What kind of breed is friendly?!

[chickengirl99]

I need to know which breed(s) of chicken are the friendliest. We have little people in my family and i dont want the chickens to hurt them!! If you have a friendly breed, PLEASE let me know what it is! my username is chickengirl99.

 

[Kevin565]

Silkies

 

[Fluffballs]

Ameraucanas are pretty friendly

 

[pullus mater]

Our Black Austrolorps & Barred Rock are very sweet and friendly.

 

[ChickenCrazy8]

I have heard that Orpingtons are really friendly. You can learn more about them here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/orpington Also, my Rhode island red and Plymouth rock are really friendly, they come when I call!!! https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/plymouth-rock https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/rhode-island
Hope this helps

 

[3riverschick]

Uska Oiloa The Basque Hen. This rare breed is said to be the friendliest breed in the world. Even the day old chicks will come running to you to be picked up. And they are pretty too! See the website for Skyline Poultry in the USA for info on the breed. ( there is a thread on them here at BYC.)
Just type: Oiloa Basque : in the search engine. The people in this breed are super friendly and helpful!!
Karen in western PA, USA

 

[Debbi]

Silkies! And they are small enough for young hands to hold. They are also laying fools, and the eggs are of medium size and good to eat! They also make good mothers, and tend to go broody, so they can raise the babies for you.

 

[AinaWGSD]

You could ask 100 different people and get 100 different answers to this question! If you're just getting hens, no roosters, then most breeds are going to be fine with kids. Bantam breeds are smaller and often small children find them less intimidating, but just like smaller breeds of dogs they are not always more gentle or mellow. The chickens I've had that have been the absolute best with my toddler have been Easter Eggers. They will let him pick them up and carry them around the yard without any fuss. Although they do make a half-hearted effort to run away from him, they can't really be trying that hard or he would never catch them. And once he does catch them, they sit calmly in his arms while he hauls them around the yard, even if they are slowly slipping from his grasp as he walks.



My one caveat with EE though is that I have had horrible luck with mine defect-wise. Of the 8 chicks we originally ordered, 4 were EE and they sent us 1 extra EE. We kept 3 of the 5, and of those 3, one had a severe cross beak and another one was an internal layer and never once laid a normal egg in her life. The one in the picture above is the only normal one we managed to keep out of the bunch. I don't know how the other 2 were, with the kind of luck we have they were probably perfectly normal chickens. This spring, we hatched out some EE of our own with a true Ameraucana rooster over our Ameraucana, EE, and one Sussex hen. Of the 21 chicks we hatched, 2 had cross beaks (one so severe that we decided to cull the chick at about 2 weeks old, the other one so far isn't bad but if you pay attention when looking at the chicks in the brooder you can see that her whole face curves to the right) both of which hatched out of green eggs, so either from the EE hen pictured above or the Ameraucana hen. I love the personalities I've gotten with EE, and mine have been very reliable layers of large green eggs, but I'm a little wary of them for the future just because I seem to have nothing but bad luck with them.

 

[city0squack]

There are a ton of breeds out there, but personally I suggest the Rhode Island Reds, Sexlinks or Plymouth Rock hens. They lay no matter what time of year and are always gentle. Sometimes though, they don't want to be petted so they just get away without fighting. Pretty calm and gentle breeds... You should try getting a couple, oh and also check out this website (it will help you a lot with everything chicken) www.mypetchicken.com

 

[CB and CG]

Each chicken is individual. Some breeds are prone to being a little flighty and some are prone to a more gentle behaviour but it really depends on the individual chicken. If you want your chickens to be calm and friendly choose what ever breed you like the look of but raise them from day old. Any chicken is capable of being friendly, gentle and calm if it is treated well and handled often from day 1. If you don't want a rooster or you cannot keep a rooster your most practical option is to raise some Sexlinks from day olds.
Hope this has helped. I love my blue Australorps but because they have great personality, they are gentle and love their cuddles but I am sure any chicken is capable of having these attributes provided they are treated right. They might not necessarily want to be picked up but you just need something that will tolerate people.
My beautiful blue Australorps.