What are your five favorite breeds and why

[gimmie birdies]

Now you will want to know the rooster choices...
I have one pure crested SFH and I hate him...redheaded and unfriendly but not mean, thinks the sun rises and sets with him. crower. collar.

one pure blue copper Maran. handsome, not cuddly not mean, no relations. crows very little. collar.

one blue cochin bantam/isbar/black copper maran full size looks like a BCM but with a cochin butt. Very friendly shiny not mean and I can pick him up after a small play chase, he likes it. I will reward him and make him head roo. not much of a crower. collar.

One very colorful EE roo. not friendly not mean just bottom of the totem. has not tried to crow no collar. I may make him my #2 because he is pretty and has not crowed on his own, and will not fight the main guy. He is like the girl hens "best friend" friend zone rooster.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Now you will want to know the rooster choices...
I have one pure crested SFH and I hate him...redheaded and unfriendly but not mean, thinks the sun rises and sets with him. crower. collar.

one pure blue copper Maran. handsome, not cuddly not mean, no relations. crows very little. collar.

one blue cochin bantam/isbar/black copper maran full size looks like a BCM but with a cochin butt. Very friendly shiny not mean and I can pick him up after a small play chase, he likes it. I will reward him and make him head roo. not much of a crower. collar.

One very colorful EE roo. not friendly not mean just bottom of the totem. has not tried to crow no collar. I may make him my #2 because he is pretty and has not crowed on his own, and will not fight the main guy. He is like the girl hens "best friend" friend zone rooster.

I believe I have roosters from all my favorite breeds too.

 

[Conan]

My bantam cochins hardly ever leave their run to range. I don't think it's worth the effort to them.

They're such funny little birds. I just love them. I don't have a run, but they really don't wander far from the coop. They do like to hang out on the deck and they all fight over the first floor apartment of the cat house (they lay in there, exclusively). I know that I will always have room for them in my flock
What variety do you have? I love seeing all the different colors and patterns.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

They're such funny little birds. I just love them. I don't have a run, but they really don't wander far from the coop. They do like to hang out on the deck and they all fight over the first floor apartment of the cat house (they lay in there, exclusively). I know that I will always have room for them in my flock
What variety do you have? I love seeing all the different colors and patterns.

Black, black frizzle, white frizzle, calico, mottled, a blue splash, I have mostly mottled because I can get them from the hatchery I use, plus I like the color.

 

[Conan]

Black, black frizzle, white frizzle, calico, mottled, a blue splash, I have mostly mottled because I can get them from the hatchery I use, plus I like the color.

I have mottled too. I love how they look. I also think it's kinda cool that they get whiter with each molt. I added a roo to replace my missing fella a couple months ago. He's a silver laced. It'll be interesting to see what feather patterns come from the combo.

 

[Sylvester017]

@oldhenlikesdogs Fun thread! Similar have been done in past and this is a popular theme to revive for current BYCers to voice their opinions! We chickeneers love so many breeds and WANT them ALL. It's a good thing I'm zoned for only 5 hens/no roos, or I'd have about 150 different breeds in my yard by now!!! But I listed 4 breeds in order of all-time faves:

1. Silkie -- hands down one of the cutest chickens with their poofy crests, muffy cheeks, fuzzy butts, & feathered feet -- fluffy gentle funny silly sweet spunky personality w/nice-sized eggs for USA mid-sized bantams. I recently learned there are actually 3 sizes of Silkies -- true small Silkie bantam, USA mid-size Silkie bantam, and standard full-size Silkie! Best little chicken as pets for kids or instant broodie/incubator for anyone else's eggs -- we had a determined Silkie that wanted to hatch a cucumber slice.
SILKIES TOODLING IN THE RAIN

2. Breda -- for a lightweight standard-size breed that comes in a flurry of different color varieties with a unique appearance of a triangle tassel crest and NO comb, vulture hocks, cavernous crow-like nostrils, and feathered legs/toes, this breed won our approval for its gentle personality, decent egg-laying, and easy to integrate with gentle little Silkies. Like Silkie, Breda are gentle souls and that's what we looked for to mix into our backyard flock -- establishing pecking order is natural even in the gentlest of chickens but we definitely wanted NO aggressive combative bully breeds to torment our Silkies!
CUCKOO BREDA HEN and BLUE BREDA PULLET

3. American (Colonial) Dominique -- a unique U-shape back with a rosecombed spike, these cuckoo-patterned birds are mistaken for Barred Rocks, except Doms are lighter-weight, very active foragers, crave human interaction, and talk your ear off! Don't sit down or bend over gardening because they'll fly up to sit on and be with their human! For all their activity they are a relatively calm personality allowing petting, being held, & friendly w/kids. We who have Dominiques can't figure out why Doms' feathers always smell good unlike other breeds in the flock? Silkie feathers aren't odorous either but Doms seem to have a reputation for having extremely soft and decent-smelling feathers. Maybe that's why the Colonists used Dom feathers for their pillows and bedding? My White Leghorn always smelled stinky on a rainy day but our Doms never give off bad feather odors?!
DOMINIQUE HEN

DOMS SEEM TO LOVE ATTENTION!

