Which breeds for kids?

[kimmypie]

Oh that is the other thing, I'm in northern /utah and we have fairly cold winters and pretty hot summers. I need birds that can handle both.

 

[newchknmama]

Im fairly new to chicks but I have 5 kids ages 10 and under and here are the breeds I have so far and they are fairly young still but I can tell their personalities pretty well.
Lt Brahma - very sweet, big and beautiful
Buff Orpington, by far the sweetest one and makes the cutest little chirping noises
2 Silver laced Wyandottes - hard to catch but once caught they settle down and don't mind being held
buff laced polish - not supposed to be a great egg layer but I wanted a funky chicken, she is very active, but nice
Silver Spangled Hamburg, still really tiny, but are supposedly flighty and I can already tell its gonna be a handful
Easter Egger - sooo fluffy, seems to be pretty sweet, its very young still too.

So of all of mine I recommend for kids, the Brahmas and the Buff Orpington. And I live in ID so we have similar weather and these are all supposed to work well.

 

[truebluexf]

Great thread. We are about to get started and planning on black australorps with our kids (9, 6, 3.) The silkies sound so tempting but we really want eggs!

 

[MoriahQuilts]

Quote:
We got a similar mix. I was looking for calm (quiet) and friendly. My EE's are the most calm and social with people. Hub build a huge roost from logs, that we can sit on and they hop on your lap or come over to visit. The SLW and Black Aussies seem to be the most curious, try new food first, but don't want to be handled. The BO's are big sweeties, but if there is food involved they will butt the others out of the way - two turned out to be roo's, one is sweet but the other is going to be our first soup. The Marans is calm, but shy. And my Faverolles are really too young to tell. I was hoping to find a Brahma as my chicken mentor LOVED hers, but by the time I found them (Arlene in PG) I had so many I thought I should wait and see how we did. There's always next year.

Enjoy Pullet Vision and the Chicken News Network. I have!

And they all do well in the cold/hot weather.

 

[lfreem2]

I have three young boys (ages 2,4,8), and needed very friendly birds, but did not want to sacrifice egg production.

We got 15 Speckled Sussex, 1 Australorp, 1 Buff Orpington. The Sussex are by far the friendliest of the three breeds. They climb into our laps, onto our shoulders and love to cuddle. The Buff Orpington is next, but she is shyer than the Sussex. She's starting to get better, but the Sussex have no qualms about jumping up and greeting you and are always hanging around your feet to see what you've got going on. I find the Australorp to be the least friendly of the three breeds. She's simply does not really come to greet us and always hangs back. She doesn't look for hugs, and hangs out at the perimeter. I plan to rehome her since she really hasn't wowed us like the Sussex.

Keep in mind that each bird (like a human) is an individual and their own personal personalities will vary--I simply got these three breeds because they were considered to be some of the friendliest/most docile in general while still producing a lot of brown eggs.

 

[awesomefowl]

Brahmas, Australorps, Amerucanas and Orpingtons are your best bet. Great egg layers, beautiful and gentle. Silkies are also the greatest little birds if you get bantams. They are so cute and are like little bits of fuzz as chicks.

 

[Arielle]

My kids enjoy sitting in the very large cardboard box with our chicks. Group One came from Mcmurray. THe speckled sussex were the most friendly, then the black austrolorps. If my oldest boy leaned over to pick up a distant bird, someone was sure to fly up on to his back, then he's stuck leaning over until someone removes the bird! LOL Happened so often we have pics on DH cell phone.

The Group two birds came from Meyers. THe BO are quick to come to visit and especially like to roost high ( on the edge of the box) and the EE are less friendly.

While individual birds vary, which hatchery they came from and the breed does play a part in temperament. Note: speckled sussex and BO do go broody, so I have a variety. I don't expect the rhode island reds to be friendly but rather very good egg producers and predator savy.

Faverolles maybe one to look into further. Too docile IMO based on reading only that they might get picked on by the RIR so I did not get them. I'm planning to free range and need birds that can be predator savvy.

PS. I picked cold weather birds too. THe heat is the most difficult. I have plenty of shade and water and bushes, etc, to help with the hot days. It was 80 just the other day!

 

[chickengrandma]

If you want the chickens to be your children's pets - as the number one goal - with the amount of eggs produced a secondary bonus...

I would STRONGLY, strongly recommend getting Bantams. I can't say much about which specific breed of Bantam, but the size in itself allows children to handle them so much easier. Think of always having a puppy or kitty - vs a full size Lab! They are always adorable!

Although, I do have to say Silkies are funny and like holding a kitty. BUT, they are are really flappy and not the smartest....so they seem more spaztic. They are gentle and sweet but are more freaky about being held. At least, mine are.

 

[babyrnlc]

I have 7 children (6 still at home) and the youngest is 5. I have nieces and nephews over all the time and all of my chickens are great with them and tolerant. The run, but when they are caught, they just sit there and let them pet them (my 3 year old neice carried one around for a good 15 min and she seemed like she liked it.

I think my nicest are my ee and barred rocks. They are all pretty friendly though.

 

[Sphinx]

Kimmypie, I also live in Northern Utah. There are some breeders, depending on the kind of chickens you want.

If you want, feel free to PM me and we can chat.