Looking for friendly chicken breeds

[phaatnsassy]

I am going to purchase some fertilized eggs this spring . I am wondering what breeds usually are the friendliest ? And does anyone know which place is the best for getting fertilize eggs?

Thank you

 

[anatess]

Silkies.

 

[SueT]

Are you interested in bantams? Silkies, d'uccles, and many others...Dutch bantams, sebrights......For large breeds, I like my speckled Sussex, buff orpington...australorp.. barred rock...I think there are probably a myriad of friendly breeds. My leghorns are friendly, my daughter's sex links are also. How you raise them makes a difference too.
For eggs I would look locally, try craigslist, try Google to find local poultry swaps, etc.
I found eggs last weekend by talking to breeder I met at a poultry swap. I also put an ad on craigslist, and got a reply right away, and since I now have my eggs, I took down the ad.

 

[Lamaremybabies]

Buying "fertile" eggs is a very big gamble. You could buy 12 eggs and only get one chick. If that's what you want to do though, I say go for it. You can look for local farms or chicken owners who sell eggs and ask if they sell eggs for hatching. Otherwise there are hatcheries that will send you eggs, but this is a very pricey option.

As for breeds, silkies and Cochins are very friendly small breeds. Neither lay a ton of eggs but they are both great at hatching and raising babies. If you're looking for a medium breed who also lays well I'd recommend any type of sexlink hen, I myself have gold sexlinks and ISA browns which are both red sexlinks but the breed of cockerel is slightly different. Although some will argue there's no difference in anything but name. Either way they are stupendous layers and very sweet (also a tad sassy). Easter eggers are also a good medium size bird, you'll get colorful eggs and are typically sweet if you make sure to spend time with them as babies. Easter eggers however are not considered a true breed due to the fact that there are a bunch of different variables with each one i.e. What color egg they'll lay, what featheration and color they'll be.

For large breeds, I like australorps, brahmas, and Orpingtons.

Hope this was helpful!

 

[ChickNanny13]

Orpingtons Wynadottes are my favorites! You'll need to figure out if you want clean legs or feathered...Colored eggs or don't matter...Lamaremybabies gives good advice!

 

[Lamaremybabies]

Orpingtons Wynadottes are my favorites! You'll need to figure out if you want clean legs or feathered...Colored eggs or don't matter...Lamaremybabies gives good advice!

Thank you! Wyandottes where the first breed of chicken I wanted... ironically I still don't have a single Wyandotte almost 30 birds later... hopefully I'll get one, eventually.

 

[phaatnsassy]

I do like the bigger breeds for our eggs. Thank you for all your suggestions .

 

[SOHC-FTW]

Swedish flower hens

 

[Birdinhand]

speckled Sussex, buff orpington and Australorps have all been great with our kids. the key is handling them regularly early on. if you want the hatching experience then getting the eggs can be worth the down sides but we have learned that from egg to hen, the very best time to ship is right after a chick hatches. it has enough yolk inside to keep it happy for a few days and they are remarkably robust.

the eggs have rather fragile suspensatory ligaments that hold the yolk in the middle of the egg. these often snap during the bumps of shipping and result in an unviable egg. don't forget too that eggs are a bit of a crap shoot in terms of gender. we got lavender orpington eggs off of e-bay and they did a great job wrapping them in bubble wrap. out of 14 eggs, 9 hatched, 1 died early on, 6 were roosters and one of the two remaining hens got bumblefoot so bad it had to be put down. that turned out to be one rather expensive hen that remained. at least with buying pre-sexed chicks you have high viability and low risk of getting roosters that later create a quandary with what to do with them.

 

[tastyacres]

Dom's are my favorites.... Also my Delawares were always so sweet, but these White Plymouth Rocks are growing on me.

My silver laced Wyandottes were there own bird, I loved watching them but i could never really hold them.