please help us decide

[Myabcs3]

We are in Kansas as well and have a mixed flock which includes both Buff Orpingtons as well as Australorps. Both are wonderful. We also have Barred Rock Pullets that we thoroughly enjoy as well. All are great layers, they eat out of our hands, don't mind being petted and are friendly when we collect eggs. We do have a rule in our house for egg collection that my husband instituted - the boys cannot take eggs out of under the girls, he believes that is disrespectful to the chicken...they have to wait until the lady has left the coop nest

We have not had a problem with broodiness in the Orpingtons. We did notice as chicks that the Orpingtons and Australorps can be bullied by the other breeds, but that has seemed to cease as the girls got to full size.

If you are looking for eggs in the Spring, there are many individuals in Kansas that can offer you some great eggs to hatch or even day old chicks. Check out the "Consolidated Kansas" thread to meet some of the individuals.

Cheers!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Broody means they want to hatch chicks. It is a hormonal thing and is generally a long-term commitment for the hen. It requires a minumum of 3 weeks on the nest, leaving usually once a day to eat and drink a bit and take care of necessary body functions. Many are ready to spend months on the nest. Then after the eggs hatch, she is ready to spend 4 to 10 weeks raising the chicks, devoting every waking and sleeping moment of this period to her babies. It is not at all unusual for a broody to lose 30% of her body weight while going through this process. Broodies are more likely to have problems with parasites or diseases than other hens because they are weakened from lack of food, water, and exercise. I had an University of Arkansas Ag professor tell me that roost mites kill more broodies than anything else. It is hard on the hen but one of the miracles of life. With very little help from you, broodies do a great job of hatching and raising chicks, but you do need to know a bit about it and what to watch for.

It does not matter if a rooster is around or if the hen has eggs to sit on. If the hormones kick in, she will go broody and sit on her imagination. Some hens have a stronger broody instinct than others. Some production breeds, RIR and Leghorn immediately come to mind, have had most of the broody bred out of them. When they are broody, they are still eating, taking up room, and requiring special handling, but they are not laying eggs. Since they are costing commercial operations time, labor, and feed, many commercial operations have made going broody a fatal condition, using incubators to hatch the eggs and raising the chicks in brooders. After a few generations, the breeding flock you are left with does not have that much broodiness left in its genetics. You will still find hens from these breeds going broody, but it is fairly rare.

One big problem with being broody is that they are not laying eggs. So you are feeding them and not getting anything out of them. They often hog a nest and will not let another hen on there to lay. Other hens will lay in that nest, sometimes when the broody is there or sometimes when the broody is taking her daily constitutional. Some broodies will carry eggs from another nest back to their nest. So you need to check under them daily to remove any eggs. Some broodies can be extremely protective of their nests, which means some of them will peck the fire out of you when you reach under them. Some just fluff up and growl at you but some will peck.

If you don't give them fertile eggs to hatch, I think you need to break them from being broody. I just think it is cruel to allow a hen to remain broody with no end in sight. There are different theories on how to break a broody. Some hens are more committed than others. I'll include a link that talks about it some.

Break a Broody Thread
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=2176186#p2176186

Hope this helps.

 

[kansasmom]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. Right Now we are leaning toward Black Australorps and Red Stars/Golden Comets. I am still considering EEs for their pretty eggs. I would love to have some Buff Orps as they are supposed to be so nice, but I am not sure about dealing with the broodiness.

Also looking at the Speckled Sussex. Anyone have any experience with those?

Thanks so much!

 

[dreamcatcherarabians]

Quote:
I LOVE my Easter Eggers, while not overly friendly, they are totally docile once you put hands on them. Never a peck or kick or ugly word passes my girls lips. They lay well, pretty green/blue eggs and I wouldn't trade them for the world.

I also LOVE my Buff Orps, they are gorgeous and lay a LOT of eggs. Haven't seen one go broody on me yet

Of the breeds I have, I gotta say I love my Black Cochin, though they aren't known for wonderful egg production, they are very sweet and tamable.

I love all of my chickens and have several different breeds. None of them is agressive to humans and all are very handle-able. Even my rooster, Rooster C, is very easy going once you've picked him up. Even when you're trying to pick him up, he just flaps around, never does anything mean.

Besides, once you get 15 for the first batch

you're going to get so hooked on these silly birds that you'll just want more.

