I am going to head over to the feed store sometime soon and get some chicks, and was wondering if anybody had any recommendations. I have 2 3 year olds and a 5 year old, and was hoping to get some pretty mellow chickens that could tolerate petting without too much trouble. I can't have too many chickens so it would be nice to have some chickens that lay decently, but the most important thing is that the chickens are pretty docile. I was also wondering if anybody would recommend bantams over standards? A friend of mine has chickens and hers seem HUGE. Like turkeys or something. Well not really, but they are BIG. I don't want them too scare the kids... Anyways, if anyone could help that would be great!
I'm very happy with the breeds I have. I prefer standard vs bantam for the eggs. The more you handle the chicks, the friendlier the chickens will be. All 8 of my chicks jump on my lap or shoulder. The only one in my flock that is skittish is the rhode island red and even she jumps in my lap. Feed lots of treats and handle them a lot and you'll have extremely friendly chicks. I have 2 Easter eggers(amerciana), rhode island red, Wyandotte, speckled sussex, brahma, Cochin, and d'uccle. My kids bring their friends in the coop all the time. The kids love it. Just make sure everyone washes hands after handling chickens.
That's what we were concerned with too! We decided on barred plymouth rocks and MOST of them are pretty nice. I think our two black sex links are even nicer! They all eat out of our hands and only two out of nine hens are a little aggressive. They are all confined so most of the time it's not an issue for us anyway! Black Australorps are supposed to be pretty nice and great layers.
Thanks, Nicole! We pre-ordered an ameracauna today, and need to select 3 or 5 more when we p/u next Friday. On the list are: buff brahma, wayandotte, orpington, cochin, maran, and maybe australorp. Do any of these "not" get along with any others?
The Buff Orpington chicks that I have are definitely more docile than the other breeds right now (almost 2 weeks old), and they are supposed to be one of the calmer breeds. The are pretty heavy birds, so size may be an issue.
You can't go wrong with an Australorp or Orpington Easter Eggers are nice too if you want some color in your basket