4. Leghorn -- White, Buff, Isabel, Black, Mahogany, Dark Brown, Light Brown, Mille Fleur, etc etc -- I LOVE them all -- Leghorn are so often used to infuse productivity in Hybrids that we decided to bypass Hybrids and go straight to the source of egg production -- the White Leghorn! Very prolific egg layers and never seem to go broody. Loved our White Leg and Buff Leg but as they matured they were a bit too assertive for our gentler chicken breeds and we reluctantly needed to re-home them in a friend's more assertive flock. If I could have only ONE production breed, I'd have a whole flock of White Legs with a few OTHER Leg colors too LOL!
FLOPPY COMBED WHITE LEGHORN HEN

BUFF LEGHORN HEN

Honorable Mentions -- breeds I wanted but chose not to integrate into our flock:
Russian Orloff -- We're suckers for rare breeds!
Langshan -- Generally a calm breed with regal U-shape stance & lovely feathered legs
Brahma -- Gentle giant w/ heavy under-down which doesn't fit our hot climate
Hamburg -- Some stunning varieties, lightweight, independent, decent egg-layer
Australorp -- Assertive, prolific egg-layer, but Black doesn't fit our hot climate
Sussex -- Many varieties, decent production, and hold their own in pecking order
La Fleche -- Talk about a unique COMB! - not the cuddliest breed but so-o-o unique!
Cochin -- Standard or bantam -- it's either Silkies or Cochins or BOTH for cuteness
Polish -- Sweet but we felt they were too neurotic/timid for a mixed flock
Olandsk Dwarf -- we're suckers for rare breeds and these are darling rare bantams but we feared they'd always be flying over the wall to forage in the busy road! Chickens are so clever at escaping but some never figure how to get back!!!!
Malay -- I always wondered what it would be like to have a 3-foot tall roo

Dishonorable Mentions -- love these birds but they didn't work out for us
Cuckoo Marans -- one of the meanest hens we had and the eggs were not that dark
Blue Wheaten Ameraucana and Blue Ameraucana -- sweet gentle ditzy clutzy skittish w/ pretty blue eggs but did not do well in our hot climate because of heavy muffs & under-fluff, infrequent laying cycles.

I won't type the other 130 breeds or so on my FAVE/WANT list

Happy chickeneering y'all -- Smiles!

 

[micstrachan]

1. Chanteclers. Cold hardy, gorgeous, tasty, decent layers, a bit of local history, what more could you want?
View attachment 1590632
2. Ameraucanas. Pretty eggs. I fell in love with their shape (mostly that gorgeous backline and profusion of feathers) and also liked their cold resistance. My line could be better, but I'm working on them.
View attachment 1590633
3. Leghorns. Big combs on the more common types, and I find the rose combs kind of ugly, but WOW are they ever hardy, and they give enough eggs to fund a whole 'nother coop build! Mine are currently laying through their moult. They're not as good for this climate as the above two, and I like DP breeds best, but I respect them as a breed and almost went into them full time.
View attachment 1590634

4. OEGBs. Cute, zippy, and good personalities. My pures have been a bit rubbish in the cold hardiness department, but the mixes and specifically bred strains are tough as nails.
View attachment 1590635
5. I don't really have a 5th favourite, but I was kind of partial to Sultans for a bit. They need a lot of work in general to be bred up to full health. Many of the American LFs around are undersized as well. They are cute, though, if you don't mind high maintenance birds that are SO STUPID. Seriously, it was like owning little fluffy bricks. Adorable bricks.
View attachment 1590636

OMG, I’m reading through this whole thread and, though I’ve had many smiles reading, this was my first laugh out loud moment.

 

[Sylvester017]

There are so many breeds that I would yet like to try out as a part of our flock. Faverolles and Ameraucanas being the top two followed by Cream Legbars and Oliver Eggers. I did just get some Ameraucana Bantam chickens which I am excited about.

At the moment my favorite 5 breeds based on what we have/had are:

1 Brahmas - our are big funny girls that crack me up when they run. No one messes with our Light Brahma even though she is such a sweetie. The Buff Brahma is so goofy. She was raised with my daughter’s silkies and now she thinks she is a Silkie. She even sleeps on the ground in a big pile with them. LOL!

