What is your favorite chicken breed?

[Duck Hill]

My favorite chicken breed is.....DUCKS!

I had both hens (Rhode Island Red, Buff Orpington, Easter Egger) and ducks. Then I noticed that the ducks were seriously outlaying my hens. The Easter Egger laid about three months the first year, then she took a very long break. The second year she laid about one month. Then I gave her away. The Buff Orpington and Rhode Island Red laid about six months the first year and about four months the second year. I figured it wasn't worth feeding them for ten months only to have them probably lay two months the third year, so I gave them away.

Meanwhile, my Indian Runner ducks laid right through the winter, laying each day without pause. After laying from August to March, they paused about three to four weeks to molt, and then started again. One took about six weeks to molt, another laid an egg every three days or so right through the molt. Then, they mostly laid every day till the next spring, with short pauses by one duck or another, but rarely more than three weeks for any given duck. In particular, the ducks all laid well during the winter.

Some of my ducks are now three and four years old. They are still laying very well. The ones that are turning four this summer laid right through the winter.

The final advantage to ducks is that the boy ducks don't crow. They only talk softly. Although they are freeloaders.

 

[Beaux Peeps]

Blue Splash Marans. So friendly, curious, and funny! This is Splash (creative name, I know). She's such a sweetie

 

[MontanaChickDoc]

I agree with ducks seeming to lay better than chickens. My 2 barnyard specials took a month off to raise babies last year but other than that, each lay an egg a day almost without fail, spring summer fall winter for 18 months now.

 

[TropicalBabies]

This is fun!
Mostly heat tolerant breeds and sexlinks are in our feed stores so unless we order and have shipped, we get what we get. I did find a local breeder that has more variety than most and one day I will expand my horizons and get something Giant or Polish. But till then...
***I love my Buff Orpinton's, they are very sweet and beautiful and are not that common here but they can be a little bossy, big eaters and very talkative, I can tell whats happening by one hens chatter. Need feed, intruders, want treats. They struggle with the heat more than the others.
***Light Brahma's are gorgeous and very sweet, 1 has gone broody a few times. She is so sweet I feel bad locking her out of the nesting box.
***Barred Rock was slow to grow on me, I did not think much of her, she was sketchy till POL. Now she is a favorite, kind, smart, good layer and more heat tolerant.
***Americana is beautiful, shy but kind, a good layer of blue eggs.
***Bantam mixes- were my favorites but now on thin ice because they are SO smart and SO resourceful I cannot contain them. They hop the fence and dig the garden and I have to search for one of their eggs most of the time. I will not do Bantams again unless I lock them in.
***When I picked up my spring chicks I picked up 2 Barred Rock, 2 Lt Brahma's and a Smoothie for fun.

 

[Mother of Chooks]

Gosh, what a hard question, there's so many amazing breeds!

Isa Brown: Had two Isa Browns in my first flock and they were both friendly and reliable layers and laid near enough everyday without fault. We could distinguish the brown eggs since they were lighter or darker depending on the colour of the bird's plumage. I would keep a lookout for egg-related issues due to the large quantity they produce throughout their life; I ended up losing one of my girls due to a complication with laying.

Australorp: Ah yes, I will never forget the fearless head hen of my first flock, Stormageddon. Good tolerance for heat despite their dark colouring and a nice, regular supply of eggs. I've found that they're a bit more dominant than the Isa Browns and usually make their way up the pecking order pretty quickly. Loyal to the end!

Rhode Island Reds: Very pretty birds that are great for both laying and meat since they're on the slightly larger side. They're usually not very welcoming towards other birds, one of my RIRs was quite the bully towards any other birds we introduced to the flock.

Blue Leghorn: While they're quite nice to look at with their lithe body, I've known them to be quite flighty and far from friendly towards people. Not usually the best bird to keep in a mixed breed flock and aren't the most reliable layers.

Speckled Sussex: Gorgeous, friendly and curious birds! They always need to know what you're doing and will happily talk your ear off while they follow you all around the garden. Usually, they're pretty cuddly, gentle birds, but don't try to get between them and a treat, they're very food oriented. Big birds, best for snuggles.

