What breed is your favorite in your flock?

[Silexian]

I don’t think there is any one breed that is more friendly than another. My duel purpose breeds are over all more calm than my light breeds. I have flocks of different breeds. Observing them. There are friendly and curious individuals within each flock. No matter the breed. Just as there are more stand-offish and flighty ones within each flock.

 

[african chickens]

i have 4 chickens each is a different breed though they are all very freindly and will run up to you i think my rhode island red wins the award for freindleist

 

[MotherofOrpies]

I love Araucanas, they are outgoing, friendly and lay green eggs, but I have always had oviduct issues with them, so I’ve no longer gotten any, even though I adore them, the ony one I have left is a cross between Araucana and Javanese bantam…she was transported as a hatching egg for over 1000 km, then sat in the heat for 1 week, then driven another 600 km, she was the only one out of 6 eggs which really hatched, her ”mother” was my lead hen, who looked after her for 3 months (!) . Usually, the young chickens start way down the chicken hierarchy, but she was number 2 when her mother finally decided she was good on her own, she is my smallest chicken, but thinks she is boss, sometimes, the larger chickens peck her, but usually, she is the one dealing out pecks….a few months ago, she got into a real bad fight with the lead hen (3 times her size) she looked bad, but after 3 days, she was fine again, I had to get the lead hen treated for over 2 months she then got sour croup , any other hen would have died ( I think she couldn’t eat for at least 3 days) she made it, she is a tough old bird

here she is on the left with the leading hen, they are finally getting along again

 

[Bagel17]

My chickens seek me out for cuddles; they can actually be annoying because they are so clingy! My clingiest by far is my buff orpington, Peeps, who, whenever I crouch down, will run over to me and snuggle in the crook of my neck (and won't leave me alone!). The other clingiest chickens are my ISA brown, black austalorps, and my orpington/ISA brown/australorp crosses.
My other chickens aren't so clingy, but still enjoy attention... those are my barred rocks, wyandottes, and easter eggers. I've found the majority of my easter eggers to be more independent, but of course, there are exceptions to all breeds, as I remember a particularly aloof buff orpington of mine a couple years back.

My ISA brown Sandy is one of my best friends in the flock, as she is so smart and kind.

As far as roosters being friendly, I had two cuddly roosters, one being an olive egger/barred rock cross, the other being pure black australorp.

 

[SilkieFamily]

I was wondering what breed of chicken is your favorite one in your flock? By favorite I mean who is always looking for cuddles or just eager to see you, who lays eggs most consistently and who gets along with others….
I want a diverse flock but I want my flock to be friendly. I see them more as pets and producers of eggs. So who’s YOUR best breed ??
Thanks !

We're looking to add some Orpingtons to our flock next spring but Silkies are the BEST! They are my walking Teddybear ewoks who never turn down affection. Absolutely love these birds.

 

[Liz Birdlover]

It’s a magical cocktail (or should I say cock-tale) I’m making!

I’ve been pairing up odd combos in my flock, Keeping track and finally found something worth building on I hope.
The 1st pic mentioned above is the rooster. I added some more pics of him below. The females are younger -2.5 months and bigger than Silkie mama already. They, especially males, have contrasting reds & golds side by side. Hens have more of a bright shiny gold bib. Both have a distinct metallic sheen in their red & gold like I’ve never seen before. It’s hard to capture, but super obvious when you see other reds or golds colored breeds next to them. Their black-green iridescent is also eye catching.
I will call them Helm’s Monarch. Initially When looking at the gold in their individual feathers, it reminded me of a red-gold monarch butterfly wings that has a flash sheen when light hits it.
They are in their early phase still F1. We’ll see if I can stabilize them into f2 and beyond.

What I can tell you is they are a Fibro-melanistics breed with orphington and a couple other rare beauties. Before proceeding to the next phase, I need to see their egg production, egg color, cold hardiness and by mid Spring I’ll deciding who gets to continue the line. I’d love to share as I evolve them.

An adorable side note is that there’s some jumbo silkies I have to take out of the Monarch pen.
Who knows, maybe that will be something I develop as well. If they produce good eggs, I think they will be a hit.

So far the H. Monarchs are
-bearers of a unique shimmering gold/red bibbed &/or saddled
-fuzzy feathered legged
-5 toed
-modest backward swept crest
-sleek black eyes
-mostly melanistic eyes/skin/beak
-med-large bird (maybe even dual purpose)
-Naturally friendly to all including children. They follow me around more like a puppy then a chicken.
-Fearless protectors if they see a Predator. You wouldn’t think this but that’s in part from the Silkie genes.
-Intelligent
-Great free range foragers, but also tolerate enclosures if they aren’t cramped.
-egg color TBA: tan, green or blue eggs

After I’ve selected for egg production and vigor, I’ll sell some while continuing to improve the breed. Seeing if I can het them to breed true.
I’m having fun. A bit of knowledge regarding genetics has been helpful.

