Observations on behavior of different breeds - add your experiences

[AngieChick]

Golden Comets: My favorites of the 2 types I have. Super friendly to humans and not at all aggressive to the other birds, though they are 1 & 2 in the pecking order. Mine are total love bugs that jump on my lap and make sweet little velociraptor coos.

Easter Eggers: My pullets are curious and friendly, though not as friendly as my obsessively friendly GC's. I have one that is stand-offish, but I think she may be low pullets. I gave my suspected rooster to a friend with acreage, who has now accused me of raising a city chicken. He had to be shown how to forage off the ground, and follows her around like a puppy. Her grand kids love him, as he puts up with them hauling him around. I think for her whining, she really likes him and is glad to have him aboard. So, friendly roo.

 

[the simple life]

Speckled Sussex, friendly and curious. The first one to come up to you and see what you are doing in the yard.
I wish I had gotten more of these.

Golden Lakenvelders- They are flightly, nervous little things. They get along well with all the other breeds I have, no one seems to mind them and they never push the limits of the pecking order.

Silkies- a very nice breed. They are sweet and gentle. Some can be skittish, but I think it has to do with their age sometimes, they warm up to you as they learn to trust you.
Mine never ever are mean to the young ones that I add to their coop.
People love the way they look.

Mille Fluer and Porcelain D'uccle- very sweet, mild mannered. They are the smallest of all my breeds, but I do have a roo who is very protective of his little flock.
He is in charge of all the banty breeds and doesn't let the big girls come over and peck at his ladies.
I have seen him take on chickens 5 times his size. He does crow all day long.

I agree with all the other assessments listed for the other breeds.

 

[Lee]

White and Barred Plymouth Rocks from a hatchery. Good layers. Not overly friendly, but not standoffish either. Good foragers. Why didn't I get more of these?

Buff Orps, becuase they are suppose to be gentle friendly and go broody. I want to raise my chicks the natural way. I got 10 chicks from a 4H boy and 10 chicks from a show breeder. All are the same age and raised together and were handled the same. All are good foragers. The chicks from the boy are friendly easy going and curious. The chicks from the show breeder are flighty and scared of everything and appear to be not very smart. I'm wondering if they will even be good layers. They should start laying anytime now.

Speckled Sussex from a hatchery are becoming a favourite. Good steady layers. Friendly and curoius. I like theior temperament. Good foragers.

Some 2 week old Black Ameraucana and SL Wyandotte chicks. Anticipation here.

And one OEG bantam pullet. Fairly good layer, in spurts. Goes where she wants when she wants. Loves to roost as high up as she can get. Bullies chicks that are 4 times her size. A saucy little twerp and very vocal. Everybody should have at least one. LOL

 

[Adri]

We've gotten some new chickens.

The Silkies are unbelievably docile. The minute my husband brought home a 4 month old pair, they were perfectly happy for the kids to carry them around. And when the kids take them out in the field to forage, they follow them around. They like to be near each other or us. The rooster seems a bit more adventurous when he walks near the chicken yard where the standard-size flock lives, he goes a little bit closer and struts by. (all of the big roosters come running and hollering through the fence at him).

We only have one Barred Rock hen and she is lovely. Not at all skittish, but somewhat timid. She's done a great job fitting in with the rest of the flock. First she found her way into the heart of my brown-red ameraucana rooster and then made friends with the Polish chickens. I'm sure that her personality will come out more now that she's got some friends in the flock

Oh and my Buff Catalanas are turning out to be great layers, although after only 2 weeks of laying, one of them has decided to go broody on me.

 

[illinichick]

Barred Rock hens: bossy, peck on others, but good layers, don't like to be picked up.

Red Sex links: missing tail feathers due to being pecked on by the BRs while roosting. good layers.

Austrolorp: we call her the psycho-hen, runs around like the sky is falling, the first to "freak-out" when something new is introduced, tries flying out of the screened window.

Cuckoo Maran- our favorites: friendly, like to be picked up. good layers.

Buff Orps- standoffish, hides under nest boxes to lay.

Buff Cochin- skitters away when you try to touch them.

Gold Salmon Marans: stay in the coop when all others are outside.

Buttercup: neatest to look at, white egg layer, small egg,
very flighty, looks like a little old woman with a hat.

Turken: a favorite, very curious, friendly, has been to the nursing home to visit and really enjoyed it.

 

[kbarrett]

Quote:
My Buff Minorca's are the same way. However my black Minorcas are much more inquisitive, will take treats from my hand and my 5yo son can catch them now that they're squatting

White Leghorn (aka Ideal 236 or some number?) They were the hardest to catch as chicks, wanted nothing to do with human contact whatsoever! Now that they're laying they are the most inquisitive out of my flock. They still don't like to "cuddled" but occasionally tolerate petting, eat treats out of your hand and first to come in from from the run to see what you're doing in the coop...very nosey! I have to say they have truly surprised me. They rule the roost.

