Which breed do you think is most affectionate?

[rrrsmom]

I have 7 chickens... to the best of my knowledge they are all hens but I have my doubts about one of them. He/She is a little to young to tell still. I swear I have 7 different breeds because they are all so different. I think my friendliest is an americana. She hates to be picked up but once up, she snuggles right in and gets mad when the cuddling ends. My RIR is more of a friend chicken. She wants to be with me at my heals but not necessarily picked up. I have another one, not sure the breed, a little lighter in color then the RIR that is my most adventurous. She's the one that tries to run out of the chicken yard everytime I open the door. My barred rock is friendly but not interested in me for anything more then my treats. I have one.. that we call speckles because she's speckled but I don't have a clue what she is, and she doesn't like me at all but will gladly take treats.
What do you think? What breed is the friendliest?

 

[bigzio]

Most breeds will be friendly if they are handled enough. Once they get use to being picked up they realize it's not so bad.
Everyone that likes their breed will say it is the best.... like me, hands down the light brahmas are the best.

bigzio

 

[aran]

our buff orps are by far the friendliest birds we have that we have not hatched ourselves. The two silkie babies we hatched from the eggs JJ gave us are a lot more friendly than any of our birds we bought as chicks though.

 

[Kelly FG]

my two buff orps are really friendly, my black australorp is a total lap chicken, but only to me. My Red Star is really friendly & curious too.

 

[Sherry]

My buff orp is the friendliest one I have. I have a red star that I call Rosemary's baby.

 

[justusnak]

I have several breeds and all are very different....

RIR....want treats, not to be pet.

Buff Orps...a few will let me pet them, but for the most part, nope.

Silver Pheonix...definately a lap chicken ( hen and roo)

Black Langshans...hen yes, Roo, no.

White Langshans...hen, DEFINATELY!! She wants in my lap all the time. The Roo will tolerate petting, for a short time.

Faveroll..I only have one hen...and well..she is just TOO SHY!

Banty Cochin Frizzles...nope. They want treats only. LOL

CornishX...they are like puppies...( I think they are trying to stay out of the pot) They waddle up, look up at me, and lay down to be pet. UGH!!

Polish roo....I dont think he will EVER want me to hold him....too flighty!!

 

[Lunachick]

My red stars are VERY friendly. I didn't get them as chicks either. I open my back door, and they step right in and start preening and making themselves at home. Very cute. They were skittish at first to pick up, but the more you do it, the more they don't mind. And they make cute little peep and chirp and buk buk noises.

 

[akcskye]

Out of the current batch I have, my Brahma is the most friendly...and she's not "that" friendly...she's just easiest to catch, and calmest to be held.

SLW and Aussies...not so nice.

My RIR, Marti (well, I've had 2 RIR's named Marti...son wanted me to name last Marti the same as first Marti caused I loved first Marti so), was the nicest of this flock.

Billy, the BO, was social, but only liked being held toward roost time.

So far, my friendliest was the game hen I had when I was a kid, who lived to be 12. Her name was Emma and she'd let you love all over her.

 

[GoodEgg]

This is interesting to me. Most of my breeds I have 3 or 4 of.

The black australorps were the friendliest first. They have ALWAYS wanted to be picked up, and follow me a little better than the others too. They will jump up on me, walk up my arm, and do anything to get on me.

The red stars and black stars can go either way it seems. They don't necessarily like to be held, but they are friendly enough.

The silver laced wyandottes were not especially friendly at first, but they are coming around. They still aren't too crazy about being picked up, but they tolerate it and they will come right to me now.

The Rhode Island reds also come to me very well, but don't care as much to be picked up. They will accept it though, calmly enough.

The barred rocks .... sigh ... now they have had .... ummm .... "personality" lol. They have always been ones to dodge when I try to pick them up. and once I catch them they scream the LOUDEST as if they are being killed.

And my "rare chick" is a complete wild child. I think he's a silver seabright but not positive.

The bantams I have fewer of. The Japanese is a sweetheart. I think he's a roo, and he runs like the dickens when I try to catch him but once I hold him he's like a puppy and snuggles in for as long as I will hold him. He's starting to spar a lot with the other chickens though, and he's the tiniest of the bunch.

The rosecombs are the calmest bantams. They don't especially love to be picked up but won't struggle at all.

And the rock bantams (silver pencilled and partridge) ... are almost as bad as the rarey. They dodged and ducked and were always the last to be moved because I couldn't catch them. Now they don't try so hard to get away though, and don't struggle when I hold them. I really don't think they enjoy it at all though, and just want to be put down. They also try to peck me (and other chickens) the most often in their little dominance thing.

That said, I'm sure bigzio is right. Everyone will prefer their own breed, probably. And I'm sure people's experiences with breeds will vary? I wonder if the particular strain of the breed can make a big difference in personality?

If I had to recommend from my (very!) limited experience, I'd say black australorps. I might say something different if I had been able to get the buff orps I so wanted.

trish

 

[rosyposyosy]

my sweetest chicken i have EVER had was my birchin cochin bantam cockerel. such a sweet thing he would let me stroke his neck and he would fall asleep in my arms. i had to get rid of him because we're in the city. my icon is of him but i dont think thats a good pic... oh i loved him so much. never will i be able to replace my penelope. (thats right --- HIS name was penelope)