If you HAD to choose just ONE Breed of Chicken to Raise....

[aoxa]

LOL - I mis-spell it every time as Reese, primarily because I over think it. My natural inclination is to go with a 'c' but then I think "well, in that case it must be an 's'". Gotta come up with a way to remember c, c, c!

We should just remember it is like the chocolate peanut butter cups! Reese's pieces!

 

[aoxa]

Barred Rocks are nice, great layers, and good eating. It's the brred I was raised with. NHs are also nice.

But I prefer

AMERICAN DOMINIQUES!

For nearly all the same reasons you mentioned:
•Fantastic Layers
•Beautiful
•Good meat on the extra cockerels
•FRIENDLY and CALM
•Only sometimes have we had an aggressive rooster
•Wonderful foragers
•The consummate Heritage Chicken.

Barred anything =

 

[wsmith]

 Barred anything = 

LOL. Pretty much. I love how on a really nice BR roosters they get the nearly silky hackle feathers with the fine barring. Very nice. Of course, when you see a really good Dominique Rooster... WOW!

I remember as a kid the massive BR rooster we had for years. Gorgeous, but when my Dad and I would go to the State fair, he would always be looking out for "that Barred rock looking breed with the rose comb that my (his) grandparents raised".... LOL

 

[Hennyetta]

My choice would be my LF Salmon Faverolles. I'm just getting started with them, but I chose them for a number of reasons:

• They originated as primarily a meat bird, but later became known as a dual-purpose bird. This solves some of my biggest problems with raising chickens--- what to do with unwanted roosters, and what to do with old hens who no longer lay. I can't kill anything, and my husband doesn't like getting rid of a bunch of roosters for me (and he WON'T butcher them). These birds are big enough to be worth butchering, and I can just take them to the place that does chicken-butchering, and come home with meat!
• They are good layers (no, not production Leghorn good, but that's okay. Production Leghorns wouldn't be worth having someone butcher, either, so the trade-off is worth it to me) and continue to lay through the winter.
• They can be sexed much earlier than most breeds, so if I don't want to raise the roosters for meat, they can be culled at a young age, which is much easier than culling a full-grown chicken.
• They are quiet, gentle birds.
• They are attractive, and I like chickens with muffs, beards, and foot feathering. If I'm going to have a flock of chickens around, I like them to be pretty and/or interesting!

These are my newest Fav hens. I had just brought them home.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Choosing a favorite breed is very difficult. I have had about 30 breeds and there's a lot to love. Among my favorites are Jaerhons, Jersey Giants, Minorcas, Anconas, and Welsummers.
However, with limited space and because I'm breeding I can only do justice to one breed so I chose:

the Black Penedesenca.

My reasons:

• One of the darkest egg breeds in the world
• Fantastic Layers except for a fair winter break
• Huge eggs
• Renown for flavor of the meat (it even has it's own annual festival in Spain - 'Fair of the Rooster' where people pay $50 for a rooster on the hoof for Christmas dinner)
• About 20% go broody and great mothers
• Beautiful
• The only breed with a carnation comb (or king's crest)
• The only breed with white earlobes that lays a brown egg
• Very heat hardy but can take -0 Missouri winters.
• Very alert and aloof making them virtually predator proof when foraging during the day
• They run like the wind
• When pressed they can fly quite high vertically but normally I can keep them inside a 2' fence (keeps the garden safe inexpensively)
• I can't imagine a rooster attacking a human (they're just not that into you)
• Excellent foragers
• Roosters are the best flock protectors I've had
• Extremely rare
• Did I say I love them?

As you can see, I'm not really into pet chickens

 

[ariconnie48]

This question is hard to answer, but I choose Barred Rocks. They are great egg layers, they are friendly, they are pretty, and they are cold hardy.

 

[3chickchicks]

I have trouble deciding between my wyandottes and my dominique. My GLW is such a sweetie and such a trooper (she got attacked and pulled through). However, my dominique has quite the personality. She struts around like a queen and always has something to say to me.
But then I love how my buff brahma will follow me for treats.
Oh I don't know!
None of mine are laying yet so that may sway my opinion some.

 

[Tuhmu]

Buff sussex, I don't have them yet but I love my light sussex rooster and my buff brahma hens. So add those together and that's what you would get right? Lol it might change. My 2nd runner up are my red stars, they are so friendly and never let me down with their nice big brown eggs! I have two that demand to be held and cuddled and get very jealous if I'm caught holding someone else.