I love your Brahma-Silkie relationship!!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

@oldhenlikesdogs Fun thread! Similar have been done in past and this is a popular theme to revive for current BYCers to voice their opinions! We chickeneers love so many breeds and WANT them ALL. It's a good thing I'm zoned for only 5 hens/no roos, or I'd have about 150 different breeds in my yard by now!!! But I listed 4 breeds in order of all-time faves:

1. Silkie -- hands down one of the cutest chickens with their poofy crests, muffy cheeks, fuzzy butts, & feathered feet -- fluffy gentle funny silly sweet spunky personality w/nice-sized eggs for USA mid-sized bantams. I recently learned there are actually 3 sizes of Silkies -- true small Silkie bantam, USA mid-size Silkie bantam, and standard full-size Silkie! Best little chicken as pets for kids or instant broodie/incubator for anyone else's eggs -- we had a determined Silkie that wanted to hatch a cucumber slice.
SILKIES TOODLING IN THE RAIN
View attachment 1593059


2. Breda -- for a lightweight standard-size breed that comes in a flurry of different color varieties with a unique appearance of a triangle tassel crest and NO comb, vulture hocks, cavernous crow-like nostrils, and feathered legs/toes, this breed won our approval for its gentle personality, decent egg-laying, and easy to integrate with gentle little Silkies. Like Silkie, Breda are gentle souls and that's what we looked for to mix into our backyard flock -- establishing pecking order is natural even in the gentlest of chickens but we definitely wanted NO aggressive combative bully breeds to torment our Silkies!
CUCKOO BREDA HEN and BLUE BREDA PULLET
View attachment 1593062


3. American (Colonial) Dominique -- a unique U-shape back with a rosecombed spike, these cuckoo-patterned birds are mistaken for Barred Rocks, except Doms are lighter-weight, very active foragers, crave human interaction, and talk your ear off! Don't sit down or bend over gardening because they'll fly up to sit on and be with their human! For all their activity they are a relatively calm personality allowing petting, being held, & friendly w/kids. We who have Dominiques can't figure out why Doms' feathers always smell good unlike other breeds in the flock? Silkie feathers aren't odorous either but Doms seem to have a reputation for having extremely soft and decent-smelling feathers. Maybe that's why the Colonists used Dom feathers for their pillows and bedding? My White Leghorn always smelled stinky on a rainy day but our Doms never give off bad feather odors?!
DOMINIQUE HEN
View attachment 1593066
DOMS SEEM TO LOVE ATTENTION!
View attachment 1593072



4. Leghorn -- White, Buff, Isabel, Black, Mahogany, Dark Brown, Light Brown, Mille Fleur, etc etc -- I LOVE them all -- Leghorn are so often used to infuse productivity in Hybrids that we decided to bypass Hybrids and go straight to the source of egg production -- the White Leghorn! Very prolific egg layers and never seem to go broody. Loved our White Leg and Buff Leg but as they matured they were a bit too assertive for our gentler chicken breeds and we reluctantly needed to re-home them in a friend's more assertive flock. If I could have only ONE production breed, I'd have a whole flock of White Legs with a few OTHER Leg colors too LOL!
FLOPPY COMBED WHITE LEGHORN HEN
View attachment 1593109

BUFF LEGHORN HEN
View attachment 1593111


Honorable Mentions -- breeds I wanted but chose not to integrate into our flock:
Russian Orloff -- We're suckers for rare breeds!
Langshan -- Generally a calm breed with regal U-shape stance & lovely feathered legs
Brahma -- Gentle giant w/ heavy under-down which doesn't fit our hot climate
Hamburg -- Some stunning varieties, lightweight, independent, decent egg-layer
Australorp -- Assertive, prolific egg-layer, but Black doesn't fit our hot climate
Sussex -- Many varieties, decent production, and hold their own in pecking order
La Fleche -- Talk about a unique COMB! - not the cuddliest breed but so-o-o unique!
Cochin -- Standard or bantam -- it's either Silkies or Cochins or BOTH for cuteness
Polish -- Sweet but we felt they were too neurotic/timid for a mixed flock
Olandsk Dwarf -- we're suckers for rare breeds and these are darling rare bantams but we feared they'd always be flying over the wall to forage in the busy road! Chickens are so clever at escaping but some never figure how to get back!!!!
Malay -- I always wondered what it would be like to have a 3-foot tall roo

Dishonorable Mentions -- love these birds but they didn't work out for us
Cuckoo Marans -- one of the meanest hens we had and the eggs were not that dark
Blue Wheaten Ameraucana and Blue Ameraucana -- sweet gentle ditzy clutzy skittish w/ pretty blue eggs but did not do well in our hot climate because of heavy muffs & under-fluff, infrequent laying cycles.

I won't type the other 130 breeds or so on my FAVE/WANT list

Happy chickeneering y'all -- Smiles!

I don't know if I've ever seen a buff leghorn. Buff is my favorite chicken colors so what a treat to see that, and thanks, this has been fun. I'm learning so much.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

@oldhenlikesdogs, you jinked me today ! I got the biggest kick out of your mouse thread (which I cant find now) and not 10 mins ago I seen a mouse run across the room. Scared the crap out of me !
Favorite chickens ? The ones that eat mice !