The best chickens?

[cherrynberry]

Hello BYC family!

Please let me know what you think of these chicken breeds: how do they work living together? Do they play nicely with each other? We're looking to get 6 to start. We have a 9 month old so I want to have pleasant chickens so he can easily be around them as he grows. I also want a variety; preferably all different. Here are the breeds I'm looking at: Oh! We live in the midwest so temperatures are quite a range! These seem to be able to cope well with that range.

Plymouth Rock
Rhode Island Red...think I read these don't like other breeds?
Australorp
Orpington...read these are REALLY good with kids!
Wellsummer
Delaware
New Hampshire Reds...or these are the red ones that don't like other breeds...
Wyandotte

THANKS!

I will only name the ones I own.

Plymouth rock: Okay-good layers. Lay brown eggs. Good if you want to hatch sexlinks.
Welsummers: Spelled with one l. Good layers of DARK brown eggs, often accompanied with speckles. I highly recommend them. They add variety. I will say that all 5 of my Welsummers are chatty though.
Wyandotte: My two Wyandotte girls are bossy. Heck, I just witnessed my girl try to take on the rooster this morning. However, they get along "okay". They lay brown as well

I personally like to collect egg colors, and my EEs and OEs deserve a lot of the credit on that part.

NHRs and RIRs are okay birds actually. I don't have an RIR or NHR, but I own 2 red sexlinks, which are closely related to RIRs. They are production birds. They lay brown, and lay very well. I would recommend them, but they don't tend to live very long.

Honestly speaking, I don't think you can make a mistake, with any of the breeds above. HOWEVER, if you can only keep 6 birds, I would make the best of it. 6 is not a large number, and I (personally) prefer variety and egg colors.

 

[LauraLO]

Agree that individual birds are different, even within different breeds. Of the ones you mentioned, I’ll give my opinions, but take it as opinions only!
Plymouth Rock: they are the friendliest in our flock and will sit on your lap for cuddles
Rhode Island Red: aunt had a bunch and said never again as they would bully other chickens
Australorp: very friendly, get along w all birds in the flock
Orpington: extremely sweet (don’t have one but my neighbors have 2)
Welsummer: never had these
Delaware: never had these
New Hampshire Reds: ours are not overly friendly but not agressive or mean
Wyandotte: ours have been very friendly but other posters have different experiences

I had Salmon Faverolles recommended to me by a bunch of people on here as a very sweet and gentle breed, along with Brahmas. If I had a little one, I would probably go with those 2 breeds plus Orpingtons. No guarantees on temperament but the more you handle them gently as chicks the friendlier they will be.

I would definitely avoid any roos to start, until your little one is much older.

Good luck, please let us know what you decide!

Yah...we don't want any roosters . Thanks for your opinions!

 

[arwoon]

I would recommend Australorps, they are calm and make a sweet addition to any backyard flock. Some like to be halo fled more than others, but I've never had a mean one.

 

[Sally PB]

I would definitely avoid any roos to start, until your little one is much older.

Yah...we don't want any roosters . Thanks for your opinions!

I think that is a wise choice. I have buff Orpington roo. He would not be good around kids, and though many people say BO roos are docile, I would not describe him that way.

Australorp -- Half my flock is Blue Australorps. There's just something about an Australorp that resonates with what the word "chicken" means in my mind. I find them active but not hyper, calm but curious. They follow me around but stay just out of reach.

I love my Australorps too.

I agree with what someone said about handling your birds from the beginning. I handled my second batch of chicks a lot more than the first. The second batch is much friendlier.

 

[DonyaQuick]

Orpington...read these are REALLY good with kids!

I've only been into chickens for a bit less than a year, but I'm somewhat skeptical of "good with kids" claims about entire breeds. Not aggressive sure, but that's not the same thing really, at least not to me if I was deciding whether to let a friend's child interact with my chickens. I have 6 hatchery buff orpingtons who all love hugs, but they all have extremely different personalities. They're all non-aggressive in the sense that none of them are going to go attack someone, but I wouldn't trust kids with all of them. Maybe orpingtons from individual breeders are more uniform in personality but I wouldn't know.

Anyway, I'll use three of mine as examples: Buddy, Cuddles, and Brownie. All are girls. Buddy is the kindest chicken in the world and would be trustworthy around anyone or anything. Cuddles was a compulsive face-biter (and bit HARD too) and I had to spend a couple months training her out of it. I wouldn't let a child pick her up. Brownie is extremely flighty and reactive and even makes my husband a bit nervous at times. If Brownie decides she's coming in for a hug, you've got less than 2 seconds to give her a landing zone on a leg or arm, otherwise she's on your head.

 

[LauraLO]

I've only been into chickens for a bit less than a year, but I'm somewhat skeptical of "good with kids" claims about entire breeds. Not aggressive sure, but that's not the same thing really, at least not to me if I was deciding whether to let a friend's child interact with my chickens. I have 6 hatchery buff orpingtons who all love hugs, but they all have extremely different personalities. They're all non-aggressive in the sense that none of them are going to go attack someone, but I wouldn't trust kids with all of them. Maybe orpingtons from individual breeders are more uniform in personality but I wouldn't know.

Anyway, I'll use three of mine as examples: Buddy, Cuddles, and Brownie. All are girls. Buddy is the kindest chicken in the world and would be trustworthy around anyone or anything. Cuddles was a compulsive face-biter (and bit HARD too) and I had to spend a couple months training her out of it. I wouldn't let a child pick her up. Brownie is extremely flighty and reactive and even makes my husband a bit nervous at times. If Brownie decides she's coming in for a hug, you've got less than 2 seconds to give her a landing zone on a leg or arm, otherwise she's on your head.

That makes total sense; different birds will have different personalities. Thank you for that reminder and insight!

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

One thing going for the barred rocks is they can be sexed at hatch so you're not likely to end up with mistake roosters, if you want to get them as chicks and not as pullets. I personally think it's best to get pullets not chicks for your first flock, but that is entirely my own opinion, there is no right or wrong there.
I have barred rocks and find them absolutely fantastic. They are big and they like to eat though.
My orpingtons are not friendly at all. They're not skittish but definitely don't seek humans. The barred rocks never leave me alone. This is likely because of how food motivated they are. I have some other breeds not on your list. I would always recommend barred rocks from good lines/breeders to anyone getting started. Mine get along with everyone else in the flock.

 

[Iluveggers]

I personally think it's best to get pullets not chicks for your first flock, but that is entirely my own opinion, there is no right or wrong there.

Definitely is a personal decision, however handing chicks as babies does tend to grow out friendlier birds, especially when they are used to being picked up and having humans around all the time!

 

[Starry Night Farm]

There is so much good advice above and it really does come down to your setting and personal preference. Oft times you won’t know which breed suits you until you’ve had them for a while. We carefully chose breeds, often rare and beautiful, only to discover they didn’t work in our set up, or they were too skittish or bullies in the flock. Over the years we began to keep the individuals with the best personalities combined with acceptable egg laying regardless of breed. Less drama in the coop that way and our grandchildren enjoyed interacting with friendly and gentle hens.