What Chicken Breeds do you Dislike & Why?

[BantyChooks]

I would love to know whats wrong about them so I could be prepared,

Personally, I think the reason some don't like Leghorns is that they aren't the appropriate bird for their setup. If one free ranges, wants lots of eggs, and needs a hardy rather than fancy bird, they fit the bill completely. If one keeps their birds in a run, or wants DP hens, they may well be subpar in performance and even end up picking on other hens. Of course, there are lemons, but not many.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

I'm reading a lot of this thread and a lot of people say things about leg horns and silkies, I would love to know whats wrong about them so I could be prepared, some breeds I don't like are RIR, I just don't like the color.. good experience with them but the color just... mine have always gotten dirty to and ive never gotten a roo out of my RIR hatchings before so none but 1 hen were ever rude.

Sure. Silkies are sweet but dumb. They can't see well because of the mop on their head either. This combination makes them easy pickins for any hawk, fox, weasel, coon, cat, dog, etc. Anything that slips into the coop, that silkie is done for before they ever even see it. Because they're not too bright they have trouble parsing things like new food (say you hang a cabbage for fun they might not recognize it as food for example) or if you move the water dish. And those fuzzy feathers are terrible in the rain, mud or with wet food. They become matted and no longer fluff up or insulate making them very un-cold-hardy in places that are wet AND cold. (They do OK if dry to my knowledge but we're wet as heck here.) Not to mention they have no meat on them and lay few, tiny eggs so for production they're just disappointing.
Pros, they're very hand friendly, human friendly, and they go broody a lot. If you want eggs that might suck, but silkies are terrible for eggs anyhow. If you wanna HATCH eggs they'll mother a watermelon so yay. Assuming you can keep it safe enough to do so.

Leghorns have a different problem. They're thrifty, good egglayers, etc. But they're moody. Forget being touched - mine have always spooked away from me. They keep a good 5-10 feet away at all times, more than my rooster, and yell when you try to pick them up. When you DO pick them up to do maintenance or health checks mine have always fought HARD, harder than most of my birds who just kinda stare at me after a few flaps. And because their feathers are tight and dense getting hit by those wings sucks more than a fluffy sweet widdle babby birb like an orpington or something. I feel like the best word to describe a leghorn is scrappy. They'll eat anything, fight you for it, go to sleep with one eye open, and then lay an egg the next day before doing it all over again.
The upside to this is they're very predator savvy. They forage well. And they lay a LOT.
But around here you can only find the white ones. And white birds go first to hawks in this household. They just get hit faster than you can blink. We're a migratory hot zone, and in the fall and winter we have several chicken-predating hawk species around and I can't free range or put a pen top on. A white bird in an open-top pen, no matter how many hiding spots they have, is probably a dead bird.
In my experience also, the lighter the body mass of the bird the more trouble they have with tough winters. And leghorns are just plain skinny so they loose condition fast during molt and have trouble bouncing back on normal feed in the winter. That may just be our local lines though. Also tiny bodies make it less worthwhile to butcher a sick or old bird for food. It's a lot of work for little reward.
If you want chicks they will also NEVER go broody. They could not care less about an egg after it's layed.

Both these birds have hard upsides (Great pet, great egglayer) and hard downsides (terrible for anything else). And they don't work out for me. I like a more well balanced bird.

 

[BantyChooks]

Leghorns have a different problem. They're thrifty, good egglayers, etc. But they're moody. Forget being touched - mine have always spooked away from me. They keep a good 5-10 feet away at all times, more than my rooster, and yell when you try to pick them up.

Out of curiosity, how do you start your birds? Every single one of the leghorns I have raised myself (the ones I bought as adults were nuts) have been annoyingly friendly. They mob my feet, jump in my lap, sit on my head, etcetera. One, whom I named Red after the fact, flew up on the scaffolding I had up to paint a coop. She had red paint all over her back for the next year!
I don't handle them often, but I do spend a lot of time outside, near where their area is; I think this piques their curiosity and makes it the dominate mentality in them over fear. I would be interested to know how your methods compare, just so I can see if my theory is backed up or not.

One of this spring's Leghorn pullets come to investigate.

I feel like the best word to describe a leghorn is scrappy. They'll eat anything, fight you for it, go to sleep with one eye open, and then lay an egg the next day before doing it all over again.

Absolutely agree with this. I found that another side to this behaviour is it makes them incredibly winter hardy. Other birds waste away and die on the roosts; not them. No matter the weather, they are up, outside, and eating and drinking.

 

[AmyJane725]

I'm with those who say "dislike" is a bit strong. I love all chickens, but there are certainly breeds that I find off putting and characteristics that I'm I don't particularly care for either. That being said, if these chickens were the only ones I was allowed to have, I'd still rather have them than have no chickens at all.

Breeds:

-Shamos/Malays: They just look creepy to me. Shamos especially. The fact that they can be 3 ft tall makes them that much more horrifying.

-Serama: Not trying to start anything here, but these chickens are basically the living embodiment of animal cruelty as far as I'm concerned. Poor little things.

-Naked Necks: I find these distressing to look at. I feel like they've been injured or partially plucked or something. Looking at them makes me feel like I need to administer medical care...

-Bramas/Delawares: Just don't care for the pattern, and their faces always look mean in pictures. They look angry.

Buff Orpingtons: Whoever said these were sweet and nice obviously never met the one I had as a kid. Meanest hen you ever saw. My whole family/even the feed store guy thought she was a rooster. She got rehomed to his farm and proceeded to kick the ass of every rooster there. He cut her head off. Plus, I find the buff color boring.

