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Not a great pic but that is Millie. She and 5 others were removed from a tow yard where they were fed 90% corn and had never been in the sunlight. They were in a fully tarped dog run. Yes FULLY tarped.
One did not survive the move but the others recovered well.

Here are a few Aussies demolishing a flowerbed.
 

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*Warning* This post is gonna be looooooong.

Sex-links: For absolute dog-like friendliness my favorite are my ISA browns. Little Ana in particular is my lil' helper chicken. If I am picking berries, she "helps" by getting on the lowest ones. If I am cleaning the poop boards, she "helps" by repeatedly climbing onto the roost and jumping into the poop piles. Basically, if I am doing anything in the yard she is right there in the middle of it. Not always helpful but sweet and absolutely hilarious. She will also jump in my lap to see what I am doing and routinely tries to follow me into the house. My ISA are also exceptional egg layers. Even now, with the days getting shorter they have hardly missed a day.
Cons: Short lifespan. They are prone to reproductive problems. Also while, exceptionally people friendly, they are BOSSY birds. Top of the pecking order and ruthless to newcomers. This makes introducing newcomers very difficult (but still totally possible. You will need plenty of space though.)

(Speckled) Sussex: I only have one and I love her! Incredibly curious and bold. I call mine Amelia Earhart because she thinks she is a great aviator and bold adventurer (she always escaped the brooder as a little and even now tries to fly out the coop door anytime I open it). Not as cuddly as my ISA's but still very people oriented. She is also very very beautiful.
Con: A good solid layer but not quite the "egg machine" that a sex-link or australorp is.

Black Australorp: I don't own any myself but they are an absolute favorite of my father. One of (if not the very best) layers among purebreds (i.e. not sex-links). They do very well in confinement (my father has a generous run but cannot free-range). They are quiet, calm, and very pretty especially when the sun hits those pretty iridescent feathers.
Cons? Some of the ones my father has are friendly but others were quite shy (but never "flighty"). I thinks they might also be a bit slower to mature than some breeds.

As you can see I love all three of these breeds! So I am sure you will be very happy with whichever one (or ones!) that you pick :)
 
Million dollar egg, you're not kidding me! :) I got into this the beginning of May with 5 banties and no coop, and now I have 2 awesome coops and 7 banties/7 standards. I was lucky in that my husband repurposed a ton of stuff to make the coops (he was a builder) and even ran electricity to them and they are adorable! But I have spent so much money on my chickies. I'm always buying them stuff. And me silly chicken stuff like chicken Sloggers (both the shoe and the boot kind).

Last night I was looking at the coops with a new (repurposed) outside light he put on, thinking it looked like chicken condos, and I thought "wow I could decorate these coops really bad-ass for Christmas" and I am totally not that kind of person! I bet there are a million people on here who already do that, I'm gonna have to do a search, lol.

I bet people who get into this hobby thinking they're gonna come out ahead saving money for eggs--and actually making money--are few and far between!! I had no idea this would turn out to be such an all-encompassing hobby, but there it is.

I love nothing more than to sit on a stump inside my bigger chicken run with a beer in my hand after a long day at work, laughing over their silly antics, and feeding them mealworms. Best therapy ever. :)

Hah! I feel the same way. Nothing better after a long day at work than to pour a glass of wine, grab a chair and hang out and watch the birdies as I give them snacks.

I agree ladies! We actually hung chairs in our coop so they would be there when we went out for our evening therapy session! I'll also take this opportunity to complain about my two 22 week old free loaders (Bonnie & Esmarelda)! Pictures of the guilty girls below:
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I agree ladies! We actually hung chairs in our coop so they would be there when we went out for our evening therapy session! I'll also take this opportunity to complain about my two 22 week old free loaders (Bonnie & Esmarelda)! Pictures of the guilty girls below:
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those pictures are fake!! there is no poop and it is way too clean :oops: :lau

nice coop! very pretty and spacious!
 

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