If I can’t get them to breed true, I may look at letting an off shoot breed on off grid homestead land to become a kind of modern landrace breed. Oh gosh, My off-grid peeps would love that. Cute + productive! Win-win

Thoughts are welcome.
Do they look and sound like a line worth tending to?

I’m new here btw. Is there another breed like these ones? If so, I’ll just hone them in for what works for my little farm.
Either way, it will be fun.

Sorry, sheesh this was a looooong answer to a simple question.

Wish me luck!

Good luck & great idea, they are indeed quite adorable eye candy & with sweet personalities...can't wait to hear about your egg colors.

I've unintentionally began a mixed breed project, but on a much smaller & slower scale, & really it was out of necessity...cuz if I ask my sweetheart to built a 4th coop, he may think I have finally flipped . I mean I already have obviously "flown the coop" with a bad case of "chicken-itis" as it is. .

Anyway...my little breeding program actually is the result of hatching little ones (oh how cute & addictive) thus resulting in more roosters than planned...go figure, right? Well, I fall in love with EVERY BIRD & they all love me...so naturally, additional accommodations must be made!

When my very 1st Roo became an old man, I had to move him to the new Senior's Section...old Hens & old Roos get along great, no food squabbles, the perches & cabbage are hung lower, etc. That left my Marans roosterless. I happened to have a gorgeous EE Roo...Black, very iridescent (camera never does justice), with a few very Gold feathers (dude looks like he's sporting jewelry!) to introduce to the Marans, so that will be interesting to see the chicks they produce.


The RIR hens beat up on the sweet RIR Roo so he was moved & a very masculine EE, gorgeous red, moved in to keep the RIR hens in line. He is a gentle sweetheart that loves my snuggles, but he doesn't take crap from hens. Those wenches...they plucked my sweet RIR Roo nearly bald, poor guy resembled a naked neck! Valentino, the red EE Roo, hasn't lost a single feather to those brats.

Sorry to blab so much...you get me talking about chickens...yup, it's gonna be a long conversation.

Good luck with your project, it sounds awesome!!!

 

[Tamayeager]

I see a lot of people stating about spending time with them to make them friendly. Yes, there is a lot of truth to that. But, you can have the friendliest bird in the world, not spend much time with it, and it will still tend to be interested in its human. While on the flip side, you can spend all the time in the world, with an unfriendly bird, and never get it to enjoy being held or petted. And the breed of bird does matter! Yes, each bird is an individual. But some are more likely to be friendlier than others. My experience has been orpingtons and Bahamas are naturally friendly. And this year, for the first time, I have a salmon faverolle. I had not even known about them before. And I got two by accident. They were supposed to be brahma. Unfortunately, one did not live long. But the one that did, is sweet and gentle as they come! I will attach some photos of some of my birds. Notice who is ON ME! lol. While they are all tame. Only certain ones are super friendly. And they are the orpingtons, followed by the salmon faverolle, then the brahma. And these birds all received the same attention. But some want more attention than others.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

So sorry, I haven't lost any yet, some are 5 yrs old. I feed my whole flock the All Flock type of feed though, not feed for Layers. I provide calcium in a separate feeder if some feel the need to peck at it. I don't know if that makes a difference but as I have many roosters mixed in, I heard the Layer feeds can harm them, so everyone gets All Flock here. I still get plenty of eggs but some don't lay every single day & that's OK with me. Maybe I just got lucky with mine so far? I didn't know they may die young.

Yes, I feed all-flock as well because the excess calcium in layer feed is damaging to birds who are not laying as much or at all, and I have a lot of older hens as well. I don't know that that would make a difference there, honestly. It's the sheer number of eggs the red sexlinks tend to produce that leads to issues. If you haven't had any issues in 5 years, though, then maybe you won't have the same troubles after all! My last red sexlinks were purchased about 12 years ago, so perhaps things have changed in that time. It was one of my 2010 red sexlinks that lived to nearly 7 years instead of the usual 3 years of the ones I'd owned before her...

 

[Ocho 8 Farm]

Buff orpington and Easter eggers!

Great! I have 4 Buff Orpingtons right now in the brooder. 3 weeks old! It’s too soon to tell their little personalities yet. Thanks!

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

Wow! Thanks for sharing this! I guess I didn’t even think about how being a super egg producer would put them at risk. Thank you!

No problem! I didn't realize this either until I went through it. I wouldn't say don't get these chickens if you really want to because they truly are lovely, but I think you would have to be prepared to cull them when they get sick. It's kinda hard to get a chicken knowing there's a really high chance she'll get sick and suffer in a few years though, so it may just be easier to go with a healthier breed.

I love my RIR and Barred Rock, but they aren't the friendliest. I just got a Salmon Faverolles chick (supposed to be friendly and healthy) and a mystery breed chick (might be an olive egger or australorp), so I am experimenting to see what does well for me. I think moving forward I'm personally staying away from the high production breeds though. I wish you luck in finding some birds you love.