Characteristics:

-5th toe on Silkies. They're not even symmetrical between the legs. This bothers me a lot. And the toes often grow in such a way that they're not even functional. They can just stick straight out off the ankles. Can't even walk on them or use them to scratch. Pointless. It's like they only have 3 toes functionally speaking.

-Muffs/Beards: I just don't like the way they frame the face. I like chickens to have slender, smooth looking necks. Elegant if you will. The muffs and beards don't assist with that.

-Crests: Not a fan of the looks, and I don't like that they impede vision.

-Frizzles: They look like they stuck their beaks in an electrical socket or something. I don't like that the feathers won't lay down nicely, and that it makes it hard for them to regulate body temperature.

-Feathered Feet: They're constantly getting filthy and ratty from being dragged through the dirt/mud/poop/rocks. Plus it's sad to hide those awesome little T-Rex feet. I love seeing them. (That being said, I have 3 feather footed breeds, but if they ever breed them without the feathered feet I'll be all over those chicks. I actually do have a silkie with clean legs. Maybe I should buy an incubator )

 

[Rietta]

Even within breeds chickens have different personalities, like any other creature. In my flock my barred rock are my paint in the bum. They fly out on a regular basis a cause chaos in the runs. They dig up my garden, scatter the compost pile, and poo everywhere. One likes to fly in with the younger birds and chase them around. UGH what pains they are for me, they are better suited for free range. That being said they were supposed to be Blue Andalusians from TSC. Great layers and very friendly though.

 

[Duck_life]

how about guineas? what are they like?

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Out of curiosity, how do you start your birds? Every single one of the leghorns I have raised myself (the ones I bought as adults were nuts) have been annoyingly friendly. They mob my feet, jump in my lap, sit on my head, etcetera. One, whom I named Red after the fact, flew up on the scaffolding I had up to paint a coop. She had red paint all over her back for the next year!
I don't handle them often, but I do spend a lot of time outside, near where their area is; I think this piques their curiosity and makes it the dominate mentality in them over fear. I would be interested to know how your methods compare, just so I can see if my theory is backed up or not.

View attachment 1857781
One of this spring's Leghorn pullets come to investigate.


Absolutely agree with this. I found that another side to this behaviour is it makes them incredibly winter hardy. Other birds waste away and die on the roosts; not them. No matter the weather, they are up, outside, and eating and drinking.

Most of them were purchased as adults or pullets (12+ weeks) from a variety of environments. I admit to never having raised any from chicks myself. Some were more hands on and some were more hands off, and the hands off ones seemed to be worse than the others but none were particularly nice. I'm fairly hands off with my birds but I expect to be able to pick them up still and none of the rest of them have given me any fuss with it.

As for being out and about I've found it's more an overall mentality. Either all my birds come out or none of them do unless there's something substantially different about one of them (like being broody or injured). Leghorns haven't changed this dynamic at all and go with the flow as much as any bird I've owned.

Just my experiences with them.

 

[BantyChooks]

Most of them were purchased as adults or pullets (12+ weeks) from a variety of environments. I admit to never having raised any from chicks myself. Some were more hands on and some were more hands off, and the hands off ones seemed to be worse than the others but none were particularly nice. I'm fairly hands off with my birds but I expect to be able to pick them up still and none of the rest of them have given me any fuss with it.

As for being out and about I've found it's more an overall mentality. Either all my birds come out or none of them do unless there's something substantially different about one of them (like being broody or injured). Leghorns haven't changed this dynamic at all and go with the flow as much as any bird I've owned.

Just my experiences with them.

Ahhh, gotcha. Thanks so much for the info. I have definitely found that Leghorns don't take changes in keeper very well; after trying that route once, I never will again! It was like a completely different breed. Even my Ameraucanas eventually settled in. Not them. Nutters. I too expect to be able to handle every single bird without very much fuss.

 

[Trimurtisan]

I'm reading a lot of this thread and a lot of people say things about leg horns and silkies, I would love to know whats wrong about them so I could be prepared,

I'm not a Silkie lover. For me I find them to be very boring. The 2 we have tend to just sit there most times, and look like pretty pretty little princesses. They are easy to handle most times, but being they can not fly, picking them up can be a bit of an event. If they feel slightly off balance, they just start flapping (like you would expect) but they end up making it more difficult to keep them upright. I've had them try to jump from my hand, and then they just hit the ground, no graceful landings. Then add in the fact they can not see above themselves very well, and you've got a hawk snack just waiting around.

I'm sure they are a great choice for a lot of people. My son adores them, and they are docile (boring) enough for him to handle at 5. So is his Serama/Pyncheon mix though, and she has ton's of personality in her.

Ugh, those feet! Why on earth I chose to get white feather footed chickens is still beyond me...

 

[Chicken Heel]

Personally, I think the reason some don't like Leghorns is that they aren't the appropriate bird for their setup. If one free ranges, wants lots of eggs, and needs a hardy rather than fancy bird, they fit the bill completely. If one keeps their birds in a run, or wants DP hens, they may well be subpar in performance and even end up picking on other hens. Of course, there are lemons, but not many.

I would not say I dislike White Leghorns because one can only imagine how many folks in this world have been fed by their eggs and themselves once their egg laying days are over. But my first memories of them are having to retrieve them from a bramble thicket after my Dad had lopped their heads off. I can't recall a single one of the 15 or so hens that didn't end up there either.