Pale Sussex: Also a beautiful bird (if you can get ones that like to keep themselves clean and not roll in the mud every time they get let out xD) who much like the Speckled variety are fairly curious. I've found that they lay slightly more regularly than the Speckled ones, but that may just be in my flock.

Black Copper Maran: I've only ever had one Maran rooster and he was the best rooster I ever owned, it might have just been his personality, but he was attentive to the hens, constantly finding them food, guarding them against magpies in the swooping season, dancing for me and his ladies, and just being an all-around gentleman. Very protective of his hens and myself, however. The breed itself is absolutely beautiful with all of their lovely colours.

Plymouth Rock: Slightly less friendly than Sussex chickens, but still quite happy to receive a good snuggle from their favourite humans. Good layers with white eggs. My two Plymouth roosters are quite happy to live together with a fairly small flock.

EE Bantam Crossbreeds: Although not an actual breed, I have an EE Bantam crossbred hen who has had two little babies. They are all fiercely independent and will all wander away from the flock to do their own thing. The two hens are just as feisty and protective of the flock as the rooster, going out of their way to attack other birds and keep the rest of the chooks in line. They do, however, demand lots of attention and are very loud when ignored! They're very small and light, allowing them to fly very easily and will use this to their advantage when chasing prey or other birds. Dangerously clever - I wouldn't suggest them if you're not prepared for more than a few escape attempts.

 

[orpington123]

I have lots of breeds but I particularly love my Silkies , Wyandottes and my little Japanese and Dutch Booted Bantams

 

[Kabootar]

with Aseel I don't need to seperate the mom and chicks in a cage away from rest of the flock. They super protective moms and they are excellent foragers, they are not sitting ducks like Silkies mess with them and you will regret.

 

[mountainchickens]

My favorite breeds are probably Easter Eggers, Cream Legbars and Orpingtons. EEs are often sweet and very pretty (with very pretty eggs as well!) I love the physical appearance of all three plus their temperaments and eggs! We once had a buff orpington rooster who successfully defended his flock from our pit bull mix, who is super cuddly and friendly except when it comes to chickens. The rooster survived!

 

[crazybirdperson42]

My favorites, in no particular order:

Sumatras: My favorite breed. They're flighty, and seasonal layers, but they're gorgeous, and I have a hen who raised a clutch of chicks last year and is currently sitting on another one, and so far has had far more success hatching that breed than multiple attempts with the incubator on my part. Roosters can be mega jerks, especially if you don't handle them much. Especially during breeding season, keep them separate from other roosters if possible. If you need to cull some, they have more meat than you'd think for their size.
Speckled sussex: My sweetest chickens. They're the first to take treats from my hand. Pretty good layers. But if you want personality, they're the way to go.
Naked necks: Cute. Sweet, personality. Eggs. Eggs. Eggs. Eggs. Eggs. Out of 6 laying hens, 3 are naked necks, and they make way over half the eggs in the nest box. It seems like every time I look there's one in there laying an egg. If you want eggs you can't go wrong.
Old English: Not much meat. Fairly decent layers of tiny eggs. Many are the exact opposite of sweet unless they're handled a lot, and even then, don't count on it with the roosters, my tamest OE rooster is about as bad as my worst ones of any other breed. They're the size of medium-large potatoes, though, so they're pretty easy to pin down or throw at a wall if it's really necessary. The only problem I have is that to show them the roosters need to be dubbed, which I don't like doing. But they've stolen my heart with their attitude and spunk and adorable little faces, so I can't not include them if I'm talking about my favorites. They're little firecrackers, even the hens, so if you want energy and personality and something that would probably beat up a rooster four times it's size, these are great.
Seramas: I don't have these anymore, but if I could get more, I would. My favorite chicken ever was a little Serama rooster. They're small, sweet, and pretty, if you want great egg and meat production don't bother but for a pet or yard ornament they're great.

 

[poisondartfrog]

Turkens. Sweet dispositions, enjoy interacting with humans. One of my little Turken hens would jump on my shoe whenever she saw me and try to stay there as long as I would let her. If I sat down, she was in my lap.