Danish Brown Leghorn...mixed review. Similar to the white's as chicks...don't touch me! Now I have one that you can't get near and one who a tad more tolerant. But both come running for treats.

Barred Hollands. I got them in place of the BO's I really wanted simply because I waited to long to order due to my inability to make up my mind

and just went with the description of the friendliest white egg layer

They were the most handled as chicks, mostly because they were too slow to get away from my son

They were way less flighty than the rest as chicks but I would not call my trio friendly. They are much quieter in temper and bear the brunt of living relatively low on the totem pole.

I have to say as a relative newby chicken farmer

I have been absolutely delighted by the different personalities and antics exhibited by my little flock. They are hilarious! Oh, and having fresh eggs is just icing on the cake!

 

[Firefly]

RIRs-- these I've had the longest (about a year and a half). Curious, friendly (but do NOT like to be handled), definitely bossy and have a tendency towards feather-picking. Otherwise good personalities, very good layers and hardy.

Barred Rocks-- these are about 20 weeks old so they are pretty new, but so far I am in love! They are sweet, adorable, curious, don't mind being picked up/petted. Great personalities too.

Black Australorps-- same age as the Rocks. SUPER flighty, will not come near me or eat from my hand. And the whole reason I got them was because I had read they were one of the best "pet" chickens! Still, they are quite beautiful and I'm happy to have them in the flock. They are squatting now so I hope to see some eggs from them soon as my RIRs are molting.

Kelli

 

[77horses]

Red Stars/Golden Comets/Red Sex-Links(all the same breed, just different names)- very gentle chickens. Not very huge, but are not really small. They are about medium sized. We only have hens, so not sure about the roosters. Like being held, love treats, can be trained to come to you when you call and if you have treats. They are a really great breed to have and they lay very nice, medium-large(sometimes X-large), brown eggs, usually first or second to start laying. Hens are not aggressive, great family bird. Lay eggs all through the seasons. Hardy breed. Good manners with hens.

Rhode Island Reds- Very pushy and males are usually aggressive. Tend to peck a lot. Males crow a lot. They are a pretty breed, but not very gentle. They like treats and sometimes, depending on how they were raised, they like to be picked up. Hens lay medium-large(sometimes X-large) brown eggs, pretty early layers, they usually start before anyone else. They lay eggs all through winter/summer etc...good layers, but not very friendly. Hardy breed. Pretty good manners around the hens.

Buff Orpingtons- Very big breed. Known to be the "Big and gentle breed". Nice and friendly, usually. Hens lay tan/brown eggs, medium-large(sometimes X-large) Like to be picked up, aren't as aggressive as Rhode Island Reds are. We only haver hens, but I have heard that roosters are usually nice. Hens can be a little bossy towards others, but not severely. They just sometimes put others in the right pecking order. Great and popular family bird. Lays through cold/warm, very hardy breed. They come in colors of buff(golden), black, and others. Nice manners around hens.

New Jersey Giants- We only had one rooster, so I am not sure about the hens. But the rooster we had was a very big bird. The hens are usually very big, too. This breed comes in the colors white or black, and I'm not sure about other colors. They tend to be gentle, but sometimes like to peck. The black ones have a mix of green/blue colors mixed with the black feathers. Very gorgeous bird. Friendly, doesn't crow much. Nice manners around the hens. Good family bird. Hens lay medium-large brown eggs(sometimes X-large) and lay through cold and warm temps. Hardy breed.

Splash Cochin-


Very pretty breed. Usually have feathered feet. This particular color(splash) is a gray/white or black/white mix of colors. This breed is a breed with a small and rounded tail, very puffy looking. I am not sure about the hens, since we just recently bought a young rooster. Shy, pecks sometimes when you pick them up, and this is usually because of feeling threatened. Quiet breed. Not sure about egg laying or if they lay all through cold and warm. Gentle and friendly.

Buff Cochin- We are new to this breed, too. We just recently bought two week+ old chicks. They are females.
This breed is gentle, but pretty small. Not sure about egg laying or about the characteristics, but I know some things about them. They have feathered feet, and are like the Splash Cochin, but are buff colored. Pretty and friendly. Very puffy.

Mutt- A mix breed chicken, usually a random mix. Example- a bared rock hen and a splash cochin rooster egg that hatches= mutt chicks. And a bared rock hen+bared rock rooster= non-mutt chick I guess LOL

Mutt chicks are really interested, since when they hatch, you don't know what to expect!



Well, that's all the breeds we have! They are very nice and we enjoy them!

 

[The Chicken Lady]

Someone ought to condense all this fantastic info into a neatly-organized page for BYC!

 

[77horses]

Quote:
I agree