 

[jenn-E]

I have have all the varieties listed in my signature. I think the Speckled Sussex are the prettiest. They are probably the most "friendly," although a bit pushy about treats. I have 2 Easter Eggers from different hatcheries, and they are both a bit stand-offish, but not aggressive. My Brahmas are at the bottom of the pecking order, so I think they tend to hang back for that reason. The Welsummers are near the top of the pecking order, but don't seem to have as much personality. In my opinion, the Brabanters are the cutest & most curious. None of mine are laying yet, so I can't comment on egg production. Salmon Faverolles are at the top of my list for "next breeds" because I think they are very cute, but I have heard that they can be picked on. All of my assorted breeds thus far get along well. They also get along well with my kids, although they do sometimes chase them across the yard hoping for treats

 

[Rebecky54]

Why not order a brown egg-layer assortment and find out which ones you like best? I ended up with a mixed lot this year because I adopted chicks that had been purchased for Easter gifts. I had Silver-laced Wyandottes, Barred Rock, Gold Star, Black-sex link, Buff Orpington, Australorp, Calif. White, Easter Eggers.

I didn't like the Wyandottes -- sold them all. They were hatchery quality and were very slow growing. Two girls raised the Australorps and the Easter Eggers, and the Easter Eggers are very friendly -- will eat out of my hand. The Australorps are not aggressive, but are not as friendly and they came from the same place. I do LOVE the Australorps, though. Very pretty and great layers. The Barred Rocks are nice, but didn't have daily attention as chicks and are not overly friendly. The Gold Star and the Black sex-link were raised by me, but not handled daily, yet they will eat out of my hand. One of the BSL is a hoot -- all are great layers. If you get chicks in one bunch and they are raised together, they won't know they are different and should get along. I've raised Buff Orps for years and love them, but I've always had 1 or 2 (or more!) go broody on me. I like the broodiness because I wanted hens that raised their own replacements, and I would put the extra cockerels in the freezer.

I'm going to raise purebred birds for a project, but just for egg layers, I like a mixed flock. It's fun to have different colors and types.

Good luck, and let us know what you get!

Becky

 

[ChickenWisperer]

For what you want, Australorps are DEFINITELY the right decision. They will lay a day, or every other day for at least 4 years. Tau'i, my australorp, is going on 5, I believe, and lays me an egg a day or every other day, STILL. They have GREAT temperaments, and in my experience are the least apt to pick on other breeds. My girl is the Alpha hen and has NEVER been unnecessarily mean or aggressive to ANY other bird in my flock. Sh is hardy and love to run up and talk to us.

I would start with them, or have them and a mixed flock.

There are other great breeds with good enough egg production. My faverolle and sussex get along great with my australorp, first reccomendation. I would also suggest dorkings, russian orloffs, and barnevelders.

Delawares are great layers, but are a bit too aggressive for what you want.

All of those breeds mix great in a flock, are non-aggressive, and are good birds. But, the barnevelder is a bit shy. My faverolle pumpkin is very hardy, compared to what I expected. Survives cold kentucky winters just fine, and keeps her place in the flock well for her small size.


The problem with EE's is that NO two will be alike. As a general rule, you don't know the breeds that went into their bloodline, and therefore don't know what kind of temperament they will have. All the EE's I have had are great birds, but you would be safer off getting Ameraucana hens. Another problem is that EE's and Ameraucanas do NOT lay well in winter. Summer is great, but as soon as fall starts setting in, the egg production practically stops.

I do not recommend any type of sex-link in a mixed flock with docile breeds. I watch mine like a hawk. My golden comets are great with us and very outgoing, but are a bit bird aggressive in certain situations. If I had them as a begginer chicken owner, I would only buy goldens and I would only have a flock of just them.

I personally did not like the orpingtons, BSLs, rocks, RIR, or wyandottes I had. They were all terribly aggressive, and only the BSL was a decent layer. Will never own them again, except orpingtons - the one I had was a roo. I might give a hen a chance one day.

 

[western edge]

hey becky i saw your post on the chantecler tread. I too thinking chantecler because they fit into my breeding program, which would be hatching rose comb sexlinks. This is a fairly new project so i now have several breeds going and no room for them so the chantecler my have to wait. I have an idea. Maybe you could raise the chantecler and I could use a few cockerels in some sort of swap since we live close( have not found to many locals on this site ). They would have to be red,buff or partridge in color for the white would not work for this project. I would prefer the red or the partridge. How bout that?
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[MissJenny]

My Easter Eggers are friendly, but only because they have been handled quite a lot. And they haven't laid since the days got short.

I hear Faverolles are not particularly cold or hot hardy -- but the breeders I've contacted are in my same area and say they do fine.

That's the best information I have. (It's hard to decide.)

Jenny

 

[The Fairy Godmartyr]

I have Wellsummers, Golden Buff (Golden Comet), Easter Eggers, and Silikies. No question, the Golden Buffs are the friendliest. And they lay lots of eggs. The Easter Eggers are fun for the egg colors, but mine are pretty shy. Also, the eggs are smaller. I'm going to order more chickens for this spring, and I'm planning to add Black Australorps to my flock. Everything I have read about them (production and personality) has been really positive.