I want calm Bakcyard Chicken breed, any tips?

[BK79]

I have had good experience with Red Sex Link hens and they are docile, quiet, easy going birds that lay brown eggs.
I want to try another hen that gains a little more size, some egg laying is good, I don't want noisy birds or wild behaviours.
I tried Heritage RIR's with so-so luck, had one that was really noisy when you went to handle her.
Any tips on good quiet bred that has bigger hen size?
how bout Black Sex Links? are they docile and quiet?

 

[Jajika]

I have both red and black sex links.

From my limited experience the red's were not as sweet as my black's. My Black Star's are adorable. Very, very sweet. They are curious, docile and good layers.

I now have three and love them.

 

[Island Roo]

My brahmas are calm and quiet compared the Rocks and Orpingtons. I'm not sure about egg production compared the sex links - I get 4 to 5 eggs a week.

 

[BK79]

I have both red and black sex links.

From my limited experience the red's were not as sweet as my black's. My Black Star's are adorable. Very, very sweet. They are curious, docile and good layers.

I now have three and love them.

Your "Black Stars" are a different breed than Black Sex links right?
My hatchery told me Black Sex links eat more than the Red Sex Link, and lay less.

 

[realsis]

I have all silkies. they are extremely quiet and calm and sweet. what a wonderful experience its been with them. the eggs are smaller but still delicious and mine lay every day to every other day. they are extremely gentle by nature. mine love to sit in my lap and be brushed. my birds will jump up and down with excitement when they see me. they are super easy going and are really easy to carry and give baths to and its almost like they came trained. they love attention and people. I am very happy I chose this breed. they are beautiful birds and they show well if your interested in that. mine are even quiet when they lay eggs! their feathers look just like fur. if you want a gentle quiet kind and loving breed I'd go for the silkie. they hang in there with the best of them when it comes to laying. I was quite shocked about this because I thought silkies didn't lay as well but I was wrong! I get eggs every day to every other day! the silkie breed is really a true joy to raise! they are so incredibly loving and gentle! they are my absolutely favorite breed. they bring great joy into my life every day. I thank God I chose this breed. they are so much fun and will eagerly interact with you. they love people and love to be loved.I highly recommended this breed if you want quiet gentle loving chickens! best wishes

 

[appps]

We just got some 10 week old faverolles. They are just lovely. They had never been handled or hand fed but a month later one cuddles up and actually went to sleep on my lap yesterday and all of them let us pat them and two we can pick up and sit on our knees.

They are supposed to lay through winter too so that's a bonus

We also have one silkie and while it will eat out of your hand it wont let us touch it and two sizzle (frizzle x silkie) who again let us hand feed but wont let us touch. We had those much younger at about 5 weeks old.
Down side is small eggs and constantly going broodie. (well downside if you dont want to breed more), up side is they are easily kept in. We had a bit of wire that came up to not even quite my knee and despite loving to be out in the yard it never once occured to them to simply jump over the bit of wire.

 

[BK79]

Not too many "silkies" around

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

I have Silkies, and they're wonderful little birds. But, they don't exactly fit into the big or productive layer category. Mine are fair layers, which really surprised me. They usually lay somewhere around 3-6 eggs each a weeks if the weather agrees with them. The problem with their production.....broodiness. Out of 3 Silkie hens (and one bantam Cochin) I have just 1 hen laying eggs, and she'd be broody as well if I hadn't kicked her off the nest. The rest are sitting, waiting for their eggs to hatch.
Standard sized Cochins are a very calm, quiet breed and the hens are MASSIVE. But, again, they're a breed prone to go broody. My Wyandottes were also very friendly and quiet. They were ok layers too and hens were pretty big girls. Easter Eggers are another good choice, though given the variation amongst the birds some may be on the smaller size. Orpingtons are another calm, large breed. Mine weren't quiet though, and....you guessed it- they go broody. Good luck choosing. I've had chickens for almost 8 years and I'm still trying to figure it out

 

[Jajika]

Supposedly, according the breeder, told me my Black Stars are sex linked, just like the Red Star.

I don't know about eating more? All my chickens seem to eat the same, and all lay like crazy. I have a Silkie, Buff Orpington, Sussex, EE, RIR, and three Black Stars. The reason I wanted a Black Start was to be sure I didn't get a rooster.

Twice, when I bought day old chicks that were supposed to have been sexed, I got two roosters. It broke my heart as I had them three months before I could tell. By that time I'd fallen in love with them and wanted to be sure they went to a good home to live out their lives. It was so difficult I can't risk it any more, hence either a sex linked or three-month old pullet.

 

[MidsummerNight]

I have cochins. One of my girls lays almost daily. Very sweet and quiet.