Rhode Island Reds.... (WHAT??!!)

[BigBlueHen53]

My opinion. Some pit bulls are valuable friendly pets, good around children. Some are vicious brutes dangerous to anyone. Some horses are great around children, gentle and careful. Others are dangerous. Some Silkie chickens are as sweet and nice as can be, some are downright brutes to other chickens or to people.

My opinion is that some RIR's are sweet, calm, and docile. Some are pretty mean and aggressive. You are dealing with living animals, they are all different.

Well put.

 

[sealer39]

When it comes to chicken personalities, I think you have to take everyone else’s opinion with a grain of salt. Most people will tell you White Leghorns are flighty, Speckled Sussex, Barred Rocks, Silkies are the friendliest chickens in the whole world, and so on. My 3 SS are mean as hell to my other chickens and they are constantly under my feet. My WL are calm and not flighty at all. I’ve never had a barred anything that wasn’t mean. I won’t own anything barred anymore. I base this off my own experiences so take my opinions with a grain of salt too.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

When it comes to chicken personalities, I think you have to take everyone else’s opinion with a grain of salt. Most people will tell you White Leghorns are flighty, Speckled Sussex, Barred Rocks, Silkies are the friendliest chickens in the whole world, and so on. My 3 SS are mean as hell to my other chickens and they are constantly under my feet. My WL are calm and not flighty at all. I’ve never had a barred anything that wasn’t mean. I won’t own anything barred anymore. I base this off my own experiences so take my opinions with a grain of salt too.

Well shoot! I got Black Australorps this year and had already decided that in 2 years when I was ready to rotate out my EEs (maybe), I would go with Barred Rocks. Now what am I gonna do! 《pouts》

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Well shoot! I got Black Australorps this year and had already decided that in 2 years when I was ready to rotate out my EEs (maybe), I would go with Barred Rocks. Now what am I gonna do! 《pouts》

I'm still new at keeping chickens, but have had a few different breeds. My Barred Rock chickens are wonderful - calm & docile, friendly, eat out of my hand. Not too fussy when I steal their eggs from under them. They growl and coo, but rarely peck me. I've had the same experience with two groups, 25 each, at different times. My RIRs are about the same, a bit more curious and approachable than the BPRs, but some will bite a chunk out of my hand if I try to take eggs from under her. The RIR roos are fierce (except one I've had, the calmest, friendliest roo I've ever had of any breed). Also 2 groups at different times, 25 each. One group of Australorps are even more docile and don't mind being handled at all. I've never been pecked by one. Only ever had one Aussie roo, but he's a very good boy. Never chases or threatens me, but won't let me touch him, either. Guards his girls like a dog against other roos or danger, leads them to the best treats, and herds them inside at night. All of these birds were hand-raised in the brooder. I've got one EE hen which was a rescue, don't know her history, but she keeps her distance from me. Meanest chicken I've ever had - and he is a dangerous, sneaky, vicious little sh*t - is that Old English Game bantam rooster. We only tolerate his bad attitude because he gets along with the other birds and is the best chicken alarm system we've ever had.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I'm still new at keeping chickens, but have had a few different breeds. My Barred Rock chickens are wonderful - calm & docile, friendly, eat out of my hand. Not too fussy when I steal their eggs from under them. They growl and coo, but rarely peck me. I've had the same experience with two groups, 25 each, at different times. My RIRs are about the same, a bit more curious and approachable than the BPRs, but some will bite a chunk out of my hand if I try to take eggs from under her. The RIR roos are fierce (except one I've had, the calmest, friendliest roo I've ever had of any breed). Also 2 groups at different times, 25 each. One group of Australorps are even more docile and don't mind being handled at all. I've never been pecked by one. Only ever had one Aussie roo, but he's a very good boy. Never chases or threatens me, but won't let me touch him, either. Guards his girls like a dog against other roos or danger, leads them to the best treats, and herds them inside at night. All of these birds were hand-raised in the brooder. I've got one EE hen which was a rescue, don't know her history, but she keeps her distance from me. Meanest chicken I've ever had - and he is a dangerous, sneaky, vicious little sh*t - is that Old English Game bantam rooster. We only tolerate his bad attitude because he gets along with the other birds and is the best chicken alarm system we've ever had.

Guess they're like folks, aren't they? Maybe you can't really generalize. Every one's an individual, and what you get is what you got.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Well shoot! I got Black Australorps this year and had already decided that in 2 years when I was ready to rotate out my EEs (maybe), I would go with Barred Rocks. Now what am I gonna do! 《pouts》

I loved my Barred Rock!! She was very intelligent and nice. She did need her personal space though but even then she wasn’t super mean about it. She was great. In fact, I got a Partridge last year because I loved my BR so much. Now my Partridge.... not the same at all!!! She’s not that friendly and she is horribly mean to some of my other birds. I’m hoping she calms down though.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

They are all different, eh? I need to take a turn driving so... I be gone for a while.

 

[Rainwing]

my rhode island red had a real personality. she was second in command of the pecking order (not first place, that honor belonged to a black sexlink, but she was also above the other black sexlink in the flock) and she seemed to want to do nothing more than lay her daily egg, eat, and dig around. i would get a big pile of lawn clippings to compost, and then when it was hot inside the pile, i'd take her and let her sit in it as a chicken foot salon. she liked doing that too. She was really noisy but otherwise not very aggressive unless a chicken stepped out of line. maybe she would be more aggressive if there were other rhode island reds. i would say the stereotype about rhode island reds being noisy is true, but they are also wonderful egg producers. they do work their way to being top of the flock.

 

[Three Little Bunnies]

Well shoot! I got Black Australorps this year and had already decided that in 2 years when I was ready to rotate out my EEs (maybe), I would go with Barred Rocks. Now what am I gonna do! 《pouts》

My Barred Rocks are pretty sweet. They are definitely better with people than the Australorps I raised. The RIRs are pretty noisy, but they lay great eggs!

 

[AmesAcres]

Our RIRs are middle of the road in our flock. For my fiance and I, the friendliest are the Buff Orpingtons by far, but for some reason, the RIR hens love our 9 year old and allow him to pick them up, while the rest of my flock runs away anytime he's around! It all seems to be dependent on person, bird, and situation.