What's your least favorite breed?

[rillgal]

I have 2 Orpingtons and 3 Wyandottes. I chose them for being hardy winter birds and because the orpingtons were suppose to be friendly. 1 of the Orps is a bully, so much so that I am thinking of doing away with her.

 

[becky3086]

Silkies. I have seen some barred ones that I liked though.

 

[eenie114]

I'm not a big fan of Barred Rocks, but mostly because they have a permanent stink eye.

And Turkens just make me wanna

No offense to all you Turken lovers. For temperament, I don't like the Leghorns.

 

[Larkspur88]

I don't know about breed, but my Cochin is nuts. I thought they were supposed to be laid back and sweet? This guy of mine has always been about as flighty as a ball of heavy feathered fluff can be and he's pretty violent with new birds I add into the flock. I also have a devilish rhode island red rooster. Once he's dead I won't get another. But despit his antics and his attempts to murder my other chickens I adore him. He just lives alone and free roams the front yard. He also attacks me on the occasion but he makes up for it by cuddling 5 minutes later. I know...odd

 

[flocksalot]

Well we have quit the menagerie of girls and boys (153 at present), and from our experience the mutts are some of the sweetest. We have some RIR that are just wonderful. You can call them and they come running like little feathered torpedos. Our SL and GL Wyandotts are sweet, but the GL are the attention hounds constantly wanting to be carried around. We have Red Stars and some of them are just as sweet as can be. They will run right into your arms if you say their names. We have a BO that is funny as all get outs, but doesn't want to be touched only watched. Of our leghorns we have two that love attention, but eight that should have been de beaked. They are flighty and contantly trying to eat every other chicken. They cornered our little SSH roo and he was a bloody mess. Now he's black and white and purple from all the blue coat. I don't care that they get out of their pen as the fence is only 2 feet high. It's really only there for them to feel secure inside. Once they can take care of themselves outside the fence it's gone. I just kinda hope that the older chickens give them some discipline. Our SSH are flighty but fun and once caught very loving and sweet. One likes to roost in a tree at night, so before we close the coop door we grab her and put the in the coop. Our Partride Rocks are beautiful, but a bit skittish. I'm hoping that changes with time. They range in age from a few weeks to 4 months, so we will see. We have a Buff Minorca that is just the biggest attention hound there is. She will even run up to our construction site and bother the guys working on our house. I got out there late one morning and she was perched on top of one of the guys head while he was putting up the supports for our basement walls. He tried to get me to sell her to him. NO WAY! That's my Sandy girl. Soon as she saw me he was history. We have some Barred Rocks that love to follow us around and talk. I call them The chatty Cathy's one and two, but they have real names besides. They are terribly funny. We have a Red leghorn that is very skittish and I haven't been able to catch, so my seven year old (the actual owner of all the chickens) will run her down and carry her around until she is as tame as the rest. That's how most of ours have been taught to be caught if they started out wild. Hence the reason we have two very tame white leghorns. We have some EE that are sweet as ever, but they are only a few weeks old. Our older ones are actually mutts and they are very loving and will beg as much as the ducks for grubs. We have 7 roos and none of them are mean to us. The older one's do have some turf wars, but they are usually settled pretty quick. If they continue to fight I get the horse whip and tag them in the rear. It doesn't hurt them, but they don't like it either. They know if I say their names and "no fighting" they had better get to their own staked areas. Of our 4 turkens 2 of them are very gentle and two are a bit standoffish. They are only 10 weeks old though so they will settle in better as they age. They are weird to look at, but I love turkeys so have no problems with them. I'm sure I missed some of our breeds and we have some 2 to 3 week olds that I'm not sure what they are yet, but Alex will tame them as he does the others. We did have one roo that would attack our boots. Smokey was so very funny and could run right up side a fence still standing straight. He was a silver Lakenvelder. We lost him this spring to a young roo attack that happened when I wan't around. My husband hated him, but my son and I loved him. He could only really handle three hens of the eight he was cooped with, so the others would run off with the old roo. We also raise Cornish X and find them to be funny and sweet. My biggest problem with them is how starving they are when we go to feed them in the mornings. They scratch each other up so badly before they get to big to climb on each other. My husband hates them as he say's they are useless, but he thinks they should be running after bugs like the egg layers. He does like to eat them though. So really I like all the kinds of chickens we have, but dislike individuals of each breed. I did tell the hatchery to never ever send me another white leghorn unless I ordered them specifically. It's highly unlikey we would ever get another Pearly or Shirley, and I just can't stand seeing those carnivorous monsters chasing after a poor helpless chicken. My husband wants to cull them and has tried to convince me to do it from day one. They aren't crowded, they ahve plenty of protein, are on vitamins, yada yada. They are just carnivorous, and that is a hereditary trait.

 

[Larkspur88]

Erin~TheChickenLover :

Oh my, I love Barred Rocks because they are pretty and are great layers, but I hate them because everyone I have had has been Skittish and a bully!

I will never get another BR...oh and I agree that Turkens are UGLY.

My barred rocks are bullies at times but they are also my oldest birds and the others aren't laying yet. Mine are not skittish in the least.


After reading a lot of these comments I am seeing how some behavior isn't breed related at all. A lot is just experience with personality of the bird at hand. For those with bad experience with a breed who want to try the breed again who have heard good things from other people...I'd try getting the breed again from another source. Could be the original source(s) had birds with bad personalities bred into them like the flightiness or aggression.

It is obviously hereditary. One person said they had a hen who was mean and always produced mean chicks. I know if I want a nice dog I always see the parent dogs. Same concept. I just won't let me mean Roos produce offspring.​

 

[georgia531]

black astrolops are the meanest... even the chicks are mean to other chicks.

 

[Rebel Rooster]

I would have to say, Leghorns are my least favorites as well... Flighty, stupid, not enough meat on em to be a dual purpose bird, and I have a yard full of em! Workin' on that though!

 

[Jennine746]

I had a leghorn cross rooster that was the most aggressive rooster I ever had the misfortune to meet. I still have scars from him...

 

[ECBW]

I have not met a hen that I disliked. I even have Leghorns.