Favourite chicken breeds!

[Chickens r the best!]

Hi.
I was just wondering what the most popular chicken breeds are and also why..?

Thanks!

 

[lilmillefleur]

I like my silkies and d'Uccles, they are small and easy to handle...and super cute! Not the best egg layers though.

As for the most popular, people seem to like RIR, buff orpingtons, barred rocks, australorps, sexlinks, and leghorns. They are all good to great egg layers and mostly friendly

 

[Cyprus]

Personally, my favorite breed of chicken is D'Uccle.
I like them because they are quirky looking little birds. They also are very docile and easy to handle. As a bonus, they come in several beautiful colors.

 

[Chickens r the best!]

I’ll add D’Uccle to it!

Any other suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[1cock2hens]

right now i am love with my salmon faverolles

 

[lilmillefleur]

I’ll add D’Uccle to it!

Any other suggestions would be appreciated!

Good call! d'Uccles are super cute if you want a chicken breed that's the equivalent of a tiny lap dog...small, cute, sweet and fragile, but tons of personality!

Also wondering what your goals are for chicken keeping...that will help us, and you, pick the best breeds to suit your needs.

 

[lalalindsay]

I am fairly certain I have mixed breed bantams (I got them at Atwoods and just picked some cute ones I liked, lol) and they are THE BEST. I have RIR's and they're cool, but the little bantams have so much personality and I love them!

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

Hmm this is such a tough question for me, as I have so many favorite chicken breeds. I love Brahmas, Araucanas, Sebrights, Silkies, Phoenixes, Leghorns, Campines, Ameraucanas, Easter Eggers, Dominiques, Barbezieuxes, Isbars, Belgian Bearded D’Uccles, Belgian Bearded D’Anvers, Minorcas, Lakenvelders, Vorwerks, Thuringians. I think that’s all of them.

 

[ChickenGirl555]

I love polish because of how funny looking they are and how friendly they are--if you raise them right--and that they are all different and beautiful in their own ways.

Although I love all breeds and have had many weird ones in my coop. All have earned my love, no matter how they look.

 

[BantyChooks]

I chose 'other'. I am not a fan of any of the breeds given.

My favourite breed is the Chantecler. They were developed in Quebec in the early 20th century for the purpose of being a practical, hardy, productive choice for northern climates. They have two recognised varieties, White and Partridge. I own the Partridge variety and find them to be impervious to cold weather, productive layers, sensible in temperament, and pleasing to the eye. The main reason they caught my eye is their cushion comb. I'm rather tired of dealing with frostbite on every single new single comb cockerel I bring in.

This is not my image, so apologies for that, but here's a good example of a White Chantecler cockerel bred and shown by Jim Fegan. He took reserve champion of his class at the CFI nationals last year, and it was well deserved in my opinion! Truly a magnificent bird, even though all I was able to see of him was a photograph.

My 2nd favourite breed is the Ameraucana, the Silver variety in particular. I haven't found them to be particularly great layers, so that's something I am going to have to work on with my stock. They are, however, absolutely gorgeous in shape. That's what attracted me to them in the first place. They're good solid birds that are a bit smaller than the Chanteclers but certainly not tiny either. They've got active temperaments and fit in well with the rest of the flock. Except for the rooster, he's a jerk. I'm blaming that on the way he was raised, though; I purchased him as an adult cock and he never had any other males around to teach him lessons on manners. We'll see how his sons are. The hens are great and are quite cold hardy and healthy.

If you're looking for high egg production breeds, I'd put my vote in for the White Leghorn. They're good on range, incredibly high producers, thrifty on feed, cold hardy—despite the combs—and great at avoiding predators. I'd likely have them as my main breed if I lived in a more southern climate.