Friendly, patient chickens?

[The Chicken Lady]

I second the recommendation of Orpingtons. Are you thinking of hatching your own eggs as part of this project? If so, there are some BYCers who have AWESOME, beautiful birds that you could probably buy hatching eggs from.

 

[HeelerDawg]

You're right on the money with the Wyandottes or Brahmas. They're both docile breeds and so are the Orpingtons. The RIR's tend to be aggressive, both the hens and roosters. I've had them all. The con to Brahmas though is that they eat too much, grow to slow and they don't lay alot of eggs. So if you're looking to raise poultry efficently,you might want to go with something other than Brahmas.

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

We have barred rocks, EEs, leghorns, a producion red pullet, & barnevelders - about 3 months old.

Both our barred rocks are very friendly - one of them loves to hop up and set on my lap - she stays there till I put her down. Easter eggers are also fun for kids - ours are calm, friendly chickens and should lay blue or green eggs when they start laying.

I believe production reds are part RIR. The production red we have now is friendly enough, but we had to get rid of two others because of their aggressiveness to the other chicks (when they were still babies even). The first one pecked two chicks till they were bloody. We exchanged it for another of the same breed and a week later, the new chick really went after the second production red (the one we still have). It pecked her till her back was bald and some tail feathers were missing and she had bloody areas. This happened when the chicks were still little (less than 1 mo. old) and both times, they were outside in the grass with an extra large dog cage over them. They were not crowded or hot. After getting rid of the second mean production red, we haven't had any other problems like that. Our current flock of 11 chickens gets along very well together.

I don't know if production reds & RIRs have the same temperament or if this behavior is typical, but thought I should mention it just in case.

We did have a couple buff orpingtons several years back and I agree with the other posters - they are a calm, friendly breed.

 

[texasbartrambaby]

My Americanas are very sweet now - but a word to the wise, check with your local 4H office. I thought I'd let my kids show too until we were told that here in Texas the only birds that allowed to be shown have to be ordered through the extension office and they order through A&M only --- I am not sure if anyone else has this problem but that's what I was told. Which makes no sense because we get our barrows from all over the country ...

 

[luvmygirlsinAK]

Brahma's can be very friendly-especially the roo's, believe it or not-we have a huge lt. brahma rooster named Charlie. He is super friendly and takes good care of his "angels" He is very sweet and mild mannered. The brahma's would be a good choice, especially if they are raised to be friendly by being held and pet all the time.

 

[pdsavage]

Barred rocks and speckled sussex,i have hads RIR and EE and they where very flighty and realy scared of me even though i raised em from chicks.
I got adult and teen BR and SS and they are very friendly,the SS so much that i cant get em out from under my feet....

 

[miss_jayne]

Orps and Australorps are my faves for easy going birds. decent layers, pretty, easy to handle. my 9 yr. old can pick them up without a fuss.