I purchased three ISA Brown hens a few weeks ago and am already noticing how much more friendly and curious they are than my Rhode Island Red and my Light Brahma.
When my boys get off the school bus the birds run to the road to meet them! I thought the boys were calling the birds but they said nope, the birds just come on their own. I have to wonder what the bus driver thinks watching the chickens race each other. It's the highlight of my day, seeing their fluffy butts waddling as fast as they can go up the drive!
The ISA Browns really are amazing. They're far smaller than my LB and even a tad smaller than my RIR so I assume they eat less and yet they lay HUGE eggs and at about twice the rate of my LB.
The only good thing I can say about my LB is that she's a good guard hen--seems to be the alert system for predators and doesn't lose her head when dangers approach but leads the others to a safe place. But, she's a food hog and lays small eggs the least often.
Anyway, all this to say that I don't hear much about ISA Browns here on the forum but they're the breed I'd recommend by far. Pretty birds (very similar coloration to my RIR), extremely curious and interactive, and prolific layers of large eggs. Oh, by the way, the hens I have are 2 yrs old and still laying like this!
When my boys get off the school bus the birds run to the road to meet them! I thought the boys were calling the birds but they said nope, the birds just come on their own. I have to wonder what the bus driver thinks watching the chickens race each other. It's the highlight of my day, seeing their fluffy butts waddling as fast as they can go up the drive!
The ISA Browns really are amazing. They're far smaller than my LB and even a tad smaller than my RIR so I assume they eat less and yet they lay HUGE eggs and at about twice the rate of my LB.
The only good thing I can say about my LB is that she's a good guard hen--seems to be the alert system for predators and doesn't lose her head when dangers approach but leads the others to a safe place. But, she's a food hog and lays small eggs the least often.
Anyway, all this to say that I don't hear much about ISA Browns here on the forum but they're the breed I'd recommend by far. Pretty birds (very similar coloration to my RIR), extremely curious and interactive, and prolific layers of large eggs. Oh, by the way, the hens I have are 2 yrs old and still laying like this!
