What are the best choices for a QUIET Friendly breed?

[Rlilchickadee]

I agree, my Australorps are friendly, quiet, beautiful and lay brown eggs reliably.

 

[shandiane78]

Just from personal experience (I only have 1 of each). My...

...Barred Rock is aggressive and noisy. Great layer.
...Gold Laced Wyandotte is aggressive, active, only noisy after laying.
...Black Australorp is docile, but noisy.
...Red Sex Link never makes a sound other than soft clucking. Friendly, smart, and active. Excellent layer.
...Blue Sex Link is the top hen, but a very benign dictator. Not aggressive, but is noisy, and not just when laying.
...Easter Egger is docile and quiet.
...Buff Orpington is super sweet, non-aggressive, and extremely quiet. She hardly ever makes a sound, and the sounds she makes are quiet and cute. BUT she has gone broody.

 

[tammyd57]

There must be something wrong with my Orpingtons! It always sounds like recess at an all girls school out there!
Their pen is against the back of my house and every little sound they hear from in here sets em off. Yes, I know they are just calling me to come give them something, LOL.
But they are very docile, friendly and lay a lot of nice big light brown eggs!

*Okay so it is mostly all those roosters that make that much noise, but we don't mind it a bit, they are very entertaining.

 

[Bantimna]

Orpington, Wyandotte, Plymouth Rocks and Australorps.
Wyandottes can be loud and so can Plymouth Rocks

A breed I will to recommend is Faverolles.
The lay pinkish tinted eggs, calm and gentle
Good with Kiddo's and are known to become attached to their handlers.
They will go broody, but on their times.

Wyandottes are generally calm and docile although you might find some odd individuals.
They are the work-horses of Dual-purpose. They lay well and are the fastest to mature of the Dual-purpose breeds.
Wyandottes do go broody occasionally. Otherwise I see them as big fluffy balls.

Plymouth Rocks are generally docile.
They will sometimes go broody, but seems the Hatchery stock have less broody streaks, than the breeder birds.
Very good meat breed and layer. Your best 2-in-1 combo.

Australorps were developed in Australia and are the national birds of that country.
They are soft and loving, and are know of being very good mothers.
The Roo's are gentle and calm with their hens and not feistier than some others.
They are classified more as a laying breed than a Dual-purpose on but do as well as Dual-purpose.
They are quite.

Orpingtons are sweet and have the same summary as the Australorps.
Though they lay a little less then the Australorps theyhave a loyal following of fanciers.
Generally Calm docile and quite.
Exellent with kids and their humans.

That was my summary of the breeds that I personally reccomend.
I've never had an experince with them

but I love those breeds.
Good Luck on your Chicken Adventure.

 

[Ispahan]

I have read dozens and dozens of posts here on BYC and read many books about chickens looking for a chicken that meets your exact criteria.

The one breed that is consistently mentioned is the Faverolles, both full-sized and bantam. They are supposed to be among the most gentle, quiet and friendly of all chickens and are fantastic year-round layers of tinted-brown-pink eggs. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, of course, but I think they are amazing to look at, too.

Another breed that is often overlooked is the Sussex in all of its many color varieties. Also tends to be very gentle and quiet, although I have heard some reports of a few odd noisy ones. Good layers of creamy brown eggs. These are very attractive chickens.

Both of these breeds are on the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy list, with the Faverolles listed as critical (i.e., most endangered) and the Sussex as rare. I think it would be good to help promote some of these endangered birds!

Good luck,
Corey

 

[firedove]

Of my brown egg layers, including 5 varieties of Wyandotte, my Columbian and Silver Penciled Wyandottes are the quietest and the SP are the friendliest. Wyandottes can go broody from time to time though. The SP pullets are eye catching with their black and white zig zag pencil stripes. My only Wyandottes that aren't too keen on us are my 2 gold laced gals. They aren't at all aggressive, just don't want to be too close to us. Nearly all of the Wyandotte varieties are pretty eye catching which is what drew me to the breed.

Of all of my chickens my EE hen is quietest overall and never goes broody but she isn't very friendly and she lays a green egg. EEs can be crosses of all different sorts of breeds so some are super friendly and others not so much, same with noise and broodiness. They come in every conceivable color and pattern depending upon the cross. Some just end up as random mutts and will lay just a plain brown or white egg since not all get the blue egg gene that makes for the blue or green eggs.

The speckled Sussex chicks I raised up last year were some of the friendliest chicks I've ever had but I sold them all as feathered pullets so I don't know what they turned out like when matured. They are flashy colored but if I remember right the breed lays white eggs.

 

[chuckzoo]

Thank you all for your wonderful input, since I can only add another two I want to spend a good bit of time and consideration on the choice.

I am also wondering how important the rearing of the chicken is, i.e. how much it is handled etc? Can this make a difference or iare the breed characteristic so ingrained?

 

[Mandalina]

I wish my BO's were quiet, they are always yelling about something and I have 1 hen who loves to kill mice then they all get into a fight over the dead mouse and that gets very loud. My turken is very quiet unless she is chatting to me , but when she is "talking" she sounds more like a dinosuar than a chicken.

 

[jamespm_98]

I have two buff orps and they are great birds and quiet except when one lays an egg then its party time. They go on for 10 minutes sometimes, I actually enjoy it. They are great layers, my two buffs have averaged about 3 eggs every two days this winter. Every once and a while I get a day with no eggs, but I can almost count on one egg one day then two eggs the next day. I had a barred rock and she was a great layer and very quiet. I would recommend either breed. I have some FBC Marans also, but they are not yet laying so I don't know how they will be.

 

[firedove]

Quote:
Handling your chicks does make a big difference in how they see you when they get older. Also lots of treat bribes as they are growing up. If a chicken thinks you are a meal ticket they will spend more time with you. My whole flock used to follow me around because I always brought the food. Then last August I got in a bad car accident and since then my DH has been taking care of feeding and watering the flock, now they could care less where I am but they follow him like he is the pied piper of chickens.