What is the largest breed of chicken?

[Rare Feathers Farm]

The largest one I've ever seen was a black Langshan at a show once...that sucker was HUGE!

The largest breed I own is the Light Sussex:

Other than that, Brahmas a big, too...

Just remember--the larger the bird, the more they eat...and these guys do eat LOTS!

 

[Tropical Chook]

I agree with Daniel. The game fowl he mentioned are awesome if you're will to put in a little bit of effort. Saying that, I only have Shamo and Thai game birds and they require very little attention. In fact, all I do is give them fresh water and treats. Oh, and I fill their feeder but they only use that as a snack bar because the free range all day.

The roosters need to be kept separated in general. I have one head rooster that's been really good with the younger roosters providing they don't try to challenge him. All my young roosters are destined for the pot, but we only process when we want to cook one up. Unfortunately two of them decided to challenge our head roo last week both had to be processed because of their mistake. For the most part though, the head rooster will leave the youngsters alone, but it's when they mature that the trouble starts. The youngsters will also get along fine most times, but when two do decide to fight, they just won't stop.

BTW........The game cocks are really nice birds and never show any signs of aggression towards people, not even towards small kids. Here in Thailand they're super common, but from what I've read, you can make some good money breeding them where you are.

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
English type Orpingtons Roosters weigh around 4 kilograms (8.81849049 pounds)

American type Orpingtons Roosters weigh around 10 pounds.

How is that putting American type Orpingtons to shame?

Chris

 

[iajewel]

I haven't weighed my roos in a while however I know that my American roos stand taller then my knee and actually hurt my back to pick up. Im 5'8 and my knee is about 21" I don't know how big an English bird is, but I don't think my guys are anything to shake your head at when it comes to size. Like I said, I like big birds and I cull for size. The trick is to not forgo type while doing so.

 

[spartacus_63]

I have the old standbys too but a friend of mine in North GA has tons of chickens (among other fowl). He has Jersy Giants that are as big as a small Black Lab. His Roos are very easy going. One of his Boys got with one of his Buff Orpingtons. He now has two Buff Jersy Giant Roos. They are beautiful, big and of the temperament of other Orpingtons.

I am considering getting a few Giants to raise for freezer camp.

 

[elieugene6]

I would have to say Jersey giants being the largest and langshans second, I think that I have heard that orpingtons are up their as well. Although they might be that same. I love jersey giants, I only have one pair but they are so docile. The roo is only 5 months and is bigger than all of my other chickens (pr, ee, and golden comets being the standard size) They don't stop growing until they are 2yrs. So he is just getting bigger. Being that big though he still doesn't even try to challenge my older roos. Just runs away. The man that I got the eggs off of had a bunch of them and I swear his roo was close to 3 ft tall. The roos average about 13 lbs when full grown. This mans were originally hatchery stock so I can only imagine the size of a sq roo. There is a great thread on here about jersey giants. I believe the only colors available right now are blue, black, splash and white.

 

[Illia]

I'm not sure on Langshan weights, but I know the Standard for Jersey Giants asks for 13 lb cocks. . . . Not even Brahmas go up that high.

I would not classify Orpingtons as huge; They're just poofy. They're not that heavy, and they're not very tall either.

Malays and good sized Shamos as well as Saipan Junglefowl are indeed huge.

 

[phasianidae]

if big is what you want, go with jersey giants, i have some and they are huge! but they take a long time to mature.

 

[iajewel]

I don't mind the growth rate, and I have looked at the Jersey however I haven't found any good info on them or a breeder around I can go and look at their stock with in a days drive. I would certainly be interested in them, if I could find more info on them.

 

[DTchickens]

Quote:
Yes, what I meant was cocks would need to be separated. Another thing is the Oriental Games (Shamo, Malay, and Saipan junglefowl) aren't real cold hardy (though my Shamo did fine with snow and such last year, just made sure he wasn't hit directly by wind). Malay's are the biggest birds of which, reaching over three foot more commonly and weighing closer to around 15 pounds (give or take a few pounds, all depends. Ronnie Profitt's birds are probably the largest chickens in the United States, however, they're around 1500 dollars). And a lot of the Malays I would say, aren't real gamey anymore and could probably be kept together especially if bought from show strains.

For a more gentle, yet large breed I would probably go with Brahmas myself. I find them more appealing than any of the other breeds (Jersey Giant, Orpington) and they're closer to the Malay, giving them more height and a large weight as well if I remember correctly. Not to mention, far more rare and handle the colder temps better than a large single combed breed. But that is just me

.

No offense taken on the Shamo comment, most people tend to think that. I even thought they were ugly for a long time, but they grew on me the more I learned of them.

-Daniel


ETA: I actually forgot about the Langshans, those are pretty good too. I've had some hatchery stock before, and even they were quite large too.