What is your favorite breed of all time and why?

[BantyChooks]

Here's a bantam pair that I believe belongs to Mike Gilbert. Not entirely sure on the top hen. Pictures aren't mine, they're shared solely to show off the beauty of this breed.

 

[BantyChooks]

Redhead Rae,

Looks like a good job to me!

Banty Chooks- I LOVE all of the photos, thank you for sharing! I recently came familiar with the Chanteclers at the Ohio National Poultry show back in October- they were beautiful beautiful birds! I will take a look at the link and read more about them!

Great info gang!!

Any Salmon Faverolle fans out there?

I also heard the Welsummers can be a bit noisy- thoughts A.M. Eggs?

The Brahmas are cool too- will need to look into them as well- do they have feather legs? Are feather legs tough to keep clean in cold weather snow climates?

All right! It seems like this wonderful breed is finally getting the recognition it deserves.

@Chickassan is a fan of the Faverolles, I believe.

Brahmas have feathered legs. They do have a tendency to get dirty and tattered. It depends on how you keep your chickens, I guess, and my flock gets pretty scrappy at times with running from hawks, varied terrain in woods where they free range, and shank deep mud in standing zones. I don't really like them any more because I got tired of misshapen legs from blood feathers breaking and scarring or whatever was going on. Not a big deal, unless you're wanting to show. They also seem to be more prone to bad cases of scaly leg mite. I hate having to deal with that. I'd like to eradicate it completely next spring if at all possible.

 

[hannahnicole29]

My top 3 favorite breeds are Australorps, ISA Browns and Easter Eggers!
Friendly, not skittish and Great foragers! Mine are all fantasic egg layers! I love that the Easter Eggers come in so many different colors too!
This Spring I’m hoping to add some Buff Orpingtons to my flock

 

[A.M. Eggs]

My welsummers were not very noisy but every hen is different.

Brahmas do have feathered feet and they tend to keep their feathers clean. They are very cold hardy so they would be perfect for winter weather. They are also not very noisy.

 

[BantyChooks]

This was my Buff Brahma. I believe her name was Sunny, though I'm forgetting now. Her legs were in decent condition in this photo.

 

[21hens-incharge]

My brahmas and cochins have enormous amounts of foot and leg feathers.
Mine do well keeping them clean.

That said, the feathers mean less scratching capability so nails can get overgrown quickly.
Regular foot and leg checks for nails and mites are what I do.

 

[mrskenmore]

If you live in a cold climate, you might consider Chanteclers. They are hardy, beautiful, meaty, and decent layers, in between brooding anyway. They're not the fanciest of breeds, but they are practical and their advocates are loyal.
http://www.chanteclerfanciersinternational.org/

P1330181

• BantyChooks
• Dec 14, 2018

Partridge Chantecler chick

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• BantyChooks
• Dec 14, 2018

Partridge Chantecler chick with Alex, Partridge Chantecler hen

CAREY

• BantyChooks
• Dec 14, 2018
• 2

Carey, Partridge Chantecler cock

Careyprofile

• BantyChooks
• Dec 14, 2018
• 3

Carey, Partridge Chantecler cock

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• BantyChooks
• Dec 14, 2018

Carey, Partridge Chantecler cock.

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• BantyChooks
• Dec 14, 2018

Rory, Buff Chantecler cock

P1360189

• BantyChooks
• Dec 13, 2018

Amy, Rory, and Melody; Buff Chantecler trio.

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• BantyChooks
• Dec 13, 2018

Jenny, Partridge Chantecler pullet.

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• BantyChooks
• Dec 13, 2018
• 1

Alex, Partridge Chantecler hen. She's not a good example of her breed in colour, but I like her...

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• BantyChooks
• Dec 13, 2018

Tank, Partridge Chantecler cockerel. He's not a good example of his breed.

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• BantyChooks
• Dec 13, 2018

Java, Partridge Chantecler cockerel

I've had close to 30 breeds and varieties of chickens. The Chanteclers are the ones I have stuck with. I would also recommend White Leghorns. They are hardy, intelligent, good free rangers. and absolutely incredible layers. Believe it or not, they are also cold hardy. Maybe even equal to the Chanteclers. Hardiness isn't only a measure of comb size.

I LOVED the brown leghorns from the Ohio Poultry Show as well- so beautiful!

 

[mrskenmore]

My brahmas and cochins have enormous amounts of foot and leg feathers.
Mine do well keeping them clean.

That said, the feathers mean less scratching capability so nails can get overgrown quickly.
Regular foot and leg checks for nails and mites are what I do.

My conditions are quite clean- they are on sand in their run and coop, but have access to mulch, wood chips and grass as well not as often. We often get big snowstorms so they would be allowed to roam after it has been shoveled as well- I love my clean leg gals and am a bit intrepidation to get into the feather leg class. That being said- if I had never gotten my BO because the breed tends to go broody I never would have had one of my fav chickens of all time!

 

[BantyChooks]

My conditions are quite clean- they are on sand in their run and coop, but have access to mulch, wood chips and grass as well not as often. We often get big snowstorms so they would be allowed to roam after it has been shoveled as well- I love my clean leg gals and am a bit intrepidation to get into the feather leg class. That being said- if I had never gotten my BO because the breed tends to go broody I never would have had one of my fav chickens of all time!

It's not that much of a change, really. I had a very mixed flock my first go-round, which included feather legged breeds. They were fine.

 

[mrskenmore]

That is good to know!