choosing the right breed improves the odds.)

Red Dorkings have the wildtype coloring and are as docile as can be. Partridge rocks are pretty close to wildtype coloring and are also pretty docile. I've never raised Welsummers so don't know their temperament but they are also of wildtype coloring.

 

[Lostchicken]

I have two silver lacey Wyandotte Roos, and they never cause me any problem, but my neighbor has Road Island Red Roo that keeps him bleeding from getting spurred. He threatened to throw him over the fence to me, and all I could see was chicken and dumplings I told him.