We are farmers but have only looked after chickens for our friends. My husband is scared of chickens but has gotten used to them a bit more since we started helping our friends out, but is willing to get used to them more. We need a breed that is'nt keen on flying, kind to each other and preferably produces both eggs and meat. Which breed do you think we should go for?
Australorps or Rocks or Orpingtons all three are very good breeds!All three can fly but aren't real good at it and if they have lots of food and water in the pen they won't want to get out.All chickens have a pecking order so no matter what some one will be on the bottom and all three are dual purpose.
Orpington is my favorite, although I've only had three breeds. They just have a proper, meaty look, whereas the Barred Rock is a bit larger, but looks like mostly neck. Orpington's are very friendly, but don't get any roosters, no matter the breed, if someone in your house is already afraid of chickens.
I agree roosters are a menace to someone already scared because they sense it and will attack and be mean to that person if after a while you want one get like a silkie rooster because silkies are sweet and if your getting a rooster he already isn't going to lay and silkies aren't very great layers. My barred rocks weigh much more than the buff orps but australorps out weigh them both and lay the best.
I would suggest Black Australorps. I've raised them for years (along with dozens of other breeds) and they are extremely hardy in both cold and heat. They are also very calm and gentle (my children, and now my granddaughter, made lap pets out of them), and they are the best layers of the standard, brown egg laying breeds. A Black Australorp holds the brown egg laying record with 364 eggs in 365 days, and while mine have never reached that kind of production (and likely never will), I've still had a few of them lay over 300 eggs in a year.